Midday Recap: Carlos Torres rebounds from his 2nd pitch, Jagr on the move

Boston slows down a hot charging Tampa Bay team.  Jaromir Jagr takes his talents down I-95.  And San Francisco and the Cincinnati play a doubleheader of unusual nature.

Howard Simmons | New York Daily News

But the big story this morning is Carlos Torres's 2nd start for the New York Mets.  Torres started by allowing a solo shot by lead-off hitter Andrelton Simmons, but then calmed down to keep the Braves at one run through his 6 innings of work.

The bullpen kept the Braves bats quiet, failing to allow a hit through their three innings of work.  Bobby Parnell, who blew a save in the Mets 2-1 loss on Monday, struck out two as he earned his 19th save of the season.

Ike Davis helped the Mets earn Torres his first win of the season thanks to his double in the 6th inning that scored Daniel Murphy to give the Mets the 2-1 lead, and the force was with John Buck as he brought Marlon Byrd home to widen the gap.  A Juan Lagares sac-fly would bring the final score of 4-1.

The Braves scored 1 run on 7 hits, all against Torres.  Torres struck out 6 and walked 2 as the one earned run he allowed boosted his ERA to 0.94.  Ike Davis, who earned boos after his first two at bats, drove in cheers thanks to his go-ahead double in the 6th.

For Braves starting pitcher Kris Medlen, it was his third loss in a row.  Allowing 14 runs in his last three starts, Medlen's spot in the starting rotation is in jeopardy.  He's allowed 24 hits and struck out 13 during this three game span, and in all three games, he had to be replaced prior to the end of an inning.

On-Deck: Jeremy Hefner came back from the All-Star break with a dud in his last start against the Philadelphia Phillies.  Touting one of the best ERA's since the start of June, Hefner got torched for 8 runs on 10 hits as his season's ERA rose 0.60 after the Friday effort.  If Hefner can return to the form he had prior to the All-Star break, the Mets stand a chance of climbing back to within 9 games of the Braves in the NL East.

It hasn't been pretty, but Tim Hudson is a winner of his last three starts.  Allowing 8 runs on 23 hits in the three-game span, Hudson has struck out 13 as the Braves offered him some run support to overcome those deficits.

Game Coverage: 6:30PM on 1230 FOX Sports Radio

Mar-GONE

Jim McIssac | Newsday

The New York Mets begin proceedings to release pitcher Shaun Marcum from their roster.  Yesterday, prior to their game against the Braves, the Mets placed Marcum on waivers with the intent of an unconditional release from their roster.  Marcum was shelved from the lineup a couple weeks ago with a thoratic outlet syndrome that required season-ending surgery.

Marcum went 1-10 this year with a 5.29 ERA, with his lone win being at the Chicago White Sox in June.  Marcum had a season-high 12 strikeouts against the Atlanta Braves on national television, but had consistency issues throughout the season.

ROADBLOCK
The Tampa Bay Rays fail to convert on an opportunity to do what the Los Angeles Dodgers accomplished the previous night.  In their way was the Boston Red Sox, who kept firm control of 1st place in the AL East with their 6-2 win last night in Boston.

Heading into the game, the Rays were winners of 6 straight and 9 of their last 10.  And down 3-2, the Rays had the opportunity to tie the game after Jose Molina doubled with one man out.  However, the Rays were unable to move the runner over, and was stranded at 2nd after Junichi Tazawa got Desmond Jennings to strike out to end the 7th.

The Red Sox would pad their lead with three in the 8th inning, pushing the Rays back to 1 1/2 games behind the Red Sox for the lead in the AL East.

GOING DOWN I-95

USA Today Sports

Jaromir Jagr is heading down the Atlantic.  The Boston Bruin has signed a 1 year contract, worth $2 million, to play for the New Jersey Devils.  The signing replaces the hole that came when Ilya Kovalchuk retired from the NHL to play hockey in Russia.

Last year Jagr scored 16 goals and 19 assists with the Boston Bruins and the Dallas Stars.  Those 16 goals would have led the Devils, and his 35 points would put him one point behind team leader Patrik Elias.

UNUSUAL DOUBLEHEADER
It was an unusual doubleheader for the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.  In the first game, the Reds prevailed 9-3.  Following the game, both teams changed jerseys, with the Giants wearing the road colors and batting first, and the Reds treated as the home team, despite the game being played at AT&T Park in San Francisco.  In the nightcap, the Giants, as the road team, prevailed 5-3.

The weird doubleheader came about after rain postponed the Giants/Reds game on July 4th in Cincinnati.  After the two teams had a tough time rescheduling the game for its home field in Cincinnati, the two teams came to terms on the doubleheader in San Francisco.

Midday Recap: Dillon Gee's wasted gem, and more.

The hammer comes down on a Brewer.  The Los Angeles Dodgers show the league that you can come back after a slow start.  And the 2nd week of racing at Saratoga will begin with a juicy carryover.

But the big story this morning is the wasted gem.  Dillon Gee pitched 7 innings of two-hit ball for the New York Mets, getting out of a jam in the 7th inning when he got Joey Terdoslavich to strike out, stranding the bases.  Both hits came in that 7th inning, with Freddie Freeman ending Gee's no-hit bid with a lead-off single.  Evan Gattis had the other hit.

Corey Sipkin | New York Daily News

The Mets took a 1-0 lead into the top of the 9th, but couldn't hold it long as Bobby Parnell surrenders back-to-back hits to lead off the 9th.  A passed ball would set up both runners in scoring position, and both runners would come home thanks to a Chris Johnson ground-out and then a Reed Johnson single.  The blown save is Parnell's 4th of the season.

With little life in the bottom of the 9th, the Mets were ready to score the tying run off the bat of Justin Turner, but an amazing diving catch by Jason Heyward sealed the Braves victory.

Marlon Byrd scored the lone run for the Mets, using the triple to his advantage.  He would be brought home by Ike Davis in the 4th inning.

GEE WHIZ: Gee's numbers weren't impressive for a no-hit bidder, allowing as many walks as he did strikeouts (3), but did what he needed combined with some fantastic defense behind him in order to preserve the bid until the 7th inning.

This is the second straight start against Atlanta where a fantastic start from Gee has gone wasted.  He was his own worst enemy in his last start, in Atlanta, where in the 9th inning, he watched Freddie Freeman walk off at 1:20AM.

The numbers are getting better for Dillon Gee.  After an abysmal April and May that saw him exit the home game against the Braves on May 25th with a 2-6 record and a 6.34 ERA, Gee's 5-1 with a 2.39 ERA.  He has kept opposing players from reaching home plate in his last two starts, and now sits with a 7-7 record and a 4.07 ERA.

K-RIS TONIGHT: Kris Medlen loves to punch Mets out, having struck out 7 in his last start against them down at Turner Field last month, then 9 in his last appearance at Citi Field in May.  Things have been rocky for Medlen of late, having given up 10 earned runs in his last two starts.  Carlos Torres takes the ball for the Mets, in his 8th Major League start.  Torres went a season-high 5 innings in his last start, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He struck out 5 in the no-decision.

Broadcast Coverage: 6:30PM on 1230 FOX Sports Radio

BRAUN'D
For a year and a half, Milwaukee Brewer Ryan Braun maintained his innocence amid the investigations put forth by Major League Baseball.  On Monday, Braun admitted to his drug use, and accepted a suspension that takes him out for the rest of the season, without pay.

In a statement, Braun apologized to the fans and admitted that he had made some mistakes.  Through his mistakes, he hit 41 home runs for the Brewers last year.  This year Braun hit 9 home runs, and was sitting just below .300 in the batter's box.

IT CAN BE DONE
On June 21st, the Los Angeles Dodgers exited their Friday night loss to the San Diego Padres with a 30-42 record.  9 1/2 games behind first place Arizona, the Dodgers were looking for something to help turn their season around.

A Saturday night win against the Padres became the launching point as the Dodgers started putting together winning streaks and inched their way closer to front-running Arizona.

The month's worth of hard work paid off last night when, coupled with the Dodgers 14-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays and the Arizona loss to the Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers took control of 1st, and now lead the National League West by a half-game.

With over two months remaining in the season, the Dodgers have shown the rest of the league that being in the basement doesn't mean that's where you will finish.

WIRED MONEY
When Angel's South went wire-to-wire in the 8th race at Saratoga Race Course yesterday, it sent Pick-6 players heading for the exits with programs in hand. Angel's South win at odds of 34-1 helped fuel a double-day carryover in the Pick-6, with $245,000 heading into the pool when racing resumes on Wednesday.

In the Pick-6, bettors are asked to pick correctly the winners of 6 consecutive races.  The challenge helps to yield one of the bigger payoffs at the track, with many times the $2 wager yielding a return of well over a thousand dollars.

In other Saratoga news, Bigger is Bettor stalked the pace and struck the lead to win the Evan Shipman Stakes, the Monday feature.

Racing continues Wednesday with the running of the Lake George, a Grade II.  First post is 1:00PM.