Milwaukee Brewers 4 Chicago Cubs 3
Don't worry, Cub fans, even eventual World Series champions blow leads from time to time. Hell, Kerry Wood blows them 43% of the time. The Brewers rallied for three runs in the 9th inning off of Wood to hand him his third blown save in seven chances, and more importantly, pull within a game of the unstoppable force that is Chicago Cubs baseball. Ryan Braun did most of the damage for Milwaukee, hitting a solo homer in the 6th inning, and then knocking in two more runs with a bases loaded double in the aforementioned 9th inning. "It doesn't get any better than that, especially rivalry atmosphere and having a chance to quiet the fans down a little bit. This is the type of game that we wouldn't have necessarily won last year," Braun said. "I think having gone through the experience and knowing how to control our emotions in a situation like that helped." Of course, of equal importance was a double hit by Gabe Kapler before Braun came up, that Alfonso Soriano probably could have caught in his first game back from the disabled list. It also led to one of Lou's first blowups of 2008, when he was asked if he ever considered moving Reed Johnson to left in place of Soriano late in the game. "You damn right I thought about it," an agitated Piniella said. "You think I'm stupid or something? Goddarnnit." Now get off of my lawn!
Detroit Tigers 8 New York Yankees 4
For the first time since 1966, the Detroit Tigers are leaving Yankee Stadium with a three-game sweep. Miguel Cabrera had the biggest night for the Tigers, going deep once, tripling, and driving in three runs. Magglio Ordonez also contributed with three hits and drove in a couple of runs as well. "We've got a long way to go, but we are playing better," said Jim Leyland, whose star-studded team opened 0-7. "I don't think we're over the hump yet." Don't worry, the way the White Sox are going, it won't be much longer until you are.
Cleveland Indians 3 Seattle Mariners 2 11 inn
The Indians tried to give this game away, but somehow, someway they managed to pull it together long enough to get a victory. After an error by Casey Blake in the 9th inning allowed the Mariners to tie the game at 1-1, Seattle took the lead in the 10th with a home run by Richie Sexson, but the Indians answered with a run of their own in the bottom half. Then in the 11th inning, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a walk-off shot to seal the deal. "It was like pulling teeth," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "If we had done a better job earlier, we'd have never been in that situation."
AL
- Rays 4 Orioles 2
- Rangers 2 Royals 1
- Blue Jays 3 Red Sox 0
- A's 15 Angels 8
NL- Dodgers 5 Marlins 3
- Phillies 3 Padres 2
- Nats 3 Pirates 2
The Minnesota Twins are probably pretty sad to see the All-Star break come along, as four days off is the last thing a team wants when they're playing as well as Minnesota is. Since June 17th, the Twins have gone 19-6 and are only 1.5 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central.
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