Projo Sox Blog

Associated Press

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT

Oakland at Boston (7:10 p.m. EDT). Red Sox All-Star Josh Beckett goes for his 10th win against the Athletics, the AL West's worst team.

MONDAY'S STARS

-Chase Utley, Shane Victorino (right) and Greg Dobbs, Phillies, homered during a 10-run first inning, leading Philadelphia to a 22-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

-Jason Marquis, Rockies, pitched eight innings for his major league-leading 11th win, leading Colorado to a 1-0 win against the Washington Nationals.

-Alex Rios, Blue Jays, hit a three-run homer and Toronto beat the New York Yankees 7-6 to avoid a four-game series sweep.

-Jarrod Washburn, Mariners, tossed a one-hitter for his ninth career complete game, leading Seattle to a 5-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

-Derrek Lee, Cubs, hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Chicago's 4-2 win against the Atlanta Braves.

-Brett Anderson, Athletics, tossed a two-hitter in a 6-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox, earning Oakland's first complete game since last July 8.

-Mike Jacobs, Royals, hit a go-ahead solo homer in the ninth inning of Kansas City's 4-3 win at the Detroit Tigers.

-Jeff Mathis, Angels, hit a three-run homer to help Los Angeles beat the Texas Rangers 9-4 in the opener of a key AL West series.

-Mark Reynolds, Diamondbacks, singled home Justin Upton with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Arizona a 6-5 win against the San Diego Padres.

-Pablo Sandoval, Giants, hit his first career grand slam in San Francisco's 5-4 win over the Florida Marlins.

OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE

Chase Utley hit a three-run homer and Shane Victorino and Greg Dobbs each had two-run shots during a 10-run first inning, helping the Philadelphia Phillies rout the Cincinnati Reds 22-1 on Monday night. The Phillies tied a club record for most runs in the first inning. It was the most runs by Philadelphia since a 26-7 win over the New York Mets at the old Veterans Stadium on June 11, 1985. The 22 runs were the most in the six-year history of Citizens Bank Park.

PITCHING PERFORMANCE

Jarrod Washburn piled up some impressive numbers during his one-hitter. The Seattle Mariners left-hander faced one batter over the minimum, issuing no walks and striking out three in his 110-pitch effort. Nick Markakis' two-out single in the fourth was Baltimore's only hit in the 5-0 loss. It was the second one-hitter at Safeco Field and 10th in franchise history.

WELLS DONE

Randy Wells pitched six solid innings to win his fourth consecutive start and the Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2 for their sixth victory in eight games. Wells (4-3) gave up two runs and seven hits. Wells is the first Cubs rookie to win four straight starts since Kerry Wood in 1998, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

SAD STATS

Since Carlos Beltran's last game on June 21, the New York Mets have gone 5-9 with a .234 batting average. They scored three runs or fewer in 10 of 14 games, including three shutouts and three one-run games. David Wright went 11 for 52 (.212) with one homer, three RBIs and 15 strikeouts over that span. In two series against Yankees and Phillies, Wright went 0 for 22 with eight strikeouts and three grounded into double plays as the Mets lost all six games.

COMPLETE MASTERY

Mike Hampton pitched seven solid innings to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hampton allowed one run and three hits to improve to 14-3 with a 2.20 ERA in 20 career starts against Pittsburgh dating to 1995. He has won 10 consecutive starts against the Pirates.

HE'S BACK

Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez returned to the lineup after missing two months with a dislocated left shoulder. He went 0 for 4 in Chicago's 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. ... Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton was 2 for 4 with a double and two strikeouts in his first game after abdominal surgery, but Texas lost 9-4 to the Los Angeles Angels.

SPEAKING

"You don't know how things are going to play out. There's no script for that one. I think what you saw out there was just pure emotion, from the fans, from myself." - former Red Sox star Nomar Garciaparra, who tipped his helmet and tapped his chest as he received a one-minute standing ovation before his first at-bat as an opponent at Fenway Park. Garciaparra singled twice and drove in the first run in the Oakland Athletics' 6-0 victory at Boston.

THIS DATE IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1923 - Lefty O'Doul, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, allowed 13 runs in the sixth inning to the Cleveland Indians, who won 27-3. In 1928, he returned to the majors as a great hitting outfielder.

1936 - The NL won its first All-Star game 4-3 at Braves Field in Boston.

1937 - Lou Gehrig drove in four runs with a home run and a double to pace the AL to an 8-3 victory over the NL in the All-Star game at Washington's Griffith Stadium. President Franklin D. Roosevelt attended the game.

1959 - At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, the first of two All-Star games played that season went to the NL, 5-4. The NL scored the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the eighth when Hank Aaron singled in a run and scored on a triple by Willie Mays.

1964 - The NL beat the AL 7-4 in the All-Star game on Johnny Callison's two-out, three-run homer off Dick Radatz in the bottom of the ninth inning at New York's Shea Stadium. The win pulled the NL even with its rivals (17-17-1) for the first time since the series began.

1982 - Harold Baines of Chicago hit three successive home runs, including a grand slam, to lead the White Sox to a 7-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

1998 - Coors Field lived up to its billing as a hitter's haven as the American League beat the Nationals 13-8 in the highest-scoring All-Star game in major league history. The 21 runs broke the record set in the AL's 11-9 win in 1954.

2003 - Shea Hillenbrand had his first three-homer game - tying a major league record by homering in three consecutive innings - and drove in seven runs as Arizona beat Colorado 14-6.

2004 - Kazuhisa Ishii pitched a one-hitter in Los Angeles' 11-0 victory over Arizona. Ishii retired his first 12 batters before giving up a leadoff walk in the fourth to Luis Gonzalez and a line single by Shea Hillenbrand. No one else reached base against Ishii, who went the distance for the second time in 72 starts.

2006 - Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner became the first player in major league history to hit five grand slams before the All-Star break when he connected in the second inning of a 9-0 win over Baltimore.

2008 - Hiroki Kuroda of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched seven perfect innings before giving up a double to Mark Teixeira in the eighth inning. Teixeira was the only baserunner allowed by Kuroda in his 91-pitch complete game 3-0 win over Atlanta.

Today's birthdays: Brandon McCarthy 26; John Buck 29.

 Tags  Baseball Today

---