Ryan Howard's ejection

The Philadelphia Phillies had a chance to pick up a game on the National League East division-leading Atlanta Braves after the Braves lost again to the Colorado Rockies. Controversy again plagued the game as it did on Monday night. Houston Astros starter Bud Norris and Phillies starter Cole Hamels locked up in a pitcher’s duel with Hamels’ only blemish being a two-run homerun by Carlos Lee through the wind blowing in. Norris only allowed an RBI double to Raul Ibanez in the 6th inning. The Astros would lead the game 2-1 heading into the 9th inning when Jimmy Rollins tied the game at 2-2 with a solo homerun off Wilton Lopez with two outs (Lopez had not allowed a run in 20+ innings).

The controversy came in the bottom of the 14th inning with Ryan Howard at the plate. The Phillies had runners on second and third with two outs and a chance to win the game. However back-to-back check swing calls against Howard led to his strikeout and immediate ejection by the third base umpire. The Phillies had no more position players left, leaving Ibanez to move to first base and starting pitcher Roy Oswalt to play left field. The first play in the 15th inning was a fly ball to Oswalt that he handled cleanly.

In the top of the 16th, the Astros got to rookie reliever David Herndon. Astros outfielder Hunter Pence singled with one out and Brett Wallace was hit by a pitch. After a wild pitch, Jason Michaels was intentionally walked. Chris Johnson followed with a ground ball to third baseman Placido Polanco, who tried to get the force out at second base, but everyone was safe and a run scored. Tommy Manzella then followed with a ground ball that Rollins made a great play on but Ibanez could not hold on at first base for the double play and another run scored. The Astros took a 4-2 lead. In the bottom of the 16th, Oswalt came to bat as the winning run but grounded out to end the game.

The NY Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays continue to keep pace with each other as they are tied for first place in the American League East and the wild card. The Yankees brought out the offense on Tuesday night, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 11-5. They jumped on Blue Jays starter Marc Rzepczynski for six runs in just three innings. They also blasted five homeruns in the victory. Fill-in starter Dustin Moseley held the Blue Jays to two runs on five hits in six innings.

The Rays jumped on LA Angels starter Ervin Santana for five runs in the first three innings. The Rays pounded out 13 hits and 10 runs, with Evan Longoria going 3-for-5. Rookie Wade Davis returned to the rotation and was solid, allowing just two runs on six hits in 5.1 innings.

In Chicago, the White Sox scored four runs in the bottom of the 7th inning against Baltimore Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie to break away from the Orioles to take a 6-2 lead. However Bobby Jenks was needed in the 9th inning as the Orioles came back to make it a 7-4 game and had the bases loaded with nobody out. Jenks was relieving JJ Putz (who got hurt while warming up), who was relieving Sergio Santos. Jenks got Ty Wigginton to hit into a double-play (though a run scored) and Luke Scott to pop up to end the game. The White Sox pulled to within 3.5 games of the Minnesota Twins, but may be in trouble. Both Putz and left-handed reliever Matt Thornton went on the disabled list Wednesday.

The Twins were in Texas for their big series against the AL West-leading Rangers. The Twins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning over Colby Lewis, but he settled in from there. Lewis allowed three runs on seven hits through 6.1 innings. Twins starter Carl Pavano pitched a complete game in the loss. He allowed four runs on eight hits. Andres Blanco of the Rangers delivered two key doubles and scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 7th inning in the Rangers 4-3 victory.