Game Recap

He sure doesn't look like Superman, but Ryan Madson sure is pitching like him.

With a fastball reaching 97 to 98 mph in the ninth inning, Madson pitched a two-inning save to preserve the Phillies 7-4 victory Tuesday over the Houston Astros.

Phillies rookie left-hander J.A. Happ improved to 12-4 with the win.

Coupled with the Florida Marlins' 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies' magic number dropped from three to one.

A victory tonight and the Phillies will capture their third-straight NL East crown.

"We made too many mistakes. A lot of bad things happened that we can't continue to allow. We've got to do a better job of handling the details of the running game."-- Jim Riggleman, Sept. 16, 2009.

THE RESULT: Poor baserunning, yet another botched squeeze and a meatball from a reliever for a grand slam resulted in the Washington Nationals 95th loss of the season. They haven't all come at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies, but it seems like half of them have.

The Red Sox sent Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mound last night hoping to roll a seven, but with the knowledge they might roll snake-eyes.

The ‘pitching surplus’ the front office believed it had stocked last winter had turned out to be a mirage due to ineffectiveness (Penny and Smoltz) and injury (Matsuzaka and Wakefield).

The rapid maturation of Clay Buchholz had helped plug the dike, but the recent struggles of ace Josh Beckett caused many to question whether this team could make a run deep into October.

After getting destroyed by some of the best teams in the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays finally found a team they could beat—the Baltimore Orioles. They didn't make it easy, rallying from an early 4-1 deficit to pull off an 8-4 win.

David Price overcame a four run first inning to pitch seven strong innings for Tampa Bay and secure his 8th victory of the season.

Reid Brignac not only powered the offense for the Rays, but made the defensive play of the game robbing a base hit. Brignac went 4-for-4 with a home run, a single, two doubles and three RBI.

Yesterday, the Mets were down one run going into the ninth inning.  They were even down to their final out of the game.  All signs pointed to another loss to the Phillies.  Their fifth loss in a row.

Then David Wright came up to bat with a man on, and delivered what could be one of the best wins of the season, belting a two-run, go-ahead home run into the left field stands to put the Mets ahead.

The beginning of the game did not go as well as the end.

Jorge Cantu, Cody Ross, and Gaby Sanchez propelled the Florida Marlins back into the playoff race last night in a big way, launching doubles and homers into the field and stands of Land Shark Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 38,000 who had withstood a two-and-a-half hour rain delay at the start of the game.

The Lowell Spinners' 2009 season, and their quest for a New-York Penn League Championship, ended Saturday night in Staten Island, NY, as the Yankees used a five-run second inning to coast to a 5-1 victory, winning the rubber game of a three-game playoff series and sending the Spinners home for the offseason.

The loss ended a record-setting season for Lowell, the Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.  The team won the most games in the franchise's 14-year history and several players broke individual franchise records in the process. 

For an inning or two Saturday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs could smell their fifth straight win, which would have tied their season high. Instead, the Cincinnati Reds beat them 7-5 after a two-run rally in the top of the ninth against Cubs closer Carlos Marmol.

The Cubs fell behind early, when three Cubs' errors gave Cincinnati a pair of unearned second-inning runs. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Ryan Theriot each made miscues during the nightmare inning, and neither of the two runs allowed in that frame by starter Randy Wells were earned.

HOOVER, Ala.—The box score would indicate a pitching duel reminiscent of the night before. But what really transpired Friday night at Regions Park was a pair of back-to-back-to-back missed opportunities by the Barons, followed by a battle within of who could care less. And a visiting club that was happy to mow over an uninspired home team.

There was a baseball game played on Friday night. The Yankees lost it 10-4 to the Orioles. Truth be told, nobody cared.

Honestly, nobody is going to remember the result, not now nor down the road. Baseball fans are only going to remember that on Sept. 11, 2009, they saw baseball history.

It took 90 minutes to get Friday night's game between the Yankees and Orioles going because of a rain delay, but the fans in the Bronx stuck around to witness a chance to see Derek Jeter surpass Lou Gehrig for the all-time Yankees hit record of 2,721.