Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Juice: D-backs extend NL West lead to five games

Nine innings and nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.

1. Charmed snakes: The Arizona Diamondbacks keep rolling and might be taking the NL West with them. The D-backs' lineup got fired up after Justin Upton�was plunked by an Alex White pitch, fueling a four-run sixth inning that provided Daniel Hudson with plenty of offense.

Hudson pitched seven shutout innings, allowing three hits with eight strikeouts.�That pushed Arizona to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rockies, giving them a seventh straight victory and a five-game lead over the San Francisco Giants.

2. Mauled by Cubs: The Giants needed a win to keep up with the D-backs, and Tim Lincecum pitching against the Chicago Cubs looked to get them one. But Randy Wells went the distance, allowing only two hits with seven strikeouts. Meanwhile, Lincecum was battered for five runs in six innings, including a career-worst three home runs, leading to a 7-0 loss for the Giants.

3. He hit it there, all right: Mike Carp crushed a ball to the Hit It Here Cafe in Safeco Field's right field second deck for a two-run homer. Some lucky fan got a baseball to go with his burger and fries. That made all the difference, as�the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-3.

4. Bad to the Max: Max Scherzer killed any talk of the Detroit Tigers having a second ace pitcher. Scherzer was pounded for seven runs and 10 hits (including back-to-back homers by Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar) in just three innings, as the Kansas City Royals coasted to a 9-5 win. Right-hander Luke Hochevar got the win for K.C., despite giving up five runs in seven innings.

5. Fashionably good: Cole Hamels returned to the Philadelphia Phillies' rotation, and looked good doing it. Hamels struck out seven Cincinnati Reds in six innings, allowing one run on two hits. Shane Victorino brought his boomstick out for a two-run homer in the eighth, helping the Phillies win,�3-2.

6. Buehrle loves Twinkies: The Chicago White Sox gained a game on the Tigers in the AL Central, thanks to Mark Buehrle's 7 2/3 shutout innings. Tyler Flowers drove in two runs for all the offense needed for�a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins. By the way, Buehrle has an 0.65 ERA in four starts versus the Twins this season.

7. Cy Kershaw? Clayton Kershaw continued his strong case for winning the NL Cy Young Award, throwing a complete game and allowing only one run. That gave Kershaw 17 wins on the season, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to�a 4-1 win over the San Diego Padres.

Getting Sunday off seemed to help Andre Ethier and his sore knee, as he went 3-for-4 with a RBI.

8. Not done yet: Staying right behind the White Sox in the AL Central, the Cleveland Indians took advantage of the Tigers' loss with a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics. David Huff allowed no runs in six innings, while Carlos Santana's homer in the sixth inning provided the margin of victory.

9. Double the fun: Playing a doubleheader due to Hurricane Irene, the New York Mets got enough good pitching in both games. R.A. Dickey threw seven scoreless innings in the opener and Dillon Gee gave up only one run in the nightcap, allowing the Mets to pull off a doubleheader sweep (2-1, 5-1) over the Florida Marlins.

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