Damon back to Boston?
The Boston Red Sox claimed former Red Sox and current Detroit Tiger Johnny Damon off waivers. However the decision to go back to Boston is Damon’s as he has a no-trade clause to Boston. Damon loves Detroit and playing for the Tigers. Damon was in uniform for the Tigers and in the lineup on Monday as the DH and he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. The Tigers pummeled the visiting KC Royals 12-3, capped by a seven run 6th inning. Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman was solid, going six innings while allowing two runs on eight hits.
Rich Harden returned to the Texas Rangers rotation on Monday evening in Arlington against the American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins. Harden spent time on the DL with a shoulder injury (plus time on the DL earlier in the summer) and had not gone more than five innings in three of his last five starts prior to his DL stint. Against the Twins, Harden was the best he had been all season. Harden pitched 6.2 no-hit innings and despite the boos bearing down on manager Ron Washington as he entered the field to remove Harden from the game, Harden understood. “I just wanted to go out there and go as deep into the game as I could. I thought about it, but I knew my pitch count was up unless I started getting five-, six-pitch innings.”
Lefty Matt Harrison came in to face Jim Thome with two outs and a man on base but got Thome to line out to end the inning. Darren O’Day pitched a perfect 8th inning while striking out two and rookie closer Neftali Feliz came in to close out the 9th inning, the 3-0 shutout, and complete the combined no-hitter. After walking Orlando Hudson with one out, Joe Mauer singled to center field to end the no-hitter. Feliz held on to get the final two outs to complete the shutout.
Brett Myers returned to Philadelphia for the first time since signing with the Houston Astros this offseason. Myers has been Mr. Consistent all season for the Astros, lasting at least six innings in all of his starts. Myers spent his entire career with the Phillies until this season. He pitched seven solid innings and wound up with the win as the Astros scored two runs in the top of the 8th inning on a controversial call as the Astros held on for a 3-2 victory.
Myers allowed two runs (in the third inning on a Carlos Ruiz solo homerun and a Chase Utley RBI single) on nine hits while striking out nine.
The Tampa Bay Rays received a solid pitching performance from starter James Shields in LA, as the Rays beat the Angels 4-3 and former teammate Scott Kazmir. Shields went six innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits while striking out ten. The Rays bullpen went three perfect innings. In the 1st inning, the Rays jumped on Kazmir for three runs coming on a BJ Upton solo homerun to lead off the game and a two-run single by Ben Zobrist. With the win, the Rays pulled even with the NY Yankees for the AL East lead.
The Yankees received a solid pitching performance from rookie Ivan Nova, though there were some fireworks. Jose Bautista, the AL’s homerun leader, connected on a two-run homerun in the 3rd inning off Nova for a Blue Jays 2-1 lead. In the 6th inning, Nova threw a fastball up and towards Bautista’s head and both players created a heated moment (though cooler heads prevailed). With the game tied at 2-2 in the 8th inning, Bautista got his revenge by launching a David Robertson pitch over the left field wall for his 40th homerun and eventual game winner. The other star of the night for the Blue Jays was starting pitcher Brandon Morrow. He again shut down the Yankee offense at the Rogers Centre as he allowed two runs on four hits through six innings while striking out 12. Nova allowed two runs on six hits and the Yankees have not determined if he will remain with the big league club.
In Pittsburgh, the St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols hit his 399th career homerun (a three-run shot) in the 1st inning off Pirates starter Ross Ohlendorf. He ended up going 3-for-5 and fell a triple short of the cycle. Fans stayed on until the final out as Pujols’ at-bat came up in the 9th inning, only to see Tony LaRussa pinch-hit for the slugger with a 9-2 lead. The fans in attendance showered the pinch-hitter, Bryan Anderson, with boos and he added an RBI single to up the Cardinals lead to 10-2.











Yankees 7, Phillies 4: Game 4 was a game with a full rage of emotions. For the Phillies, the fans were fired up at the start, but were quickly quieted by the Yankees early offense. Late in the game, the Yankees were shocked by the homeruns hit by the Phillies to tie the game. Phillies fans and players who were back into the game were thrown for a loop when the game quickly slipped from their fingertips.
Utley homered off of Sabathia in the bottom of the seventh, his third homerun of the World Series and third off of Sabathia. This ended Sabathia’s evening and brought on the Yankees bullpen. With a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees went to Joba Chamberlain to setup for closer Mariano Rivera. After blowing away both Jayson Werth and Ibanez on 96 mph fastballs, Joba tried to throw a 95 mph fastball by the now hot-hitting Feliz, who quickly deposited the pitch into the left field seats to tie the game at 4-4. Feliz ended the inning with 3 hits, after only having six hits in 42 postseason at-bats this year. The jubilation and expectations of another comeback victory at Citizens Bank Park quickly came to an end in the top of the ninth as the Phillies pitching yet again couldn’t keep the Yankees scoreless after the offense tied the game. This time it was Brad Lidge, who hadn’t pitched yet in the World Series and hadn’t pitched in a game since Game 5 of the NLCS. After getting two quick outs, Damon got another hit, stole second, and then third because no one went to cover the third base bag as Ruiz threw to second and Feliz was shifted to second base with Teixeira at the plate. This play proved to be costly (and will forever be remembered) as Lidge hit Teixeira and A-Rod followed with a RBI double to retake the lead. Posada followed with a 2-run single to give the Yankees a commanding 7-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. Chamberlain was seen in the dugout hugging Posada and A-Rod, thanking them for saving him and giving the Yankees the lead back.
The electric crowd at Citizens Bank Park turned to moans and groans as the inning was disastrous. Lidge got fastball happy after getting the two quick outs in the ninth, going away from his signature pitch (the slider) which had worked against Hideki Matsui and Jeter. When all was said and done, it took 30 pitches for Lidge to hobble through the 9th. Now the Phillies were down with Rivera coming in to close out the game instead of the game being tied and facing Phil Coke. Rivera quickly dispatched the Phillies hitters, throwing just 8 pitched to finish them off.
Yankees 5, Angels 2: After getting an extra day off due to the rainy Saturday night, the Yankees seemed to be the fresher team from the start. The Angels however struck first. Jeff Mathis, the hot-hitting catcher who was receiving another much-deserved start, doubled to lead off the top of the third. With 2 outs and Mathis still on base, Bobby Abreu drove him in with a base hit up the middle. The RBI was just his second RBI of the series. With runners on base in almost every inning, the Yankees finally broke through against Angels starter Joe Saunders with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth. Johnny Damon came through with a 2-run single to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead and 
Yankees 10, Angels 1: Yankees starter CC Sabathia was yet again dominant for the Yankees in the playoffs, allowing just one run on a Kendry Morales homerun. The only time he was in trouble was in the 5th and 6th innings, but the Angels could not capitalize. Sabathia threw just 101 pitches in his eight innings of work, allowing 5 hits and had five strikeouts. Sabathia had struggled throughout his career in the postseason, both last year with Milwaukee and in 2007 with the Indians. This year with the Yankees, the team is getting its money’s worth. In three postseason starts so far, Sabathia is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA with just 3 walks and 20 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched. Manager Joe Girardi finally got a chance to use reliever/starter Chad Gaudin in a postseason game, letting him pitch the ninth. Gaudin sent down the 
The Minnesota Twins fought hard just to make the playoffs, finishing off the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night in 12 innings to win the AL Central crown. It took 163 games for the Twins, only for them to fly out to New York that same night to face the New York Yankees the following day. The Yankees are one of the best hitting and pitching teams in the American League. Oh and they’re all well-rested.

Two of the game’s best pitchers, both Cy Young winners, went at it on Thursday with the Mets Johan Santana (9-5) out-dueling Chris Carpenter (5-2) and giving the Mets consecutive wins for the first time in 16 days.
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