by Todd Lammi
With all of the talk in the news again about performance enhancing drugs, it is nice to see there are still some legitimate hitters in the major leagues, as several players had multiple home run games last night.
Hitters:
Adam Jones hit two home runs, giving him eight on the season, to go along with 25 RBI. His batting average is now up to .363 and he leads the American League in runs scored with 35.
Jim Thome hit two home runs, scored three runs and had four RBI. The home runs were Thome’s first since April 22nd and he now stands one behind Mike Schmidt for 13th place on the all-time home run list.
Prince Fielder went 3 for 4 with two home runs and four RBI to power the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-3 win over the Florida Marlins. He is currently on pace to far surpass his walk total of 84 from last season with 27 free passes already through 33 games.
Jason Werth went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and stole four bases, giving him seven on the season. His thievery included a steal of home in the seventh inning.
Aaron Hill hit his ninth home run of the season, and is now hitting .357 with 30 RBI for the year.
Josh Hamilton returned from the disabled list and hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to spark a six run rally in the Texas Rangers 7-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.
Chris Davis hit his ninth home run, but he is going to have a hard time getting his average over .240 with 50 strikeouts in 108 at bats.
Adrian Gonzalez hit his 11th home run and drove in two runs in the San Diego Padres 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. He is getting little help from his teammates as the second best hitter in the lineup is David Eckstein with a .263 batting average.
Joe Mauer homered for the third time in four games and missed another home run when he was robbed by Clete Thomas in the first inning. Mauer has now driven in nine runs in his last five contests.
Brad Hawpe went 4 for 4 with 5 RBI including his fifth home run of the season in a Colorado Rockies 12-1 rout of the Houston Astros. Ian Stewart added two home runs and drove in five runs as well.
Matt LaPorta got his first start in the last five games and went 1 for 3 while playing first base. LaPorta is now hitting .188 on the season.
Pitchers:
Roy Halladay became the first pitcher to seven wins, tossing a complete game against the New York Yankees. Halladay scattered five hits and one earned run while striking out five.
Zach Duke picked up his fourth in of the season, allowing one run in eight innings to lower his ERA to 2.52. Duke allowed five base runners and struck out five.
Jair Jurrjens lost a win on a blown save by Mike Gonzalez in the ninth inning. Jurrjens allowed two runs in 7 2/3 innings with four strikeouts.
Rich Harden allowed two runs in six innings with five strikeouts to move to 4-1 on the season. His counterpart Jake Peavy took the loss, allowing three runs in six innings with nine strikeouts. There is little room for error when Peavy is on the mound as the San Diego Padres offense has scored only nine runs in his last five starts.
Kevin Slowey allowed one run in six innings with two strikeouts to improve his record to 5-1 on the year.
Ubaldo Jimenez allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts to pick up his third win of the year. Jimenez has now allowed one run in back to back starts.
Micah Owings allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts to pick up win number three on the year. Owings was much more effective with his pitches Tuesday night, needing only 90 pitches to get through seven innings.
Recent call up Luke Hochevar got a rude awakening coming back to the major leagues, allowing eight runs in two innings against the Oakland Athletics.
Closers:
Scott Downs got a vote of confidence as the Toronto Blue Jays closer going forward after G.M. J.P. Riccardi announced that B.J. Ryan would serve in a set up role when he comes off the disabled list.
