The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.
18-13 overture: The Los Angeles Dodgers improved to 18-13 in one-run games after dropping the White Sox 2-1 in 10 innings Sunday afternoon on a walkoff RBI single by Dee Gordon. Chicago led by a run through eight as rookie left-hander Jose Quintana kept L.A. scoreless using 77 pitches. But in the ninth, rookie closer Addison Reed blew a save for the first time and, in the 10th, rookie outfielder Jordan Danks made an ill-advised diving attempt on Tony Gwynn's sinking liner that fell in for a triple to set up the winning run. After Gordon made up for a missed sacrifice bunt an inning earlier and ended the game with a single against Matt Thornton, his teammates — including the injured Matt Kemp for some reason — chased him around the field. Andre Ethier made three spectacular catches in right and left-hander Chris Capuano continued his strong resurgence with 12 strikeouts.
Don 'Heave' Ho: The Dodgers felt that umpires cost them a run in the sixth after what appeared to be a sacrifice fly. The White Sox appealed that Matt Treanor left third base too early on a fly ball by Elian Herrera, and third-base ump Jerry Meals agreed. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly went berserk on Meals and plate umpire Gary Darling, and was ejected for the fourth time this season and seventh in his 1 1/2 seasons on the job. Assuming video was synched properly, Mattingly appeared to be in the right. Umps also appeared hesitant and confused about the whole thing. Via the Associated Press:
"I didn't even realize I was that fired up. I was just kind of frustrated over that call,'' Mattingly said. ''I knew that he missed it. The video doesn't lie. It was a situation where, if you're not 100 percent sure, how can you overturn a run? He kept telling me he got it 100 percent right. That's about the third time I've heard that this year.''
Canadians + brooms = curling?: Colby Rasmus hit his 10th home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Phillies 6-2 to complete a three-game sweep. James Howard Thome hit his 608th career home run and 100th for the Phillies, who have lost 12 of 15.
Postseason atmosphere in D.C.: The New York Yankees brought the Nationals back to Earth with their ninth straight victory, 4-1, to complete a three-game sweep in D.C. Ivan Nova allowed seven hits over 7 2/3 innings. The Nats had won six in a row coming in, but got outscored 16-6. They did draw the eighth, ninth and 10th largest crowds in 4 1/2 years at Nationals Park.
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Quote of the Day: ''Chen-sational.'' — Baltimore slugger Adam Jones, after Wei-Yin Chen and four relievers shut out the Braves for the second straight day, 2-0.
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Play of the Day: Sweet Georgia Brown, would you look at that?!
The Cincinnati Reds completed a sweep of the Mets and won their sixth straight overall. Right-hander Johnny Cueto overcame some dizziness (not from watching Phillips, presumably) and struck out eight in Cincy's 3-1 victory. Brandon Phillips is sort of a one-man Harlem Globetrotters of baseball, making extraordinary defensive feats look routine. [Bonus play: This Pete Rose-esque catch of a foul pop-up by Albert Pujols, who also homered in a 2-0 victory for the Angels.]
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Three Facts for the Water Cooler:
• Pedro Alvarez hit two home runs, and has four over his past two games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the second time in his career he's had consecutive multi-homer games. He drove in six runs in a 9-5 victory at Cleveland. Alvarez came in with 10 homers, but also a .195 batting average.
• Miami's Josh Johnson threw just 55 of 108 pitches for strikes in a 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
• The Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals combined to use all 43 of their position players in a 5-hour, 15-inning marathon won 5-3 by K.C. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two-run home run for the final margin an inning after putting the Royals up by a run with an RBI double.
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