HOUSTON: The Astros are struggling, losers of six of seven, something LHP Andy Pettitte is used to seeing from the up-and-down ballclub. ``We've had stretches like this since I've been here,'' he said. ``When we go south, we can really go south.'' ... The Astros gave 2B Craig Biggio the day off, following their practice of resting him during day games after night contests. ... 3B Morgan Ensberg was also out of the lineup, hoping the break would help him bust out of a slump. Ensberg is batting .241. ... RHP Roy Oswalt is expected to start Saturday at Texas, instead of Friday as previously scheduled.
DETROIT: After his team swept Houston and St. Louis at home, Tigers manager Jim Leyland headed back to his house in Pittsburgh, where his wife and children still live. Leyland planned to play golf at Chartiers Country Club, where he's a member, with coaches Gene Lamont, Lloyd McClendon and some close friends. The Tigers start a three-game series Friday at Pittsburgh, where Leyland got his start as a major league manager and spent 11 seasons. ``I'm looking forward to going home, but I'm not looking forward to playing the Pirates,'' he said. ``I'm sure (the fans will) boo me, but I love them, and I understand.'' ... The Tigers' record of 54-25 is one game behind the 79-game mark of the 1984 World Series champions and the Ty Cobb-led 1911 team in franchise history.
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ATLANTA: The Braves fell to 6-23 since May 29 and 5-21 during June. Six of Atlanta's last 11 losses have been by one run, two of them in extra innings. ... Chipper Jones had three of Atlanta's 11 hits. ... The no-decision was the eighth this season for John Smoltz, who has left with the lead in six of those games. ... Jeff Francoeur leads the majors with 32 two-out RBIs, but he left the bases loaded in the 12th when he lined out.
NEW YORK: The victory was the 20th comeback win for the Yankees this season. It was their eighth win in their last at-bat, and it improved their record to 5-1 in extra-inning games. ... The game-winning homer was the fifth of Alex Rodriguez's career and his first since Aug. 4, 2004, against Oakland. He became the 34th player to reach 100 home runs with the Yankees.
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LOS ANGELES: The Dodgers dropped to 4-8 in interleague play this season and have lost their past 15 games on the road against AL teams dating to last year. Going into Wednesday, the AL's interleague record this season was 117-70. Manager Grady Little doesn't have an explanation for the dominance. ``I think if we run into any of those (AL teams) in the World Series, we'll have them right where we want them: overconfident,'' he said with a smirk. ... LHP Odalis Perez is 0-3 with a 14.04 ERA in his past four starts. ... Rookie RF Matt Kemp went 0-for-3 with a walk and was 0-for-10 in the series. ``We've got to get him over this little hump,'' Little said. ``At this point in his life, he's getting some valuable schooling. He'll learn from it and get better from it.'' ... The Dodgers fell to 10-15 in June.
MINNESOTA: Shannon Stewart (foot) is on track to be activated from the disabled list before Friday's game, and Rondell White (shoulder) will probably be placed on the DL at that time to make room on the roster. With rookie Jason Kubel playing well in left field, Stewart - who has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester the past week - is expected to be used mostly as a DH. ... Joe Mauer, who raised his major league-leading average to .392, has climbed the All-Star voting list for AL catchers. But as of Tuesday he was still in third, well behind the leader, Boston's Jason Varitek. Manager Ron Gardenhire has spoken with Chicago's Ozzie Guillen, who will choose the reserves. And the Twins - who have several other viable candidates for the game, including pitchers Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano and first baseman Justin Morneau - are confident Mauer won't be overlooked. ``I'd like to be there,'' Mauer said. ``We'll see what happens.''
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PHILADELPHIA: The absence of Brett Myers, coupled with Wednesday's day-night doubleheader, left Phillies manager Charlie Manuel struggling to find a starter for Friday. Jon Lieber, who's been on the disabled list since May 30 with strained left groin, will not be ready to return for his Sunday start. Manuel said he'll probably name starters for both days on Thursday. ... Pat Burrell snapped an 0-for-18 hitless streak with a two-run homer, his 19th, in the eighth inning of the first game. He had 11 strikeouts during the drought. ... Philadelphia played its second doubleheader of the season. The Phillies split with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Philadelphia on April 9.
BALTIMORE: Brian Roberts hit his first homer of the season in the first game of the doubleheader. It was Roberts' first home run since Aug. 30. ... Jeff Conine got two hits to improve to 6-for-10 over his last three games, lifting his batting average from .226 to .245. ... LHP Kurt Birkins allowed two home runs in the eighth inning of the first game, the first he has yielded in 23 innings. The rookie entered the game with a 1.23 ERA and finished at 2.78. ... The Orioles' previous doubleheader was Oct. 2, 2004, when they were swept by Boston at Camden Yards. Baltimore last swept a doubleheader on Sept. 29 that year.
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NEW YORK: C Paul Lo Duca was given a bit of a rest by manager Willie Randolph, batting second as the DH. ``It gives him an opportunity to stay in the lineup,'' Randolph said. ... OF Cliff Floyd, on the 15-day disabled list since June 7 with a sprained left ankle, is ``getting close,'' Randolph said. ``He'll probably go to Brooklyn (Class-A) to play tomorrow. I want to get my big guy back as soon as he can.'' ... Pedro Martinez was given another standing ovation by a half-full Fenway Park crowd as he made his way out to the bullpen to warm up 30 minutes before the start. He also got an ovation after the first inning of Tuesday's game as the Red Sox showed video highlights of his career with the team.
BOSTON: RHP Matt Clement, on the DL since June 15 with a shoulder strain, threw about 30 pitches in a side session Tuesday that went ``very well,'' manager Terry Francona said. ``He was very excited about it.'' The plan is for Clement to play long toss Thursday. ... SS Alex Gonzalez has raised his average from .219 to .267 in his last 13 games, going 21-for-51. ``I think confidence plays a huge factor in it,'' Francona said. ``I don't think he's changed his approach.'' ... Wily Mo Pena will hit with the Red Sox tomorrow and is expected to go to Class-A Lowell for a few days before continuing his rehab at Triple-A Pawtucket. Pena had left wrist surgery June 1 and might be back with the team after the All-Star break, two weeks ahead of the original schedule.
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TAMPA BAY: C Dioner Navarro, acquired Tuesday in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, started Wednesday's game. ... RHP Jae Seo, the other player acquired in the trade for LHP Mark Hendrickson, C Toby Hall and cash, was delayed arriving in Miami due to the weather. ... Seo entered in the fifth inning, becoming the 22nd pitcher used by the Devil Rays this season. ... The Devil Rays will make their first trip to RFK Stadium in Washington to play the Nationals on Friday.
FLORIDA: LHP Dontrelle Willis (4-7, 4.05) is looking forward to pitching against some former teammates when he faces the Red Sox on Friday. Boston 3B Mike Lowell, SS Alex Gonzalez and RHP Josh Beckett were all teammates with Willis until they were traded by Florida after last season. ``I'm happy to see them doing well,'' Willis said. ``They helped me a lot when they were here.'' ... 2B Dan Uggla, sidelined since June 20 with a tight right hamstring, plans to start Friday against the Red Sox. ``I can't wait,'' he said. Uggla, batting .313 with 13 homers, hit in 30 of his last 37 games before the injury. ... 1B Mike Jacobs, nursing a sore right ankle, did not start.
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SEATTLE: C Kenji Johjima had hit safely in all 11 interleague games this season. He also led the majors in interleague homers with seven. ... Johjima's two-run, first-inning homer Tuesday snapped a streak of 12 consecutive solo homers by Seattle. ... RF Ichiro Suzuki had hit safely in four straight since his 20-game hitting streak ended June 22 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... 3B Andre Beltre was on a 10-game hitting streak, batting .395 (17-for-43) during that span to lift his average to .255. ... Seattle had been successful on 15 of its last 16 stolen-base attempts dating to June 6. ... The Mariners reached the .500 mark Tuesday for the first time since April 1, when they were 6-6. Last year, after a 12-12 start, Seattle never got back to .500.
ARIZONA: RHP Juan Cruz made a rehab start for Triple-A Tucson in Portland, allowing one run and four hits over 3 1-3 innings with four strikeouts. Cruz, on the disabled list with a sore right shoulder since June 4, threw 41 of his 70 pitches for strikes. Should he not experience any complications from Wednesday's outing, he is slated to start for Arizona on Monday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. ... LF Luis Gonzalez halted the longest homerless drought of his career - 204 at-bats spread across 56 games - with a three-run homer in the first inning of Tuesday's 11-7 loss to Seattle. Gonzalez's previous homer was April 20 against San Francisco. ... The Diamondbacks had been outscored 82-35 in the first inning this season, including the Mariners' five-run first inning Tuesday. ... During their 3-18 skid, Arizona had been outscored 56-24 in the first three innings, including 36-9 in the first.
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OAKLAND: 2B Mark Ellis, on the DL since May 31 with a broken right thumb, is swinging well in batting practice and is expected to be activated on Friday, manager Ken Macha said. ... Frank Thomas took batting practice again and swung well, Macha said.
SAN DIEGO: Backup catcher Josh Bard was suspended one game for his aggressive actions during a game against Seattle on Sunday and was fined an undisclosed amount by baseball's chief disciplinarian, Bob Watson. Bard appealed and was eligible to play Wednesday night against Oakland. Bard was ejected Sunday by plate umpire Paul Nauert after taking a called third strike in a 9-4 loss to the Mariners. After being tossed, Bard argued with Nauert and pointed his bat at the umpire's face. The catcher had to be restrained by third base coach Glenn Hoffman.
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CHICAGO: With no designated hitter in the NL, manager Ozzie Guillen has been forced to bench one of his top bats - either Paul Konerko or Jim Thome - during the first two games of a three-game series in Pittsburgh. Konerko didn't start Tuesday against RHP Ian Snell, while Thome wasn't in the lineup Wednesday against Pirates LHP Paul Maholm. ... RHP Cliff Politte, out since June 4 with shoulder tendinitis, could return as early as Wednesday, with RHP Agustin Montero likely to return to the minors.
PITTSBURGH: 1B Sean Casey sat out Wednesday night with a bruised shoulder. He is listed as day-to-day, but isn't expected to be ready to start again until at least Friday. He was hurt during a rundown play Tuesday in which he tagged out Jim Thome at third base - not first. ... LHP Oliver Perez on the Pirates' decision to demote him to the bullpen: ``I've always been a starting pitcher, so as soon as I can I want to go back to starting games.'' Perez pitched in relief only once in his first 105 career appearances.
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WASHINGTON: Manager Frank Robinson endured a sleepless night after Washington's 6-0 loss to Toronto on Tuesday. Robinson said he stayed awake thinking of new line-up combinations for his team's struggling offence. Washington has lost six of seven and is averaging just three runs per game over that stretch. Robinson is considering moving Alfonso Soriano out of the lead-off spot and replacing him with Jose Vidro or Nick Johnson. ... Outfielder Jose Guillen plans to lower his hands while batting to try and end his recent batting slump. Guillen is hitting just .095 (2-21) over his past seven games.
TORONTO: Alex Rios was held out of the line-up on Wednesday after fouling a ball off his left shin the night before. ``It ballooned up on him pretty good,'' said manager John Gibbons. ``We'll let him stay off it.'' Rios is day-to-day. ... Gibbons said rookie Ty Taubenheim (1-4, 4.73) could earn another start if he pitches well against Philadelphia on Saturday. Taubenheim is starting for Josh Towers (1-9, 9.11), who was outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday.
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KANSAS CITY: The Royals' comeback for a 9-8 win in their series opener in Cincinnati was a benchmark victory. It maked the first time since May 18, 2004, that the Royals overcame a four-run deficit and won on the road. They had lost their last 78 road games when they fell behind by four. ... John Buck's solo homer in the second inning Wednesday was his fourth in interleague play this season. ... By splitting their first 24 games in June, the Royals gave themselves a chance to have their first winning month since July 2003, when they went 15-11.
CINCINNATI: The Reds picked up the option for 2008 on general manager Wayne Krivsky's contract and extended the contract of manager Jerry Narron for two years through 2008. ... Austin Kearns will keep trying to throw runners out at first base on hard-hit balls to right field. Kearns tried to throw out Mark Grudzielanek in the series opener, and barely missed getting him. ``I'm not trying to do it for show,'' Kearns said Wednesday. ``I'm trying to get an out.'' Kearns has tried it in the minors as well as the majors, but never succeeded.
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CLEVELAND: Ben Broussard started at 1B for the first time in the series and Travis Hafner, who has had bone chips removed from his left elbow, got a day off. ``It's a chronic thing with him,'' manager Eric Wedge said. ``It's been barking a bit.'' ... LHP C.C. Sabathia, at 25 years and 341 days, is the youngest pitcher to win his 75th game since Greg Maddux, 25 years and 175 days, in 1991. He allowed a run in eight innings against the Cardinals on Tuesday. ... Despite a 35-41 record, the Indians had outscored the opposition 410-383. They had scored nine or more runs 16 times, one more than both the Yankees and Mets. ... OF Jason Michaels, on the DL with a sprained right ankle, worked out for the first time on Wednesday, but Wedge said he's not ready to begin a rehab assignment yet.
ST. LOUIS: RHP Braden Looper threw two perfect innings Tuesday night with two strikeouts, and has allowed one earned run in his last 15 1-3 innings. After a slow start perhaps related to offseason shoulder surgery, Looper had pared his ERA to 3.03. ... Manager Tony La Russa on the team's eight-game losing streak: ``We're in a rut now where we're playing opposite games. We're pitching, we're not hitting and vice versa. Clubs run through that and if you're any good you solve it quicker.'' ... The Cardinals had not homered in four games, and had only one in the last six. They'd been outhomered 22-8 in the last 11 games, statistics that La Russa minimized. ``I don't think you look at stats like home run differential, those stats don't tell the story,'' the manager said. ``One thing that happens when we win is we pitch well.''
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COLORADO: The Rockies had been going through considerable growing pains in recent years because of the front office's philosophy of improving the team through the farm system and having the patience to do so. That decision has paid off handsomely with the emergence and maturity of such everyday players as SS Clint Barmes, RF Brad Hawpe, 3B Garrett Atkins and LF Matt Holliday. ``As long as you believe in your players - and you've got good players - you've got to give them the freedom to play,'' manager Clint Hurdle said. ``With each day their confidence grows, their learning experience gets better, and they will have more of a library to pull from when they deal with some situations. It can be tough at times - and we're not through it yet completely. We've got days in front of us that we're still going to have to battle and let these guys figure some things out on their own.'' ... The young core of talent in the Rockies' lineup has put the team in a position to challenge for a postseason berth. The only time the franchise qualified for the playoffs was 1995, when they made it in as a wild card two seasons before Todd Helton came along. ``We've got guys who are a year older now and a year better, and they're only going to improve as their confidence grows,'' said Helton, who has never batted less than .315 in any of his eight full big league seasons. ``I enjoy being around these guys. They play the game right and they get along great. It's been a fun clubhouse to come to every day. And for me, that's the most important thing.''
LOS ANGELES: Utilityman Chone Figgins, who is batting .253 with a team-high 11 errors, did not start for only the fifth time this season. Manager Mike Scioscia decided his most versatile player needed a night off. ``I don't like days off anytime, but it's his choice, not mine. He's the manager, and whatever he says goes,'' said Figgins, who led the majors last year with 62 stolen bases and needs three more to join Gary Pettis and Luis Polonia as the only players in franchise history with three consecutive seasons of 30 or more steals. ``I'm not fatigued, I'm just hitting in bad luck. I've kind of looked at the numbers of all the leadoff guys around the league, and I'm not that far behind them in runs scored. So, on a personal side, I think I'm doing all right. The average isn't there, but for some reason, I'm just not getting any breaks. I'm having good at-bats and going deep into the count, but I just can't find any holes consistently.'' ... Scioscia tweaked his lineup for the second straight game. Juan Rivera, playing LF because of Garret Anderson's stiff back, batted second for the second time this season and 3B Maicer Izturis hit leadoff for the second time. ``Mike does a good job with the lineup,'' 1B Robb Quinlan said. ``But when you do a lineup for so long and it's not getting the results you want, then you definitely need to do it. And I think everyone in here agrees. I mean, anytime you can shake things up a little bit, it can always help.''
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TEXAS: Manager Buck Showalter, who along with three of his players was ejected Tuesday night, was trying to go forward after the controversial ending to the game a night before. ``My thought is move on,'' he said. ... RHP reliever Scott Feldman, from nearby Burlingame High School and the College of San Mateo, pitched in the Bay Area for the first time in the majors Tuesday night - going 1-3 of an inning. ``It was special,'' he said. ``I left tickets for my family. I didn't really get to see everybody because I was in a hurry to get in the game.'' ... RHP John Wasdin, recovering from a sprained right thumb, will pitch Saturday against the Houston Astros.
SAN FRANCISCO: SS Omar Vizquel was a late addition to the lineup after he gave Felipe Alou the thumbs-up sign that he was ready to play after missing Tuesday's game with muscular tightness in his back, an injury he also had several years back while with the Cleveland Indians. ``I feel good enough to play,'' Vizquel said. ``I didn't do anything yesterday and today when I woke up I felt OK.'' Vizquel, who is 39, was hurt diving for a ball by Oakland's Bobby Crosby during Sunday's game against the Athletics and stayed in for three innings before leaving. ``I dove late for the ball and landed funny,'' he said. ``Six or seven years ago, I landed the same way and had the same pain.'' ... The Giants are 13-8 this season when both Moises Alou and 41-year-old slugger Barry Bonds are in the starting lineup. Yet they have played only 30 games together dating to last season.
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MILWAUKEE: The Brewers scratched Thursday's starter Doug Davis because of a stiff back and will now send Geremi Gonzalez to the mound for the series finale against the Cubs. Rick Helling will be ready to come in if Gonzalez tires. ``Since his last start, he locked up,'' Brewers manager Ned Yost said of Davis. ``It's gotten better but not the point where he can make his start.'' ... Rookie LHP Zach Jackson has impressed Yost with his ability to give the Brewers a chance to win his starts. ``He keeps us in the game,'' Yost said. ``That's important for all our starters. He's got some intangibles.'' ... OF Gabe Gross made his third consecutive start in center field in the place of OF Brady Clark. Yost pointed to Gross' power when asked about the lineup. ``He's swinging the bat good,'' said Yost. ``Gabe is driving the ball. If you make a mistake to him, he can hit it out of the park.'' ... Bill Hall was 1-for-11 in the series before his two-run homer in the eighth. He has 16 for the season, one shy of his career high set last year. ... C Chad Moeller had a rough game. He was 0-for-4, struck out twice, hit into a double play and couldn't hold on to Geoff Jenkins peg from right field field as Jacque Jones scored the go-ahead run.
CHICAGO: Closer Ryan Dempster met with manager Dusty Baker and pitching coach Larry Rothschild before Wednesday's game. The words of encouragement must have worked because after giving up four runs in the ninth Tuesday night to blow the save - thanks to two errors - he closed out Wednesday's victory and will remain the closer. ``(Baker) wanted to make sure I was all right. I was frustrated yesterday and he wanted to make sure if he gave the ball to me, I wasn't going to crumble,'' Dempster said, calling it a ``good talk.'' Dempster is 12-for-16 on saves. ... CF Juan Pierre had some fun with his first homer since last July that spanned 643 at-bats. ``It's so long between mine, I tend to forget,'' Pierre said as he offered that he had two last season. Asked who has gone longer without a homer than him, he was told Houston's Willy Taveras. ``I'll cell phone him, then,'' Pierre said. Taveras has gone 657 at-bats between homers. . ... The Cubs got their first win at home since May 30. ... C Michael Barrett, who has one game left on his 10-game suspension for punching the White Sox's A.J. Pierzynski, watched Wednesday's game from the press box.
Braves @ Yankees
It was a good pitchers duel for most of the games as Smoltz and Wang were crusing pretty much through the innnigs. The game went extras tied at 2, and seem to look like the Braves were going to get a win when Marcus Giles hit a solo homerun in the top of the 12th to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. Alex Rodriguez had other plans, he hit a walk of 2 run homerun to give the Yankees the win 4-3.
Astros @ Tigers
What can I say, no support for the Astros pitchers yet again. If they think Roger Clemens is going to help this team in the stretch run, those batters better start driving in runs. Clemens got 0 run support yesterday, and Pettitte today, 0 run support. Tigers took this game 5-0. Justin Verlander pitched a gem, only giving up 3 hits in the game.
Rockies @ Angels
Going to fast forward to the 8th inning where the Rockies went into it tied up with the Angels 2-2. With Scot Shields pitching the 8th, you figured it would end still tied 2-2. Nope, Shield had problems, throwing 40 pitches and facing 9 batters in the inning. Rockies scored 4 runs in the inning and went up 6-2 in the game. Rockies won 6-2.
Jim Leyland still has kids that live at home?? That dude looks older then dirt.what did he do pull an Anna Nicole and have some kids? Kinda of interesting that the past 4 pirate managers will all be in uniform for this series.
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Notes from Wednesday's games
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