Nine innings, nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.
1. I think he heard us: Hours after our own 'Duk examined his struggles with Satan, Nick Markakis smacked a grand slam and later hit a two-run double in Baltimore's 7-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Starter Jake Arietta was also on top of his game, taking a no-hitter in the sixth and finishing with seven scoreless. But the bigger story for Baltimore is Markakis finally breaking through with the lumber.
"There's still a lot more hard work to come," Markakis said. "I'm feeling better, but I still don't feel like I'm where I need to be. I'm just going to keep plugging away."
The six RBI outburst for Markakis matched his RBI total over his past 27 games.
2. First to nine: Roy Halladay tossed seven shutout innings and then watched nervously as the Phillies bullpen nearly blew a seven run lead in the eighth. The Cubs would end up with five spot in that inning against Jose Contreras and J.C. Romero, but Ryan Madson rebounded from Thursday's hiccup to secure a 7-5 victory for the Fightins. That made Halladay the first nine-game winner in the majors.
Of course Cubs fans might be wondering what would have been had manager Mike Quade pulled a clearly gassed Carlos Zambrano in the seventh. Already over 100 pitches, Zambrano would walk the bases loaded — one walk was intentional — before serving up a grand slam to Placido Polanco.
3. Gee-Man stays unbeaten: Dillon Gee dominated the sleeper pitching matchup of the night, allowing one run over eight innings in the New York Mets 8-1 victory over Charlie Morton and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The win pushes Gee to 7-0 on the season, making him the first Mets rookie pitcher to reach that record, and the team is now an astounding 9-0 in games he's started this season.
4. Sizemore matters: Recently acquired Scott Sizemore delivered a two-out, three-run double off Sergio Santos to complete Oakland's unlikely ninth inning rally and end their 10-game losing streak with a 7-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox. The A's had actually been down to their final out four batters earlier, but Josh Willingham, Hideki Matsui, Daric Barton, and Kurt Suzuki all reached base setting up Sizemore's heroics.
5. Tempers flare in New York: Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has seen enough of his players getting plunked his this week, and he gave Indians manager Manny Acta an earful on the subject during a bench-clearing altercation. It happened after Mark Teixeira was hit in the back by a 94 MPH Fausto Carmona offering following Curtis Granderson's 19th home run. Given Carmona's control issues it's difficult to tell what his intentions were, but the Yankees frustrations were on full display.
Watch the heated exchange
Warnings were issued, but no ejections were necessary. And Teixeira would get his revenge the best he knows how: clearing the bases with a double in the seventh to help the Yankees best the Indians, 11-7.
6. Another day, another walk-off: For the ninth time in 29 home games, the San Francisco Giants celebrated a walk-off victory. Pinch-hitter Nate Schierholtz was the hero this time, poking a two-out, RBI single into left field to give the champs a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
7. One-for-June: The Florida Marlins won for the first time in June — snapping an eight-game losing streak overall — by defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-4. Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton led the charge, each hitting a two-run home run off Joe Saunders in the victory.
8. Chacin is still winning: Make that seven victories for 23-year-old right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, who pitched eight scoreless in the Colorado Rockies 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies used a 17-hit attack, led by Carlos Gonzalez's four, to provide some breathing room, and then held on for dear life as relievers Matt Belisle and Huston Street combined to allow five runs — three unearned — in the ninth.
9. Ichiro sits, Peguero stars: With Ichiro Suzuki sitting for the first time in 255 games, Carlos Peguero filled in with a home run, triple, and scored two runs to help lead Seattle past Detroit, 3-2.
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