Final Score: Florida 4, New York 1
Flushing, NY (Sports Network) – The Florida Marlins pitchers were dealing on Monday night, as Clay Hensley and four relievers combined on a three-hitter in a 4-1 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field in a make-up game from a May 17 rainout. Hensley (1-2) worked five scoreless innings, yielding one hit in his first start since June 24 2008, when he was a member of the San Diego Padres. Hensley, who hadn’t pitched since June 1 due to a sprained right shoulder, also fanned three and walked a pair. Michael Dunn, Edward Mujica, Randy Choate and Leo Nunez combined to finish off the victory Nunez pitched two-thirds of an inning to earn his 27th save of the season. Mike Stanton ripped an RBI double while Logan Morrison and Mike Cameron had RBI singles for the Marlins, who have won three consecutive games and nine of their past 10. Chris Capuano (8-9) pitched a solid 7 2/3 frames, giving up four runs on seven hits while fanning five and walking two.
Final Score: Washington 5, Houston 2
Houston, TX (Sports Network) – The bounces certainly didn’t go Houston’s way Monday night…a familiar story in the 2011 season for the Astros. Ryan Zimmerman hit a solo home run and his RBI single in the ninth inning sent Washington to a 5-2 win over the Houston Astros to begin a three-game series. Laynce Nix bounced a ball over the head of first baseman Carlos Lee, resulting in two more ninth inning runs, as the Nationals rebounded from a 9-8 walk-off loss to the Braves on Sunday. Zimmerman’s hit off Jordan Lyles prevented the rookie from possibly getting his first major league victory. Lyles (0-5) gave up five hits and was charged with four runs before leaving the game with one out in the ninth inning. The Astros, who fell to 2-12 this month and a major league-worst 31-65, got an RBI apiece from Lee and Carlos Corporan. Jason Marquis (8-4) snapped a five-start winless stretch by fanning nine batters over eight innings. Drew Storen fanned three batters in the bottom of the ninth to get his 25th save.
Final Score: Chicago 6, Philadelphia 1
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) – Roy Halladay has been beating up teams lately, but he couldn’t beat the heat on Monday night. With temperatures in the high 80s along with high humidity, the righty struggled to his shortest start in two years and the Chicago Cubs took advantage of that to grab a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a three-game series. Halladay (11-4) came into the game 6-0 over his previous 10 starts and the Phillies had won all of those starts, but he was touched for three runs on seven hits and left in the fifth inning while facing Aramis Ramirez. That broke a road streak of 63 games during which Halladay had gone at least six innings and it was his shortest start since June 12, 2009 when he was pitching for Toronto in a game against Florida. Ramirez hit a solo home run and drove in two while Carlos Pena went 3-for-3 with a solo home run and two RBI for the Cubs, who came into the game having lost four of five. Rodrigo Lopez (2-2) grabbed the win as he gave up just one run and five hits with three strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. Jimmy Rollins’ home run accounted for all the offense for the Phillies.
Final Score: Atlanta 7, Colorado 4
Denver, CO (Sports Network) – Freddie Freeman continues to make an impact in Atlanta’s quest to overtake Philadelphia for the NL East lead. Freeman had three hits and drove in three runs in a 7-4 win over Colorado to start a four- game series Monday night. Freeman, who laced the game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning of a 9-8 win over Washington on Sunday, has 11 RBI over his last eight games. Derek Lowe (6-7) pitched 6 1/3 innings to get the win, as the Braves moved within 2 1/2 games of first-place Philadelphia in the division. The Phillies lost to the Cubs at Wrigley Field Monday night. Lowe was charged with eight hits and four runs. Craig Kimbrel fanned three batters in the ninth for his 29th save, securing Atlanta’s eighth victory in 11 games. Jason Hammel (5-9) yielded eight hits and six runs — four earned — over five innings for the Rockies, losers of three in a row.
Final Score: Arizona 3, Milwaukee 0
Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) – Josh Collmenter went eight shutout innings and Ryan Roberts added a two-run home run as the Arizona Diamondbacks opened a four-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers with a 3-0 win. Collmenter’s (5-5) past two starts have come against Milwaukee as he went six scoreless innings on July 6 and gave up just three hits and a walk with three strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision. Monday, though, he was even better as he gave up just three hits and no walks with seven strikeouts to snap a four-game losing streak. His last win had come on June 3 against Washington. Gerardo Parra’s double-play groundout in the third plated Henry Blanco for the only run needed by Arizona, which has won three straight. Randy Wolf (6-7) pitched a strong game as he gave up just three runs — two earned — on eight hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings, but he lost for the third time in his past four starts.
