chapman_hanigan
Nine innings, nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentlemen of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.
1. Call it a "come-get" (instead of a comeback): The Cincinnati Reds escaped St. Louis with a victory, avoiding what would have been a depressing sweep by holding off the Cardinals 9-8 in 13 innings. Dusty Baker's bunch appeared to be cruising in the fifth inning after building an 8-0 lead on home runs by Chris Heisey, Jay Bruce, Fred Lewis and Scott Rolen, but their offense shut down and St. Louis' awoke.
Jon Jay hit a home run against Francisco Cordero in the ninth to tie the score for the Cards, but pinch-hitter Ramon Hernandez drove in the lead run with an RBI double.
"I don't sound happy because I'm just tired," Baker said. "That was a two-game game. We couldn't go five (games) back."
Albert Pujols went 1 for 6, including an RBI single in the Cards' five-run seventh, in his first action since Miracle Wrist happened.
2. See ball, hit ball, win game: Marlins slugger Mike Stanton struggles with blurred vision, especially at night, which tells you something about how Danys Baez has been pitching when Stanton takes him deep in the 10th inning for a game-ending home run in Florida's 7-6 victory against the Phillies.
3. Nate the Great: Nate Schierholtz lived up to his nickname by having his first two-homer game, including a game-winner in the 14th inning that sent the San Francisco Giants past the Padres 6-5.
4. The beer we'll pour...: Derek Jeter moved to within three hits of 3,000, but the night belonged to rookie home-run guy Lonnie Chisenhall, lanky pitcher Justin Masterson and Lowenbrau as the Cleveland Indians beat the New York Yankees 5-3 to take two of three.
5. Tomahawk choppin': {YSP:MORE}
The Braves pulled within three games of first place in the NL East (the Phillies) after trampling over the Rockies 9-1 behind the arm of one Jair Jurrjens. (Two Jair Jurrjens and they win the East for sure.)
6. Victory hugs, but only after we squeeze: The Nationals kept on squeezing the Cubs until they died, winning 5-4 on Wilson Ramos' second-try bunt to score Michael Morse.
7. Ol' Reliable: What can we learn from Boston's 6-4 victory against the Blue Jays? The Red Sox should just throw Tim Wakefield five times and call it a rotation.
8. Showcase: Francisco Rodriguez notched career save No. 290 in the Mets' 5-3 victory at Los Angeles. K-Rod might fetch a valuable prospect on the trade market.
9. Chen and the art of beating the White Sox: Kansas City won 4-1 at Chicago, with left-hander Bruce Chen pitching with the usual amount of dominance.
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