Morning Box Score
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 2, 2010 1:00PM
Sox Shutdown A's
Gavin Floyd had another fantastic start as the Sox downed the A's 4-1 in yesterday's series finale. Floyd is now 5-1 over his last six starts and has only allowed six runs over those starts, lowering his ERA from 5.64 to 3.54 since mid-June. Floyd, who had a perfect game through five innings, struck out five and allowed just one run over seven innings yesterday for the win. Most of the offense came courtesy of a bases-loaded Brent Lillibridge triple in the fifth; Lillibridge would score the Sox' fourth run on a subsequent Juan Pierre single. Reliever Matt Thornton said of Floyd's recent run, "One of the most underrated, untalked about two months for any starting pitcher I've ever seen. Absolutely lights-out. Every game he has started, we are either winning or in it all the way to the end. He's been amazing." The Sox now lead Minnesota by only a half-game in the AL Central and lead Detroit by seven games heading into a key stretch that includes six games against the Twins and seven games against the Tigers over the next three weeks which kicks off tomorrow in Detroit with a day/night doubleheader (12:05 p.m., WGN / 6:05 p.m., WCIU).
The Cubs fall short again and the Fire edge LA after the jump.
Another Cubs Rally Falls Short
For the second straight game, the Cubs fell behind early, mounted a rally, and once again fell short, this time losing to the Rockies 8-7 and allowing Colorado to take a sweep of the series. The trouble began early for the Cubs when Carlos Silva had to leave the game after just four batters because of an abnormally high heart rhythm (more on that in a minute). Relievers James Russell and Carlos Zambranos were tagged with runs as well and the Rockies took and 8-1 lead. The Cubs fought back with a pair of runs in the seventh on Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto RBI singles and scored again in the eighth on a Soriano solo homer. Marlon Byrd hit a two-run triple in the ninth and then scored on a Soriano sac-fly to cut the lead to 8-7 but the Cubs rally ended there. As for Silva, he was taken to as nearby hospital where he stayed overnight for observations but things appeared to have returned to normal. He'll undergo an examination by the Cubs' cardiologist when he returns home. Silva doesn't have a history of heart problems and the team thinks the high altitude may have been a contributing factor. The Cubs were also without Lou Piniella who was attending the funeral of his uncle. The team returns home tonight, licking their wounds from a 1-5 road trip, to face the Brewers (7:05 p.m., WCIU).
Fire Edge Galaxy
After nearly a month away from MLS action, the Fire returned with a much-needed 3-2 win over the L.A. Galaxy last night, handing the Galaxy their first home MLS loss of the season. The Fire did it with a scorching opening 20 minutes, scoring all three goals in that time. Marco Pappa finished a counter in the fourth minute with his seventh goal of the season and Collins John added the second goal a minute later. In the 19th minute, another Pappa shot was stopped but the rebound fell to Mike Banner who put the ball in goal to give the Fire a 3-0 lead. The Galaxy didn't relent, scoring twice on penalty kicks by Landon Donovan - in the 37th and 81st minute - and firing 15 shots overall (seven on goal) at Fire goalie Sean Johnson, getting his first start, but Johnson held to help the Fire secure their first MLS win since June 27th. The Fire next see action next Sunday at Toyota Park when they welcome the New York Red Bull and their new star Thierry Henry (8 p.m., ESPN2).