mariano Rivera 500 save

finaly mariano Rivera Earned his 500th game save his bicoming the second Reliever to reach the misleston n the yankees or ganization?

New Game Post:MLB 2009

B.J. Upton takes AL weekly honor

Player of the Week for the period ending June 21.

Upton hit .429 in six games last week, tallying a AL-best nine RBI and two home runs in the process. The two-time winner of the award posted a .750 slugging percentage and went 4-for-6 with four RBI on Sunday to lead the Rays over the Mets.

Others considered for this week's honor included Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, and Seattle Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez.

Rays drop third straight

Fernando Nieve turned in another impressive start, and Brian Schneider hit a three-run homer, leading the New York Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.

Fernando Nieve turned in another impressive start, and Brian Schneider hit a three-run homer, leading the New York Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.

David Wright added an RBI double, and Daniel Murphy had three hits for the Mets, who opened a 10-game homestand by improving to 6-10 in June. Francisco Rodriguez rebounded from a blown save with a perfect ninth inning.

In the first meeting between these teams since 2001, the Rays mustered little offense against Nieve (2-0). B.J. Upton manufactured one run with his speed and later hit a two-run double.


The American League champions have dropped three straight following a season-best six-game winning streak. They fell to 14-22 on the road overall.

Filling in for injured starter John Maine, Nieve has provided a surprising boost for a depleted rotation that’s also missing Oliver Perez. He allowed one run and three hits in six innings.

Upton’s two-run double off Bobby Parnell cut it to 4-3 in the seventh, but Pedro Feliciano retired Carl Crawford on a grounder back to the mound to preserve the lead.

Ryan Church added a two-out RBI single in the bottom half off J.P. Howell to make it 5-3.

Schneider’s shot off Andy Sonnanstine (5-7) in the second inning was his first homer since connecting twice on Sept. 18 at Washington.

Sonnanstine gave up seven hits in six innings, falling to 1-7 with an 8.22 ERA on the road this year.

Rockies return favor, end Rays’ win streak

A day after the Tampa Bay Rays ended the longest winning streak in the majors, the Colorado Rockies returned the favor.

Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer and Aaron Cook survived a shaky fifth inning that included homers by Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford as the Rockies snapped the Rays’ six-game winning streak with a 5-3 win Wednesday night.

The Rockies, who saw their 11-game winning streak come to a halt Tuesday with a 12-4 loss to the Rays, have won 14 of 19 since Jim Tracy took over as manager last month.

Cook (6-3) tied Colorado’s franchise record with his 58th career win, a mark set by Jason Jennings. He allowed three runs on eight hits in seven innings.

Manny Corpas pitched a perfect eighth and Huston Street pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.

Left-hander David Price (1-1) surrendered five earned runs on 10 hits in seven innings but couldn’t keep the Rays from losing for just the second time in eight interleague games.

The Rockies jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to Tulowitzki’s ninth homer and Chris Barmes’ sacrifice fly that scored Clint Barmes, who had doubled, from third.

Pat Burrell started in right field for the Rays thanks to his 11-for-16 career mark against Cook — “I’d be an idiot to not have him in the lineup,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon declared.

The no-brainer move paid off when Burrell sliced a single to right field in the fourth, scoring Carlos Pena from third base to cut Colorado’s lead to 4-1. He finished 1 for 3 against Cook.

After Chris Iannetta led off the bottom of the fourth with his ninth homer to make it 5-1, Carl Crawford (fourth) and Evan Longoria (16th) hit back-to-back shots off Cook with two outs in the fifth to make it 5-3.

Pena then drew a walk and second baseman Barmes’ double error — a bobble and then an overthrow to first on Ben Zobrist’s groundball — put runners at second and third. Burrell sent Cook’s offering to the warning track in right field to end the inning.

Longoria also homered Monday night, when the Rays set a franchise record with a dozen extra-base hits, including five home runs.

Recap:Tampa Bay vs. Washington

Willy Aybar hit the go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning, and the Rays scored five unanswered runs to edge the Washington Nationals, 5-4, and sweep a three game interleague series.

Gabe Kapler hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs for the Rays, who have won a season-high five in a row. Kapler reached base in each of his four plate appearances, drawing two walks in addition to two hits.

"Three tough games against (the Nationals). I know their record isn't very good, but they played us very hard," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We saw some really good pitching from them, and their effort level was great. I was really proud of the way we reacted -- we got down a couple times but kept coming back."

B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena each had a pair of hits, while James Shields allowed four runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings in the start. Dan Wheeler (2- 1) earned the win for pitching a scoreless eighth inning, while J.P. Howell notched his third save of the season.

Alberto Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored for the Nationals, who have only three wins in their last 18 games. Nick Johnson and Elijah Dukes each had a pair of hits, while Ross Detwiler surrendered four runs on six hits with five walks over six innings. Washington fell to 0-6 this season in games Detwiler has started.

"I believe (Detwiler) gave us a good chance to win." Nats manager Manny Acta said. "He battled for us -- this is a kid that is fresh out of Double-A and really competed for us out there. You take away those walks, which is a lesson he'll learn, and we got something good with him."

Ron Villone (3-3) took the loss for allowing the go-ahead run in the eighth.

After the Nats failed on a scoring chance in the seventh, the Rays went ahead for good in the eighth. Pena hit a leadoff double to center, and two batters later, Aybar hit an RBI double to left for a 5-4 Tampa Bay lead.

Howell worked around a two-out hit batsman in the ninth to close out the Rays' win.

Washington went out in front in the second. Dukes blasted a double to deep center to lead off, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Gonzalez's single to right.

The Nationals had a big fourth inning, scoring three runs to widen their lead. Adam Dunn singled, and Dukes followed with another double. Gonzalez doubled two batters later to score both runners, and Josh Bard added an RBI double to give the visitors a 4-0 advantage.

Tampa Bay cut its deficit in half in the home fourth on a Kapler run-scoring single and a Dioner Navarro RBI groundout.

With two outs in the sixth, Gabe Gross worked a walk, and Kapler followed with a two-run homer to left to tie the game, 4-4.

"When I hit the ball, I didn't think it was going to be a home run -- I thought it would be a double," Kapler said. "I came out of the box hard, and it's nice to have that little cut-out (in left field). It's nice when your home ballpark helps you win a game."

Washington put runners on the corners with two outs and a chance to go in front in the seventh, but Randy Choate struck out Dunn looking to keep the game even!!

Mail-Order Brides Scandal in MLB

The beautiful small country of Dominican Republic is littered with makeshift baseballparks,
bursting with young boys/men who have dreams of making it big to the major leagues!!

Rene Orientals was one of the young boy who had that dream.At 22 years old, he grew of playing in dusty fields in Monte Cristi,where dirt road was abound.He appeared to be on his way in 2001,he got signed to the Kansas City Royals for $100,000.However two years ago he made an decision where it had his dreams going up in smoke.

An man came to his house with an propostions to marry and stranger.The man offered Oriental $4,000 to marry her and to take her back to the USA.The man told him "it's fair to do it..and everything is fair in the American Consulate." So He trusted that person and did it.

Also Tampa Bay Devil Rays minor leagues player Salvador Parades,& Texas Ranger players Omar Beltre & Alexis Ogando were involved.

As their teams was preparing to travel to start spring training.They was rushed to the Consulate to view their mail-order wives so they can get an work visa to enter the USA..The ESPN officials became suspicious of their shotgun wedding..

All the players mention was bought back to the conslate..Only Parades & Orientals faced thier worst nightmare having their work visa peremantly cancled and banned fron even entering theUSA soil.

The Santo Domingo Embassy is still investigating the mail-order bride scam.But they say in 2006 it has been reported case of 50,000 human trafficking/prositution in Dominican Republic to the USA!