Bombers Beat Down Pale Hose for 2 Wins

Aug. 22 at Chicago – Bronx Bombers Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano were all that and more as the Yankees whupped the White Sox 9-2. Each bomber listed above hit two missiles out of the ballpark. Cano had 3 hits and 5 RBI on the day. Jose Valentin and Magglio Ordonez went yard for the Sox only two runs. A.J. Burnett (2-1) was solid for 6 innings and earned the win.

Aug. 23 at Chicago – Keith Foulke notched his 5^th save of the year getting Johnny Damon to pop out and Cano to strike out with tying run Melky Cabrerra perched on third. White Sox won 7-6. Brook Fordyce (1) and Ordonez each hit 2-run shots in the 2^nd and 3^rd, respectively to give Chicago the early lead they held on to.

Aug. 24 at New York – Hedeki Matsui had three hits and Posada (5) homered again as the Yanks responded well to returning home with an 8-2 victory in the rubber match. Starter Joba Chamberlain (1-0) picked up the W, but the yeoman’s work on the mound was done by Alfredo Aceves who earned a true He-man save with 3.2 innings of relief to finish up. He allowed just 3 hits and fanned 3.

2014 Royals Turn '11 Rangers Blue By Taking Two of Three

 Game One - TEX 5, KC 1

Texas scorches Jeremy Guthrie (0-2) for 10 hits and three runs in 6.1 innings, while the Rangers' Colby Lewis (1-0) pitches seven strong with only one run allowed. Josh Hamilton hits his fourth homer and Michael Young goes four-for-five with two doubles in the easy win.

Game Two - KC 7, TEX 6 (10 innings)

Danny Duffy

A wild one in Kansas City. Texas knocks around Royals starter Yordano Ventura, scoring six runs and hitting five doubles in the first three innings. But two runners are gunned down at the plate, a fact that would haunt the Rangers later. KC responded with five runs in the fourth to knock out Derek Holland, who gave up five straight singles and a walk before departing.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the 10th, when Texas reliever Arthur Rhodes loaded the bases with one out. Alex Gordon's sac fly wins it for KC. Greg Holland (1-0) gets the win in relief.

Game Three - KC 5, TEX 1

The Royals exact revenge for Game One, winning by the same score as the Rangers did in that game. The game is a tight one through six, with KC leading 1-0 and Danny Duffy (1-1) and Matt Harrison (0-1) pitching great games. But then Harrison faltered in the seventh, the big blow coming on a Lorenzo Cain double off the left field wall that plated two. Cain went four-for-four with three doubles to lead the onslaught.

Padres take 2 of 3 from Reds

August 18: Padres 7 Reds 2 

The combination of 1 run pitching by Clayton Richard and the hitting of his battery mate Nick Hundley made winnners of the Padres in game 1. Richard went 6 innings allowing 1 run and 5 hits. Hundley drove in Padres 1st run with a single in the 4th inning and then hit a 3 run homer in Padres 5 run 7th inning. Andrian Gonzalez and Chris Denorfia each had 3 hits as Padres pounded out 15 hits.

August 19:  Reds 6 Padres 5

A stunning win for the Reds. Trailing 5-1 in the 8th inning, Brandon Phillips hit a 3 run homer and 2 batters later Ryan Ludwick hit a 2 run homer and suddenly Cincinnati had grabbed the lead. Chase Headley had 3 hits including a homerun and 2 rbis and both Hundley and Gonzalez continued to hit with 2 hits each. Frazier had solo homer for Reds first run. Chapman pitched 1-2-3 inning for the save. Cincinnati starter Cueto once again could not pitch more than 5 innings in his 3rd start of the season.

August 20:  Padres 5 Reds 0

Kevin Correia pitched 7 shutout innings allowing only 4 hits, striking out 5 and walking 2. He was backed by 2 run homers by Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick. Miquel Tejada singled in the final run in the 8th that was set up by Scott Rolen's error to start the inning. Ryan Webb and Luke Gregerson closed out the shutout. Reds only had 1 runner reach 3rd base and that was in the 8th after Webb's throwing error.

Pitching Woes Continue for Boston

Game 1
Baltimore (Hammel) vs Boston (Wakefield)
Fenway Park, Boston

The Red Sox opened their home season against the Baltimore Orioles.  The loud Boston fans were quieted immediatley as the O's scored twice in the first on 2 hits, a SB and a throwing error.  The fans came back to life as the Sox's answered Baltimore's 2 runs with 2 of their own in the bottom of the inning as Jason Varitek doubled home the 2 runners.  Both teams again exchanged runs in the second and the score was 3-3 going into the bottom of the 4th.  After Bellhorn, Garciaparra got 1 out singles Damon then walked bringing up Manny Ramirez.  Hammel's got 2 quick strikes but Ramirez lined his third pitch off the left center field wall for a bases clearing double.  After Ortiz singled Ramirez home the Sox had a 7-3 lead and then added 1 more in the 5th to make it 8-3.  It appears, though, that no lead is safe with this pitching staff.  Wakefield gives up 2 solo HR to Danny Valencia and Matt Wieters in the 7th to cut the Boston lead to 3.  Curtis Leskanic comes on in the 8th to try and hold the lead and gives up 2 runs.  After the Sox go down in the bottom of the 8th Keith Foulke comes on in the 9th to close out the game.    Boston  8    Baltimore 7

Game 2
Baltimore (Tillman) vs Boston (Arroyo)
Fenway Park, Boston

In game 2, Boston takes a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a Manny Ramirez HR that cleared the Green Monster in left.  Baltimore took the lead in the top of the 5th as Nate McLouth doubled home 2 runs.  The 2-1 O's lead stood until the bottom of the 9th.  Jim Johnson came on to try and get the save but David Ortiz leads off with a double; moves to 3rd on a Mueller single and scores on a double play to knot the game at 3.  Mike Timlin comes on in the 10th and the O's Steve Pearce hits a PH homerun to left to give Baltimore the 3-2 lead.  Darren O'Day comes on in the bottom of the inning to save the game.    Baltimore 3   Boston 2

Game 3
Baltimore (M. Gonzalez) vs Boston (Martinez)
Fenway Park, Boston

In the series deciding game it was all Baltimore.  Pedro Martinez, who had been outstanding in a 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay, was downright awful in his second start.  After setting the O's down in order in the first Martinez gave up 2 runs in each of the next 3 innings to trail 6-0 after 4.  Baltimore added another run off of Martinez in the 6th and he left the game trailing 7-0.  The Sox bullpen continued its terrible performance.  Leskanic came on in the 7th only to give up 4 runs on 6 hits in the inning.  Manny Machado went had 3 hits and 3 RBI to lead the O's.  Miguel Gonzalez pitched very well allowing 4 hits and one run and 8 strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Baltimore 11  Boston 1    

The A's Corral the Slumping Rangers

The 2002 A's and their stellar starting pitching dominate the good hitting 2011 Rangers team, taking two of three to move to .500 at 3-3. The 2011 Rangers team drops to 1-5, as their hitters start slowly out of the gate.

Game One: TEX 4, OAK 2 (11 innings)
Oakland stikes early, scoring two off Matt Harrison and the Rangers, courtesy of a Scott Hattieberg solo homer and a double off the wall by Eric Chavez, who scores on a sac fly. But Texas answers off Oakland starter Cory Lidle, as Mike Napoli hits his second homer and Josh Harrison has an RBI single. The 2-2 game remains that way from the sixth inning on, until the top of the 11th. In that inning, Hamilton just beats a throw home on a scratch single from Adrian Beltre for the game winner.

Game Two: OAK 5, TEX 1

Oakland's Olmedo Saenz goes deep twice.

A wild one early. After Oakland goes up 1-0 on a Jermaine Dye single in the second, Dye gets tossed in the fourth after getting hit by a pitch and charging the mound. Texas starter Alexi Ogando also gets thrown out in the ensuring melee. Oakland goes on to score four more runs, as Olmedo Saenz and David Justice both homer off Texas reliever, Meanwhile, Barry Zito is excellent for Oakland, only allowing one run and four hits in 7 innings to win his first game.

Game Three: OAK 6, TEX 4
This one isn't as close as the score indicates. Oakland's Tim Hudson (1-1) holds Texas to one run before tiring in the eighth and giving up Hamilton's third homer. Oakland C Ramon Hernandez has a nice day, going three for four and driving in three with RBI singles. CJ Wilson (0-2) again struggles for Texas, giving up four runs in five innings of work.

ChiSox Put "Big Hurt" on Royals

Aug. 14 at Chicago – Eric Hosmer’s solo HR down the RF line in the 6^th was the difference maker in a tight 2-1 series opening win for the Royals. Veteran DH Billy Butler had earlier doubled in a run. Yordano Ventura hurled 7 shutout innings for the win. Greg Holland notched his 1^st save.

Aug. 15 at Chicago – Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez hit solo home runs to back up Mike Sirotka’s 4-hit shutout performance over 8 1/3 innings. Keith Foulke notched outs 26 and 27 for the save.

Aug. 16 at Chicago – The “Big Hurt” homered twice in a 3-for-4 performance and drove in 4 runs in a 7-1 White Sox winner in the runner match. James Baldwin (2-0) tossed 7 for the W.

Astros Sweep Reds

August 14:  Astros 7 Reds 3

F. Alou went 4 for 4 as Astros got out of the gate quickly scoring 5 runs in the first inning. Hidalgo with a 2 run double and Castilla with 2 run homer were the big blows. Mlicki went 6 innings for the win with Cruz and Powell mopping up. Votto had 3 of the Reds 7 hits with 2 doubles and 2 rbis.

August 15:  Astros 7 Reds 6 (13 innings)

Biggio walked with bases loaded to force in winning run as Astros rallied twice to win game 2. When the Reds scored 3 runs in the 7th to take a 1 run lead, Berkman doubled in tying run in the bottom of the 7th. In the 13th, Cozart hit a solo homer (his 4th hit of the game) to give Reds the lead. But with no bullpen left, Reds were forced to Arredondo for a 3rd inning and with 2 outs and 2 on, he gave up a 2 strike single to Ausmus to tie the game and then walked the bases loaded before throwing 4 straight balls to Biggio. Powell pitched last 3 innings for the win.

August 16:  Astros 3 Reds 2 (11 innings)

Both teams with tired bull pens had to endure another long game that was ended with Bagwell's double. Latos took a 2-1 lead into the 8th having given up only 2 hits but Ward lead off with pinch hit homerun and the game continued. Forced to use Homer Bailey with the the pen tired, Lugo lead off with a single and after Berkman walked, Bagwell doubled. Wagner was the winning pitcher.