Aaron Cook

The Colorado Rockies continue their hot streak, as they won their sixth game in a row by defeating the Cincinnati Reds 9-2. Aaron Cook pitched well as he allowed just one run into the 6th inning. Cook had to be removed from the game as he took a line drive off the lower part of his leg. The Rockies took a huge hit with that line drive as Cook may miss the rest of the season with a fracture in his right leg. Troy Tulowitzki homered twice off Reds starter Bronson Arroyo.

The San Diego Padres won their third game in a row after losing ten straight as they defeated the LA Dodgers 4-0. The Dodgers have now lost five in a row. Rookie Cory Luebke won his first MLB game as he allowed just two hits through six innings while striking out seven. Holding a 1-0 lead over Chad Billingsley and the Dodgers, the Padres scored three runs in the bottom of the 6th inning, capped by a Luis Durango two-run single.

The SF Giants lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 and dropped to two games back of the Padres in the National League West. Giants starter Barry Zito was outpitched by rookie Daniel Hudson for the Diamondbacks. Zito allowed two runs on four hits through seven innings while striking out seven. Hudson allowed one run on five hits through seven innings. The lone Giants run came on a Freddy Sanchez solo homerun in the 1st inning. Giants rookie Darren Ford collected his second stolen base since his September 1st callup.

Nick Swisher celebrates

The Baltimore Orioles were headed to a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday afternoon after catcher Matt Wieters connected on a two-run homerun off NY Yankees rookie starter Ivan Nova in the 5th inning. However in the bottom of the 9th inning, Alex Rodriguez led off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Nick Swisher hit a two-run walk-off homerun off Orioles closer Koji Uehara for the Yankees 3-2 comeback win. Orioles starter Brad Bergesen allowed just one run on four hits through 6.1 innings.

With the Yankees win, the Tampa Bay Rays dropped to 2.5 games behind them with their 11-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox. The Rays took an early 4-0 lead over Tim Wakefield, capped by a BJ Upton three-run homerun in the 2nd inning. However the Red Sox fought back and scored six runs off Rays starter Matt Garza in 4.1 innings and another five runs off the Rays bullpen (Chad Qualls, Grant Balfour, and Randy Choate). Rookie first baseman Lars Anderson collected his first MLB hits, Marco Scutaro went 4-for-5 with two homeruns, and Josh Reddick went 3-for-5 for the Red Sox.

Brett Myers of the Houston Astros continued his streak of six-plus innings in every start as he went seven shutout innings on Wednesday night. He allowed just three hits to the Chicago Cubs while striking out eight.

RA Dickey and Livan Hernandez matched up in a pitcher’s duel. Dickey of the NY Mets went 2-for-2 at the plate while also pitching six solid innings. Dickey allowed two runs on five hits. The two runs came on Washington Nationals rookie catcher Wilson Ramos’ first MLB homerun. Hernandez allowed three runs on six hits through 6.1 innings. Nick Evans of the Mets delivered the pinch-hit go-ahead RBI double in the 7th inning for the Mets 3-2 victory.

It was an expected pitcher’s duel at Target Field, and that is what the fans received. The Royals matched ace Zack Greinke against Minnesota Twins left-hander Brian Duensing. Duensing has been great for the Twins and Wednesday was no different. He allowed just one run on six hits through eight innings while striking out seven. Greinke took the hard-luck loss as he allowed four runs on five hits in the complete game. The Royals put up a fight in the 9th inning off closer Matt Capps but Mitch Maier flied out with the tying run on second base to end the game. The Twins increased their lead to 5.5 games over the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central.

The White Sox pushed John Danks to pitch on short-rest against the Detroit Tigers and the Tigers jumped on Danks for four runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, capped by a Brandon Inge two-run single, an Alex Avila two-run double, and a Mark Teahen error. Jeremy Bonderman allowed a single run (on an Omar Vizquel homerun) through eight innings for the Tigers.