Cole Hamels

The Philadelphia Phillies continue their hot streak, even if their offense is virtually nonexistent. They received excellent starting pitching from Cole Hamels, who pitched seven shutout innings. He allowed three hits while striking out seven. Jose Contreras and Ryan Madson pitched two perfect innings to close out the Phillies 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Chris Capuano took the hard-luck loss as he allowed just the one run on four hits through five innings. The Phillies scored their lone run on an RBI ground out from Carlos Ruiz in the 2nd inning.

With the Phillies win, they moved to within one game of the first place Atlanta Braves, who lost to the Florida Marlins 6-1. The Marlins jumped on spot starter Kenshin Kawakami for two runs in the 1st inning and another three in the 3rd inning. Rookie outfielder Logan Morrison hit two triples and Chad Tracy went 2-for-4 for the Marlins. Marlins starter Andrew Miller allowed just the one run on seven hits through five innings.

The Detroit Tigers won their second straight extra inning game, with a 9-5 win over the KC Royals. The Royals jumped out to an early 4-0 lead over Jeremy Bonderman, but the Tigers clawed back with four runs of their own in the 7th inning to tie the game. The Tigers would get a solo homerun from Ryan Raburn to give the Tigers a short-lived 5-4 lead, but Daniel Schlereth allowed a leadoff homerun to Alex Gordon to tie the game at 5-5. The game would stay tied until the 11th inning as the Tigers scored four runs, capped by a Will Rhymes two-run triple.

Jaime Garcia

The biggest game of the night (and weekend series) is in St. Louis as the Cardinals face the National League Central-leading Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals jumped on Reds starter Bronson Arroyo early (two runs in the first and a single run in the second), but that was all he would allow. Arroyo went six innings and allowed six hits. However the Cardinals received better starting pitching from rookie Jaime Garcia. Garcia allowed two runs (one on a Paul Janish solo homerun) on six hits in 6.2 innings while striking out six. The Cardinals climbed to seven games back of the Reds.

The Minnesota Twins needed to call-up a rookie to start Friday night and he did not disappoint. Matt Fox allowed two runs on four hits through 5.2 innings. The game went back-and-forth as every time the Texas Rangers scored, the Twins would score. The Rangers took the lead in the top of the 7th inning, only to see the Twins regain the lead in the bottom of the inning, and never look back. The Twins won the game 4-3.

Chad Billingsley Singles

The LA Dodgers received great starting pitching from Chad Billingsley, while he also helped himself at the plate. With the game against the SF Giants tied at 2-2, Billingsley delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the 4th inning off Giants starter Barry Zito. Billingsley allowed two unearned runs through eight innings on just two hits while striking out seven. Casey Blake of the Dodgers went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. For the Giants, Buster Posey went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

The Colorado Rockies got Aaron Cook back off the DL and he was solid against the San Diego Padres. Cook allowed two runs on four hits through 6.1 innings (though he walked four). The Rockies scored two runs in both the 2nd and 3rd innings on two-run homeruns from Jason Giambi and Troy Tukowitzki. The Padres have now lost eight in a row, though they still hold a three-game lead in the NL West.