Arizona’s Eric Byrnes had a monster game (4-for-5) and came up in the eighth needing a triple for the cycle — but he bounced out to the pitcher. Byrnes: “I’m not that smart, but I’m smart enough to know that a triple means a cycle. Hitting the ball like 10 feet won’t get you a triple.”
Chasing a bad throw near the dugout in the sixth, catcher Damian Miller couldn’t hear his pitcher yelling that a Giants runner was racing home. “I had a fan yell, ‘Home, home, home.’ Must have been a Brewers fan,” said Miller, who nailed the potential tying run at the plate.
Dan Haren felt out of sorts — and still won. The Oakland ace won his ninth straight decision and third consecutive start despite giving up two homers in a game for the second time this year. “I put us in a hole,” he said. The A’s dug him out thanks to …
THREE DOWN
… The Reds bullpen, which couldn’t hold a one-run lead in the seventh inning. Jon Coutlangus walked in the tying run before giving up the winning sacrifice fly. Manager Jerry Narron: “We need to get big outs late in the ballgame from someone besides Dave Weathers.”
What’s good for the Twins is bad for Bert Blyleven’s hair. The team’s broadcaster said he would shave his head if Johan Santana threw a shutout against the Mets, and the ace pulled it off Tuesday. A smiling Santana gave Blyleven a trim in the clubhouse.
It was another dismal night at the plate for the Braves. They were shut out by the Red Sox for the second night in a row and haven’t scored in 19 innings. Atlanta managed just five singles and didn’t move a runner into scoring position until there was one out in the seventh.
