Monday, June 23, 2008

Around the Horn - 6/23

Weekend Interleague Recap

Interleague play continued this past weekend and will finish up this coming Sunday. Here are the latest results.

In a rematch of the 2004 World Series, the Cardinals finally won a pair of games. Too bad some of them couldn't have been 4 years earlier. Boston salvaged the finale only after Jon Papelbon blew his 4th save of the season. He only blew 3 saves all of last year. Kevin Youkillis provided a 13th inning walk off winner on Sunday. AL:1 NL:2

The Cubbies took the battle of the windy city in a clean sweep. The Cubs are now a remarkable 32-8 at home this season. Ryan Dempster's win on Sunday gave him a 9-0 record in Wrigley. Aramis Ramirez slugged a walk off winner on Friday and hit his 3rd in two days in Saturday's win. AL:0 NL:3

The Angels had no problem going into the "City of Brotherly Love" and beating the Phillies 2 of 3. Angels pitching held the Phillies to just 4 runs in the 3 games. Francisco Rodriguez became the fastest closer to earn the 30 saves when he closed out Sunday's win in the Angels 76th game. AL:3 NL:0

The Royals won their series with the Giants thanks to a big comeback in the finale. Down 6-0 to Tim Lincecum, KC rallied to an 11-10 win. It made up for blowing a 4-0 lead on Friday. AL:2 NL:1

The Astros and Rays played three 1-run games at the Trop. Roy Oswalt out dueled Matt Garza in the opener and Brandon Backe out pitched Scott Kazmir in the finale. In between the Rays won on Gabe Gross' pinch-hit 2-run single in the bottom of the 9th or it could have been an Astros sweep. The best part of the series was the Astros donning their old '70s uniforms. AL:1 NL:2

The Pirates made it a tough return for Cito Gaston, winning 2 of 3. The two teams were scoreless until the 12th on Friday when John McDonald made a rare error to give the Pirates a 1-0 win. The Blue Jays gave Gaston his first win since 1997 with an 8-5 win in the series finale. AL:1 NL:2

The Rangers and Nationals started their series with a 14th inning marathon, won when Elijah Dukes, who had tied the game with a home run, singled in the game winner. The Rangers got strong pitching performances, how often is that said, from Kason Gabbard and Vincente Padilla to take the next two. AL:2 NL:1

The Twins took a sweep of the NL West leading Diamondbacks, including a win against ace Brandon Webb on Sunday. Scott Baker, Livan Hernandez, and Nick Blackburn helped hold the Dbacks to just 6 runs in the series. AL:3 NL:0

Jim Riggleman got a present in Friday's 10-2 romp by the Mariners over the Braves, but it was downhill after that. Mark Texeira belted 3 home runs on Sunday for the second time in his career. AL:1 NL:2

Aubrey Huff hit a pair of home runs on Friday as the Orioles topped the Brewers for their 4th straight win. But the Brewers owned the rest of the series behind home runs from Prince Fielder and Corey Hart. AL:1 NL:2

After putting together no offense in a weekday series against the Yankees, the Padres put 6 runs on the board Friday to beat the Tigers, 6-2. They managed to score 5 and 3 the next two games, but this time the pitching let down and the Tigers took both. Justin Verlander won on Sunday, but continued his odd season, walking 5 and striking out 10 in 5.1 innings. AL:2 NL:1

The injury riddled Indians still managed to take 2 of 3 from the struggling Dodgers, dropping the finale on Sunday. The first two games went extra innings and included a 6-run 11th inning for the Indians on Saturday. C.C. Sabathia started that game, allowing 1 run over 7 innings and recorded 10 strikeouts. He also hit his first home run of the season. The big man is 2-0, 1.50 in his last 3 starts. AL:2 NL:1

The A's and Marlins played a thriller to start their series on Friday night. Dan Uggla's 2nd home run of the season tied the game in the 9th against Huston Street, but Kurt Suzuki doubled in the game winner in the 11th. Saturday's game came down to the 9th again, and again Uggla delivered, this time with a game winning 3-run double. The A's took the series with a laugher on Sunday. AL:2 NL:1

FINAL TALLY
AL: 22 NL: 20

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