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1. Still at 199: A 200th career victory has proven to be elusive for Tim Wakefield. But it looked like he'd finally get it Saturday night, as the Boston Red Sox gave him a 4-1 lead.
Not on our turf, said the Kansas City Royals. An eight-run sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run double from Alex Gordon, blew away the Red Sox for a 9-4 win. Wakefield's winless streak has now reached five games.
2. K-Rod loves Izzy: Facing his former team for the first time, former Met Francisco Rodriguez gave up three runs and blew a one-run lead. But Jason Isringhausen let K-Rod off the hook by allowing four runs in the ninth.*Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee clinched the win, driving in three runs with back-to-back singles. The*11-9 win gives*the Brewers an 8 1/2 game cushion in the NL Central.
3. A fine how-do-you-do: Welcome to the major leagues, Wade Miley. Dan Uggla hit two home runs and Freddie Freeman added another, leading the Atlanta Braves to an 8-1 stomping of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Miley lasted four innings, giving up five runs on seven hits.
4. There you go again: A.J. Burnett just makes it easy for New York Yankees fans to boo him. He couldn't make it through the second inning, having surrendered a 7-0 lead to the Minnesota Twins. The Yanks staged a mini-rally in the final two innings, but couldn't overcome Burnett's early meltdown, and took a 9-4 loss.
5. Inge-credible: Called back up after being designated for assignment in mid-July, Brandon Inge may have a redemption tale in mind. His home run and two RBI led the Detroit Tigers to*a 10-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. No word on whether or not Doug Fister fainted in the dugout after discovering a pitcher could get that kind of run support.
6. Run, Jose, run! The San Francisco Giants couldn't capitalize on the D-Backs' loss, as the Houston Astros knocked Madison Bumgarner around for seven runs and 11 hits. Jose Altuve led the game off for Houston with an inside-the-park home run, and the Astros never looked back from there, going on to a 7-5 victory.
7. Not out yet: The Los Angeles Angels are determined to keep at least one more division race alive. Bobby Abreu's bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Kevin Gregg in the 12th inning capped a three-run rally for a walkoff 9-8 win over the Baltimore Orioles. That moved the Angels to within five games of the Texas Rangers in the AL West.
8. Just about done? The Cubs can still play spoilers. Matt Garza pitched arguably his best game of the season, tossing seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts. Aramis Ramirez provided all the offense needed with a two-run homer off Edwin Jackson, resulting in a 3-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The loss knocked the Cards to 8 1/2 games behind the Brewers.
9. Two in a row, sort of: Having his Friday start pushed to Saturday because of a rain delay didn't rattle Roy Oswalt. He pitched eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-0 win over the Washington Nationals.
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