Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Juice: Sabathia wins 19th, Bautista hits 40th homer

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

1. Up next is 20: CC Sabathia won his 19th game Sunday for the New York Yankees, striking out 10 Toronto Blue Jays in 7 1/3 innings. He also held Jose Bautista hitless in his first three at-bats.

After Sabathia left the game, Bautista teed off on Rafael Soriano for his 40th homer. It's the second straight year Joey Bats has hit at least that many homers. With a month to go, can he get to 50 again?

But Derek Jeter tied a career-high with five RBIs, which was more than enough to get the Yankees a 9-3 win.

2. Under protest: Umpire Joe West apparently has his own interpretation of what can be reviewed by replay. West took a sixth-inning double ? not a home run ? away from Hunter Pence, ruling that fan interference prevented Florida Marlins outfielder Bryan Petersen. That might well have cost the Philadelphia Phillies a win, as they didn't score any runs following West's call and went on to lose 5-4 in 14 innings.

3. Sweep averted: Brooks Conrad tied the score at 3-3 for the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning on a broken-bat single. That denied the Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw his 18th win, despite allowing three runs and striking out 1o in seven innings.

Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless ninth, extending his streak to 36 1/3 innings, leading to Martin Prado's two-out, walk-off single off Blake Hawksworth for a 4-3 win that prevented a three-game sweep.

4. Still standing: Is the AL West the last race remaining? If so, the Los Angeles Angels are keeping it alive. Joel Pineiro allowed one run over seven innings, and Bobby Abreu hit his seventh homer of the season, helping the Angels to beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1. Kevin Slowey took the loss, despite allowing only two runs.

5. Stick the fork in: If this was the last stand for the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central this season, Ozzie Guillen probably feels a lot like George Custer right about now. The Detroit Tigers brought out the heavy artillery, pounding the White Sox for 24 hits in an 18-2 bombing. Slugger Miguel Cabrera and Andy Dirks each had four RBIs (and Dirks didn't even start), while Mark Buehrle and Shane Lindsay both gave up seven earned runs.

6. Get a fork ready here, too: Cody Ross hit a leadoff homer, but that completed the scoring for the San Francisco Giants. Daniel Hudson allowed three runs over seven innings, and Willie Bloomquist drove in two runs ? more than the entire Giants lineup ? leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-1 win.

The D-Backs now have a seven-game lead in the NL West ? not what the Giants needed this weekend.

7. There he goes again: John Lackey allowed six runs, three of them coming in a seven-run sixth inning for the Texas Rangers. Lefty Felix Doubront couldn't put out the blaze Lackey started, allowing another four runs. And Michael Bowden served up ninth-inning homers to Mike Napoli and Ian Kinsler. Not a good pitching day for the Boston Red Sox, who took an 11-4 loss.

8. Last hurrah: If the St. Louis Cardinals still had a chance in the NL Central, losing two of three to the Cincinnati Reds probably killed those hopes. Rookie Juan Francisco went 4-for-5, including a two-out RBI single off Fernando Salas in the 10th inning. Francisco Cordero followed up by retiring three straight Cards ? including Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday ? for his 30th save, closing out a 3-2 win for the Reds.

9. Duncan power: With the White Sox stumbling, the Cleveland Indians are the last challenger to the Tigers in the AL Central. Shelley Duncan hit two homers and drove in five runs, while Chris Perez shut down a Kansas City Royals rally for his 32rd save. The Indians hung on for a 9-6 win, and host the Tigers for a three-game series beginning Monday.

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