Yardwork: Strasburg to the DL; Mauer Spoils No-Hitter
By Tim Ryan
Rangers 4, Twins 0: Rich Harden had a no-hitter through 6 2/3 innings but was removed after 111 pitches (he just came off the DL). Matt Harrison came on to get the last out of the seventh and Darren O’Day pitched a clean eighth. Which brings us to the ninth, where Joe Mauer was due up third. Everyone knew what was coming next. Yup, base hit, no more no-no. Right here is where Chris Berman says, this just in … Joe Mauer’s pretty good.
Cardinals 10, Pirates 2: Fat Albert’s three-run shot in the first was all the Cards would need. That’s all most teams need against the Pirates. Yes, that includes when the heroic Kyle Lohse is on the mound. Even the Cards’ notoriously shaky bullpen pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Everyone wins here, except for the Pirates.
Red Sox 6, Mariners 3: Fister got fisted at Fenway. Sorry, couldn’t help it.
Rays 4, Angels 3: For the 16th time in two weeks, the Rays have knotted things up in the AL East.
Giants 11, Reds 2: Matt Cain went eight and allowed two runs, improving to a consistently inconsistent 10-10 on the season. The Giants and Cards are just a game back of the Phils for the NL Wildcard. That race should be fun, although don’t count out the Reds or Braves choking away their respective leads.
Rockies 5, Braves 4: I’m blaming this one squarely on Derrek Lee, who was o for 4 with three strikeouts. He needs to stop closing his eyes and hoping for the best.
[Photos via Getty]