What happened?

My apologies for posting this so late in the day. It’s Dave Studemans’ fault.

Reds 12, Giants 11: The Reds blew a 10-1 lead because Joey Votto gathered his teammates and told them he needed a few extra frames to drive in more runs. He delivered in the 12th. Quite a comeback for the Giants, although they made it ugly, using pretty much everybody in the pen plus Barry Zito, and making 5 errors. Surely this was the biggest deficit erased last night!

Rockies 12, Braves 10: Nope—the Braves also blew a 10-1 lead last night. Whether or not they make a serious run this year, since 2007 the Rockies have consistently been able to plant that “improbable comeback?” seed in their fans’ minds this time of year. That begs the question: Do I need to train my mental projections to keep Jim Tracy et al. out of my dreams?

Astros 3, Phillies 2: J.A. Happ handled his former team without much trouble, and the Phillies will try to avoid the sweep against a resurgent Wandy Rodriguez this afternoon. If the Philles fancy themselves a playoff team, they probably shouldn’t get swept by the Astros. But then again I’m no expert.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 2: Daniel McCutchen stymied the Cards, although he doesn’t look to be much more than replacement level unless he can figure out how to strike hitters out at the ML level. Jose Tabata and Neil Walker led the offense.

Red Sox 5, Mariners 3: The Sox and Josh Beckett got the best of the Mariners in the soggy first game of a doubleheader.

Mariners 4, Red Sox 2: Felix had it going all night. It’s not that the Red Sox are playing poorly right now; it’s just that overcoming a 6-games-in-the-loss-column deficit to one of two .600+ true-talent teams with a month to play isn’t going to happen even if the trailing team is healthy. It just isn’t.

Rangers 4, Twins 3: Josh Hamilton homered again, and C.J. Wilson’s impressive season as a starter continues. Wilson’s 2005 through 2009 seasons were an exercise in flushing WAR down the toilet. The Rangers really could’ve used those WAR, but they slipped off the bathroom counter and just splashed right in, and really, nobody wants to go fishing in there.

Angels 12, Rays 3: “Once they got all those points, it takes the wind out of your sails,” said Joe Maddon after the game, the word “points” referring to Mike Napoli’s improbable 4-yard touchdown run.

Padres 9, Diamondbacks 3: The Padres pounded the D’Backs behind Wade LeBlanc, and increased their NL West lead when the Giants lost their heartbreaker earlier in the day. Stephen Drew hit two home runs, the first thanks to an instant replay reversal in the first inning. The original call took 47 minutes to reverse because the replay computer evolved, took the ball from LeBlanc, and started firing baseballs into the stands. Baseball purists everywhere expressed smug concern.

As 6, Indians 1: Trevor Cahill ensured that the As’ starters’ ridiculous streak of not allowing more than 3 ER continued. Henry Rodriguez struck out the side in the 9th. If you haven’t watched Rodriguez throw a baseball toward home plate yet, I highly recommend doing so whenever you can.

Blue Jays 6, Yankees 3: Brett Cecil and the Jays improved to 7-5 against the Yankees this season. Vernon Wells homered and drove in 4 and Aaron Hill broke out of a serious slump and homered himself. Brett Gardner called the Blue Jays “overlooked” this season, and he’s right: this team hits a ton of home runs and has a wildly underrated SP core of Marcum, Romero, and Cecil. With a balanced schedule or in a different division, this team would be a contender. Such is life.

Orioles 4, White Sox 2: Brian Matusz was very good for 7 innings and Matt Wieters carried the Bawlmer offense. That’s a recap Os fans wished they had read a few more times this year. Lost in the excitement about Posey/Santana/Arencibia is that that “Mauer with Power” guy has been dreadful with the bat this year. He’s still fairly early in the development cycle for catchers, and he’s managed to improve his BB and K rates, but it’d be hard not to call his 2010 a serious disappointment.

Cubs 4, Nationals 0: Ryan Dempster dominated the Nats’ lineup for 7 innings (on 79 pitches!) and Jason Marquis got a tough-luck L, giving up 1 ER on 4 hits over 7.1. Although he probably deserves his 0-7 record with an ERA approaching 9 (and a FIP approaching 7). Mike Quade is now 4-0 as the Cubs manager. Sweet Lou’s gotta be pissed.

Marlins 5, Mets 4: The Mets made it interesting in the final frame after David Wright led off with a home run against Leo Nunez, who eventually managed to shut the door very slowly and shakily. Hanley Ramirez collected 4 hits. I wonder if the Marlins are finally going to feel some serious pressure to spend the cash they get from MLB due to revenue sharing, after getting yelled at by MLB earlier in the year and having their balance sheet leaked.

Royals 4, Tigers 3: The Royals beat the Tigers in 12, thanks in no small part to a HR and 2 RBI for the Kila Monster (as Kila Ka’aihue is affectionately known to those who can’t pronounce his surname). Willie Bloomquist, batting third (yup, third), provided the game-winner in the 12th.

Dodgers 5, Brewers 4: The Dodgers placed Manny Ramirez on waivers yesterday, with the White Sox expected to be the most serious suitor. That’s assuming, of course, that no NL team claims him. LA won, and instrumental deadline pickup Octavio Dotel picked up the save. What is going on with Jonathan Broxton?