Baseball Today
Oakland at the Los Angeles Angels (10:05 p.m). Justin Duchscherer, 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA, leads the Athletics against Dustin Moseley, 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA, in a matchup between the top two teams in the AL West.
STARS
- Geovany Soto, Cubs, hit a pair of three-run homers in a 19-5 rout of the Brewers.
- Andy Sonnanstine, Rays, went eight innings and gave up just six hits and a run in an 8-1 win over the Orioles. He struck out five and walked two to improve to 4-1.
- Placido Polanco, Tigers, hit a pair of solo home runs in a 6-2 win over the Yankees.
- Chad Billingsley, Dodgers, scattered three hits and a run over seven innings in a 13-1 rout of the Marlins. He struck out eight and walked four to win for the first time this season.
- Rick Ankiel, Cardinals, went 3-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs in a 5-2 win over the Reds.
- Nate McLouth, Pirates, went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored in a 13-1 rout of the Mets.
FIVE ALIVE!
Cliff Lee (5-0) won his fifth straight start, leading Cleveland over Seattle 8-3. His consecutive scoreless innings streak ended at 27 on Wladimir Balentien's three-run homer in the seventh, which also raised his ERA from 0.28 to 0.96 - still lowest in the majors.
SO CLOSE
Washington beat Atlanta 3-2 in the 12th inning to send Atlanta to another one-run loss. The Braves are the first team since the 2000 Houston Astros to lose their first nine one-run games.
SO CLOSE, PART 2
Manny Ramirez slid in just ahead of the tag on Jason Varitek's single in the ninth, giving Boston its second straight win in its last at-bat against Toronto. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays Tuesday night on Kevin Youkilis' RBI single to center in the ninth.
LITTLE HELP
Aaron Harang allowed three runs in six innings - a quality start - but the Reds still lost to St. Louis 5-2. Harang (1-4) has worked at least six innings in each of his seven starts and has little to show for his 2.98 ERA because the Reds have totaled 23 runs in his outings.
AILING
Yankees starter Phil Hughes was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday night due to a strained right oblique muscle. ... Braves RHP Jeff Bennett visited by manager Bobby Cox and a trainer after his nose began bleeding on the mound. Cox said Bennett was OK. ... Texas RHP Jason Jennings is headed to the disabled list with muscle soreness in his forearm. ... An 8-year-old boy was struck above the eye by David Eckstein's foul liner in the fourth in the Red Sox-Orioles game. He was taken to Children's Hospital and was expected to make a full recovery.
SUSPENDED
Giants minor league catcher Eliezer Alfonzo was suspended 50 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, the first player penalized this year under Major League Baseball's drug program. Alfonzo is on San Francisco's 40-man roster so he falls under the major league program even though he has played all season at Triple-A Fresno.
SPEAKING
``He's 6-10. By the time he winds up and throws he's like, half way to the plate.'' - Phillies slugger Ryan Howard, on the difficulty in facing San Diego starter Chris Young after a 4-2 loss to the Padres.