by Todd Lammi
The Tampa Bay Rays used four home runs to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 11-1. Carlos Pena (19), Evan Longoria (14), Carl Crawford (5) and Dioner Navarro (4) all went deep for the Rays. David Price was pulled after 4 1/3 innings due to a high pitch count. Price who threw 105 pitches, allowed one run with six walks and six strikeouts. Angels starter Ervin Santana was pounded for the third time in six starts since returning from the disabled list, allowing six runs in 4 2/3 innings. The Angels announced that starter Kelvim Escobar would be moving to the bullpen after experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired shoulder. Matt Palmer will return to the rotation, starting on Friday against the San Diego Padres. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Thursday…
Hitters:
Justin Upton connected for his 12th home run of the season, drove in two runs and stole his ninth base of the year. Upton is now batting .317 with 37 RBI on the season.
Albert Pujols hit his 19th home run of the year and plated two runners. Pujols has now driven in 10 runs in his last 10 games.
Jim Thome homered for the third time in his last four games, during which time he has driven in seven runs. Thome is now hitting .258 with 12 home runs and 39 RBI on the year. Unfortunately for Thome who had just started to heat up, he will be out of the lineup the next week and a half as the Chicago White Sox go on the road to National League parks.
Curtis Granderson went 3-for-4 with two RBI, including his 14t home run of the year. It was the first home run for Granderson in the month of June.
Ian Stewart went 2-for-4 with three runs scored , while delivering his 12th home run of the season. Stewart has five home runs and 13 RBI in his last nine games, while boosting his batting average 52 points.
Ryan Braun went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and belted his 13th home run of the season. Braun has hit three home runs in his last four games with eight RBI.
Russell Branyan went 2-for-4 with three RBI and collected his 14th home run of the season. Branyan is now hitting .317 with 29 RBI on the year.
Derek Lee hit his seventh home run of the season and is showing a little bit of life at the plate lately. He has a modest 10 game hitting streak which has raised his batting average 23 points.
Raul Ibanez hit a game-winning three-run home run in the top of the 10th inning to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 6-3 win over the New York Mets. Ibanez has now driven in 12 runs in his last nine games and is hitting .322 on the season.
David Ortiz hit his third home run in five games and has now driven in seven RBI in his last seven games. With the Red Sox going into interleague play on the road, it remains to be seen whether Ortiz will be in the lineup, with Mike Lowell or Kevin Youkilis sitting on the bench.
Pitchers:
Max Scherzer tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings with six strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season. Scherzer has not allowed a run in his last two starts covering 12 2/3 innings.
Kevin Millwood hurled 7 2/3 scoreless innings with one strikeout to notch is sixth win of the season. Millwood has not allowed a run in his last two outings totaling 14 2/3 innings of work.
Javier Vazquez struck out 12 in eight innings while allowing one run in a no decision. Vazquez momentarily took over the National League strikeout lead with 105 now on the season. He has allowed four runs in his last 20 1/3 innings but has no wins to show for it.
Ryan Dempster allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts in a no decision. This marks the first time since his opening day start that Dempster’s ERA has fallen below four. Dempster has allowed one earned run in his last 20 innings with 16 strikeouts.
Ricky Romero allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts in a tough luck 1-0 loss. Romero did not allow a home run after allowing seven in his previous three starts.
Brad Penny turned in six scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a no decision. Despite his ERA not being that pretty, Penny has picked up the strikeout pace in his last four starts, striking out 22 in his last 23 innings.
Gavin Floyd had his fifth consecutive solid start, allowing one run in eight innings with five strikeouts, before Bobby Jenks blew his win in the ninth inning. Floyd has a 1.67 ERA in his last 37 2/3 innings with 36 strikeouts.
Closers:
Joe Beimel picked up his first save of the season for the Washington Nationals, working a scoreless ninth inning.
