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Leading Off
What's happening in the world of Major League Baseball.
September 2006
Friday September 29, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 12:04PM EST on September 29, 2006
Veteran pitcher Brad Radke led surging Minnesota to a historic 2-1 win last night in the Metrodome. His first start in over a month due to a shoulder injury, Radke threw just 57 pitches in five smooth innings allowing just one unearned run. The Twins offense didn’t catch up until Joe Mauer dramatically homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Taking the tie into extra innings, the team rallied again in the tenth on Jason Bartlett's single to deep center field with the bases loaded.
... (more)
Thursday September 28, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:23AM EST on September 28, 2006
Albert Pujols' three-run homer with two outs in the eighth led St. Louis to a 4-2 victory over San Diego last night, ending a seven-game losing streak. Yet The Cardinals lead over the Astros in the NL Central is still just 1.5 games as Houston beat Pittsburgh 7-6 in 15 innings. In dramatic fashion, the Cards' MVP candidate laced a 1-0 pitch from Cla Meredith over the left-field wall. Reliever Adam Wainwright nailed down the win in the top of the ninth, allowing one hit while striking out two.
... (more)
Wednesday September 27, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 11:17AM EST on September 27, 2006
Nick Swisher and Milton Bradley each homered in a four-run second to back Rich Harden's five shutout innings, helping the A's clinch the division title Tuesday night with a 12-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Oakland posted a very strong second-half of the season, a trait the team has displayed in recent years. Now, A's veterans Jason Kendall and Mark Kotsay will get their first taste of the postseason. ... (more)
Tuesday September 26, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:49AM EST on September 26, 2006
For the first time in the last 17 tries, Arizona beat Jason Schmidt and San Francisco 7-1 last night, bouncing the Giants from playoff contention. Edgar Gonzalez pitched seven strong innings for the Diamondbacks and got home run support from Conor Jackson and  Eric Byrnes. Gonzalez, a late-season callup, allowed just 5 five hits and one run. Entering the last week of the season with 734 home runs, Barry Bonds went 0-for-4 with four flyouts.  ... (more)
Monday September 25, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 11:05AM EST on September 25, 2006
Detroit scored nine runs in the second inning Sunday, then coasted to a playoff-clinching win in Kansas City. Rookie ace Justin Verlander scattered six hits over five innings as his offense took control of the game. Left fielder Craig Monroe sealed the outcome in the second when he hit a three-run homer to make the Tigers lead 8-0. That chased Royals starter Runelvys Hernandez, but then Brandon Inge homered on the very next pitch by reliever Todd Wellemeyer.
... (more)
Friday September 22, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 11:21AM EST on September 22, 2006
David Ortiz went deep twice to pass Jimmie Foxx's season home run mark and lead the Red Sox to a win over the Twins 6-0 Thursday night. Johan Santana picked up his first loss since the All-Star break and the Twins stayed a half-game behind AL Central-leading Detroit, which lost to Baltimore 4-3. Boston starter Josh Beckett led the way on the mound, allowing zero runs and scattering six hits over eight innings. ... (more)
Thursday September 21, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:55AM EST on September 21, 2006
Brett Myers notched his first complete game in 13 months and Chase Utley hit a two-run homer to lead the Phillies over the  Cubs 6-2 last night in Philadelphia. Myers tied his career high with 12 strikeouts in claiming his 12th win of the season. Pat Burrell had a two-RBI-night, including a solo homer in the seventh, his 26th. That made the score 6-1 and the Phils coasted to victory from there.
... (more)
Wednesday September 20, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:53AM EST on September 20, 2006
Solid pitching and explosive hitting lifted the Twins to a 7-3 win over the Red Sox last night at Fenway Park. Justin Morneau had a career-high five hits, and Jason Bartlett and Torii Hunter homered as Minnesota moved within a half-game of the Tigers in the AL Central. The Twins got their ninth win in 11 games with solid pitching from Matt Garza. Garza allowed just one hit in his first four innings and closer Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 33rd save.  ... (more)
Tuesday September 19, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:12AM EST on September 19, 2006
Nomar Garciaparra's two-run homer in the 10th lifted Los Angeles to an 11-10 victory over the San Diego Padres, moving the Dodgers back into first place. After LA tied it in the ninth with four straight homers (just the fourth time that's happened in major league history) the Padres took a 10-9 lead in the top of the 10th on Josh Bard's RBI single off Aaron Sele. But Rudy Seanez walked Kenny Lofton to begin the bottom half, and Garciaparra followed with his 18th homer deep into left field.
... (more)
Monday September 18, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:48AM EST on September 18, 2006
Frank Thomas dealt another big blow to his former team's dwindling playoff hopes, hitting a three-run homer Sunday to help the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4. Thomas homered twice and drove in seven runs in the final two games of Oakland's three-game sweep. Chicago fell four games behind Minnesota in the wild-card race and remained five games behind AL Central-leading Detroit. ... (more)
Friday September 15, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 11:04AM EST on September 15, 2006
San Diego travels to LA today for a huge series with the Dodgers after polishing off the Cincinnati Reds last night 4-2. Mike Cameron broke open a scoreless game in the seventh inning with a bases-loaded single. Starter Clay Hensley struck out a career-high seven and retired 14 in a row at one point, allowing just two runs. Closing ace Trevor Hoffman struck out two in a perfect ninth, assuring the victory. ... (more)
Thursday September 14, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 11:10AM EST on September 14, 2006
Gary Matthews Jr. hit for the cycle last night as the Rangers clobbered the Tigers 11-3. Matthews capped off the evening with a home run after hitting a single, double and triple in order. Detroit starter Justin Verlander didn't display his usual dominance, giving up 10 hits and six runs in just over four innings. Joining the Matthews hit parade was Texas left fielder Carlos Lee who belted two solo home runs.
... (more)
Wednesday September 13, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:50AM EST on September 13, 2006
Starting pitcher Runelvys Hernandez and catcher John Buck duked it out in the dugout between innings last night, but the Royals rallied for a 5-3 road win over the Cleveland Indians. Neither player would talk about the fisticuffs after the game, but Hernandez earned the victory, giving up three runs over five innings. Esteban German went 4-for-4 and scored three times for Kansas City. Joe Nelson pitched the ninth for his seventh save, helping the Royals improve on last year's road-win total of 22.
... (more)
Tuesday September 12, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:38AM EST on September 12, 2006
Ted Lilly got his career-high 13th win, allowing four hits in seven innings to lead the Toronto Blue Jays over the Seattle Mariners 6-2 Monday night. Toronto took a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Vernon Wells and Bengie Molina, then made it 5-0 in the fourth on a bloop single by Adam Lind, a squeeze bunt by John McDonald and a Reed Johnson single. Seattle rookie Jake Woods (4-3) gave up five runs, eight hits and three walks in 5 1-3 innings.
Monday September 11, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:45AM EST on September 11, 2006
Rookie Jered Weaver struck out Troy Glaus with the bases loaded to help clinch his 11th victory, and the Angels capitalized on a first-inning injury to Toronto ace Roy Halladay in a 4-3 win Sunday over the Blue Jays. Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning for his majors-leading 41st save, keeping the Angels 5½ games behind Oakland. In the fourth inning, Howie Kendrick's sac fly put the Angels ahead for good, and Chone Figgins drove in their fourth run with a single. ... (more)
Friday September 8, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:34AM EST on September 8, 2006
Cliff Lee pitched six strong innings for Cleveland, and the Indians got homers by Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez off Buehrle to beat the slumping White Sox 9-1 Thursday night. Cleveland, which has won 13 of 18, generated five runs with two-out hits, including a pair by rookie Ryan Garko, who was 3-for-3 with two walks. Andy Marte singled, double and tripled for the Indians, who had 17 hits. White Sox starter Mark Buehrle failed to get out of the fifth inning.
Thursday September 7, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:37AM EST on September 7, 2006
Shawn Green led the way, going 6 for 8 with three RBIs, Oliver Perez pitched his second career shutout for his first win since May, and the New York Mets completed a doubleheader sweep of the Atlanta Braves with an 8-0 rout Wednesday. Carlos Delgado hit a tiebreaking homer in the opener, and the Mets got an excellent outing from starter Dave Williams in a 4-1 victory. Jose Reyes hit his sixth leadoff homer of the season in the second game, a Mets record. ... (more)
Wednesday September 6, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:56AM EST on September 6, 2006
The Padres turned up the heat on the Dodgers last night, beating the Rockies 5-4 at home. San Diego pulled within a game of league-leading Los Angeles with help from Mike Piazza who reached his 12th 20-home run season with a solo shot in the second inning. Manny Alexander had two RBI for San Diego, including a run-scoring triple in the sixth that put the Padres ahead 4-3. Trevor Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth for his 37th save in 41 chances. With 473 in his career, he is five shy of matching Lee Smith's record.
... (more)
Tuesday September 5, 2006
Permalink Posted by: Skeet at 10:39AM EST on September 5, 2006
Boof Bonser gave up one run in 6 1/3 innings and Rondell White hit a go-ahead two-run homer to help the Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2-1 on Monday and retake the AL wild-card lead. Bonser's hometown is St. Petersburg. Minnesota, which moved a half-game ahead of Chicago in the AL wild-card race, has won 13 in a row against Tampa Bay dating back to 2004. Trailing 1-0 in the seventh, White gave the Twins the lead with a shot to left off Tampa Bay starter Tim Corcoran.