by Todd Lammi
It was a tale of two closers in Milwaukee as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 behind Alfonso Soriano’s two-run home run off closer Carlos Villanueva in the top of the ninth inning. Carlos Marmol closed the door for the Cubs in the bottom of the ninth for his first save of the season. Cubs Manager Lou Piniella said Kevin Gregg remains the closer and would get the save attempt tomorrow if there was one. In another news around the diamond on Saturday…
National League:
Kenshin Kawakami had a successful debut for the Atlanta Braves striking out eight in six innings. Kelly Johnson hit his second home run of the season for the Braves. Jordan Schafer had three hits and is now hitting .421 on the season…..Nyjer Morgan had two stolen bases for the Pittsburgh Pirates and now has three for the year. Paul Maholm was solid again in his second start and has allowed only one earned run in back to back starts. Johnny Cueto allowed four runs in six innings for the Cincinnati Reds, but struck out nine batters. Pittsburgh starter Jeff Karstens will have his start pushed back to Thursday due to the rainout to keep the top four starters on schedule…..Albert Pujols had two home run and 7 RBI for the St. Louis Cardinals to make a winner out of Adam Wainwright. Wainwright threw five shutout innings, but was pulled due to a high pitch count. Joe Thurston got the start at third base and went 3 for 4. Jason Motte threw a scoreless inning for the Cardinals in the sixth inning. It looks like the Cardinals are trying to build up his confidence so expect someone else in the bullpen to get the next save opportunity….Livan Hernandez won his first start with the New York Mets giving up two runs in 6.2 innings. Jose Reyes hit his first home run of the season. Emilio Bonifacio had three more hits for the Florida Marlins and is now hitting .583…..Chris Coste got the start at catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies in their 8-4 win over the Colorado Rockies, after Carlos Ruiz was placed on the disabled list with an oblique injury. Rookie Lou Marson was recalled from AAA and will serve as the backup. Troy Tulowitzki hit his third home run of the season for the Rockies…..Recently recalled Eric Stults, in place of the injured Hiroki Kuroda, pitched the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing one run in 5.1 innings while striking out five. Yusmeiro Petit had a solid first start for the D-Backs striking out six in five innings of work…..Jake Peavy struck out 10 in 8.1 innings to help the San Diego Padres defeat the San Francisco Giants. Heath Bell picked up his third save of the year. Catcher Henry Blanco hit two home runs for San Diego.
American League:
The Toronto Blue Jays held on to defeat the Cleveland Indians 5-4 after B.J. Ryan was rescued in the ninth inning by Jason Frasor to preserve the win. After Mark DeRosa of the Indians hit a three-run double off of Ryan in the ninth inning, Ryan was replaced by Frasor who struck out Victor Martinez to snuff out the Cleveland rally. Cliff Lee struggled again for the Indians in his second start and has now allowed 17 hits in two starts. For comparison purposes, Lee allowed only 19 hits through his first five starts last season. Starting pitcher Scott Lewis was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Indians with a sore elbow…..Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers struck out eight in five innings to defeat the Texas Rangers. Fernando Rodney struck out the side in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season. Hank Blalock hit his second home run of the year for the Rangers…..Bartolo Colon pitched six scoreless inning for the Chicago White Sox in an 8-0 blanking of the Minnesota Twins. Carlos Quentin hit his second home run of the year for the White Sox. For the Twins, Carlos Gomez stole his first two bases of the season…..Brad Ziegler could not close the door on the Seattle Mariners as the M’s scored five time in the final two innings to beat the Oakland Athletics 8-5. Russell Branyan hit his second home of the season for the Mariners. Jack Cust hit Oakland’s first home run of the season…..Jason Bay hit two home runs for the Boston Red Sox in their 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Catcher Mike Napoli hit two home runs for the Angels. Jacob Ellsbury stole his third base of the year for the Red Sox. Jed Lowrie might be feeling the pressure to perform as the starting shortstop for the Red Sox with Julio Lugo out from from injury. Lowrie is hitting only .056 and has eight strikeouts in 18 at bats…..Jeremy Guthrie got his second win of the season for the Baltimore Orioles, throwing six shutout innings against the Tamp Bay Rays. Melvin Mora hit a grand slam to provide the offensive support…..CC Sabathia got his first win as a New York Yankee with 7.2 shut out innings against the Kansas City Royals. Nick Swisher hit his second home run and now has 9 RBI for the year. Billy Butler went 0 for 4 for the Royals with three strikeouts and is hitting .059 this year with a total of seven whiffs in 17 at bats.
