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If Thursday night's games were any indication, the second half is going to be a doozy. 4 games, none of which were decided by more than 2 runs. Can't argue with that.The Mets won their 10th straight, despite Johan Santana's worst outing of the season. Santana gave up 5 runs (all earned) in only 4 innings, but the Mets came back with 4 runs in the 9th, to beat the Reds 10-8, in a game that featured 5 lead changes.
Normally, I try not to give a manager too much credit or blame for their team's performance, but it looks like firing Willie Randolph is paying off for the Mets. They were hovering around .500 and in 3rd place under Randolph, but with Jerry Manuel leading the charge, they've gone 17-8, and surged past the Marlins and Phillies to take over 1st place in the NL East.
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- Someone whom Jim Leyland would only identify as "a great former player" (probably one of the Hall of Famers in town for the All-Star game) gave Leyland some tips to improve Gary Sheffield's swing. It's only one game, but Sheff took the advice, lowered his hands a bit, hit a 2-run jack in the 6th and was robbed of one in the 8th. I guess those guys from Cooperstown know what they're talking about. Sheff's homer was huge, since the Tigers beat the Orioles 6-5.
- Jake Peavy had a very Uggla game. He gave up 4 HR's, including 2 by Troy Glaus, in a loss to the Cardinals. The good news? They were all solo shots. The bad news? He still pitches for the Padres, who are 29th in the majors with only 3.7 runs per game. Today, they only managed 3, and the Cardinals won 4-3, to pull within 4 games of the Cubs.
- The Rockies overcame an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Pirates 5-3, on a HR and 3 RBI's by Chris Iannetta, and 7 solid innings on the mound for Ubaldo Jimenez.
Other news around the league:
Phillies acquire Joe Blanton - Congratulations Bob Geren, now you won't have to answer any questions about letting Blanton pick up his 20th loss.
The Yanks sign Richie Sexson - CriticalFanatic said it best... Over the hill, overpaid and overrated... he'll fit right in.
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