NL East Daily Recap from 7-1-09

Jurrjens loses no-no in the 7th

Wednesday night was another tough one for the Phillies, but it was almost a whole lot worse for them as Jair Jurrjens(6-6) of the Braves went seven innings while only giving up a single hit, in his last inning of work.  He had the no hitter going into the seventh despite giving up an unearned run in the fourth inning on the way to one of his best pitched games in his short career.  The Braves supported him with plenty of offense starting in the fourth inning with Tuesday night’s hero Martin Prado getting two RBI and scoring a run in the third inning, and adding another two runs scored later in the game.  The Braves racked up seven runs on nine hits against Philly ace Cole Hamels(4-5) and got fourteen hits and eleven runs overall in winning the game 11-1.  Additional Braves information can be found at The Braves Baseball Blog.

There wasn’t much going for the Phillies on this night both on the offensive and defensive side of the game.  Cole Hamels couldn’t get through the fifth inning and the only reliever to pitch a perfect inning was Sergio Escalona in the seventh.  Greg Dobbs hit a sacrifice fly to get the only run in and struggling Shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 0-3 again and is now only batting .205 for the season.  To get more news and info on the Phillies, be sure to check out our new Phillies Phandom Blog here at NLEC.

The two teams meet again tonight at 7PM with the Phillies sending J.A. Happ to the hill against Javier Vazquez as the Phillies try to avoid a sweep and keep their divisional lead over the Marlins.

Marlins sweep the Nats

On a day when Marlins ace Josh Johnson didn’t have his best stuff, the Marlins offense was able to pick him up.  Josh Johnson was only able to last one out into the fourth inning, giving up five hits and four walks but surprisingly only one earned run.  The Marlins offense got him off the hook, but relief pitching almost gave the game right back to the Nationals when Renyel Pinto blew a save in the seventh inning.  Late in the game though, the Marlins offense was able to come through against the Nationals reliever Julian Tavarez(3-6) who gave up two runs without recording an out in the eighth inning taking the loss.  Dan Meyer(2-0) worked the final two outs of the eighth for the Marlins and Leo Nunez worked a perfect ninth to get his fourth save of the season.  Hanley Ramirez was able to record his 10th straight game with an RBI when he doubled in Chris Coghlan and Emilio Bonifacio home in the third inning of this game.

One of the bright spots for the Nationals in this game was that young pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pitched another quality game, going six innings giving up only six hits and two earned runs while striking out six in the no decision.  He also drove in a run in the first inning with a single.  You can get more Nationals info over at CenterfieldGate.

Both teams have the day off on Thursday and check back tomorrow for their series preview of the weekend as the Marlins welcome in the Pirates and the Nationals return home for the Braves to come in.

Pelf balked, but it didn't cost him!

Mike Pelfrey(6-3) was exactly what the Mets needed yesterday, going 7.2 Innings of shutout ball against the power hitting Milwaukee Brewers yesterday.  A day after the Mets had a closed door 25 minute meeting and all were required to get on the bus to the park, it was must win game for them.  The final score of the game was 1-0 on a Ryan Church single, scoring Luis Castillo from second base in the top of the sixth inning.  Francisco Rodriguez came in and got the save in the ninth for the Mets while only allowing one hit for his 21st save of the season.  Pelfrey even balked during the game, but thanks for a base running error by Prince Fielder, it did not cost him a run.  Get more Mets news and info at The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Yovani Gallardo pitched another gem against the Mets, but gave up the single run in seven innings.  He had twelve strikeouts during those innings only allowing five hits and two walks, but is now 0-1 against the Mets this year in two sterlings starts.

The Mets head to Pittsburgh for one game this afternoon as Tim Redding will hope to get the Mets on a streak before a matchup with their rival Phillies this weekend in Philadelphia.