The Chicago Cubs traded for Rich Harden expecting to get an ace pitcher, but they probably didn't expect to receive a hitter as well.
The Victoria native allowed two hits in seven innings Tuesday night, striking out 10 and bunting in the go-ahead run for his first major league RBI as the surging Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-0.
"I think maybe a new league, seeing new guys and they haven't seen me that much," Harden said after his fourth 10-strikeout game in seven starts for the Cubs.
"I haven't seen them, also. It's a process," he added. "The more I see them I have to make adjustments and the more they see me they'll be making adjustments. But I definitely think it makes a difference."
Harden has made a difference for the Cubs, who already had a strong rotation with Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster of Gibsons, B.C., and Ted Lilly. They thought Harden would give them the extra push toward the playoffs - if they can keep him healthy.
"We just got to watch him, keep him fresh and keep him strong," Chicago manager Lou Piniella said. "This kid is a competitor. He pitches with confidence and he's done a real nice job here, obviously."
With the victory, the NL Central-leading Cubs (77-48) improved to a season-high 29 games over .500. Chicago has won seven of eight and 17 of its last 21.
"One thing about our pitching staff for a good while now, they've given us the chance to win games on a continual basis," Piniella said.
Harden (3-1) won a duel with Johnny Cueto (8-12), who gave up four hits over seven innings in the fast-paced game.
Harden, who picked up his first win at Wrigley Field, didn't walk a batter and allowed singles to Jeff Keppinger in the fourth and Chris Dickerson in the sixth. Dickerson was the lone Red to reach scoring position when he stole second with two outs before Harden fanned Keppinger.
"That's the first time that we've seen him," Reds manager Dusty Baker said of Harden, who came to the Cubs in a July 8 trade. "The thing about him is he'll throw 88 (m.p.h.), 89, 90 and then when he gets to two strikes, he can pump it up to 94 or 96."
Elsewhere in the NL it was: Philadelphia 5, Washington 4; New York 7, Atlanta 3; Houston 5, Milwaukee 2; Pittsburgh 4, St. Louis 1; Arizona 7, San Diego 6; Florida 6, San Francisco 0; and Colorado 8, Los Angeles 3.
At Chicago, Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless eighth and Kerry Wood gave up a two-out single to Keppinger in the ninth while completing the three-hitter.
Cueto (8-12) allowed the one run while walking two and striking out six.
"That's as well as he's thrown the ball since early in the year," Baker said.
Geovany Soto had a leadoff triple in the fifth when his long drive to right-centre hit off the glove of a diving Corey Patterson.
After a walk to Kosuke Fukudome and a strikeout, Harden dropped down a bunt. When third baseman Edwin Encarnacion threw to first for the out, Soto broke for the plate and scored when first baseman Joey Votto of Toronto made a low throw that bounded away from catcher Paul Bako. Harden got an RBI on the play, while Votto was charged with an error for allowing Fukudome to advance.
"I was looking behind my shoulder and he was freezing. That's why I went to first. It was a tough play," Encarnacion said.
Piniella lauded Soto's "heads-up" baseball on the play, saying it's not the type of daring baserunning often seen by a catcher.
"I just followed the third baseman down the line and I was pretty far down and whenever he let go of the ball, I thought it was going to be a cruise," Soto said.
"But I'm not that fast, so I just got to go headfirst into home plate. Luckily I scored."
Chicago added four runs in the eighth off relievers Mike Lincoln and Bill Bray. Derek Lee had an RBI single, Aramis Ramirez a run-scoring double and Fukudome a two-run, bases-loaded single.
Mets 7, Braves 3
At New York, Carlos Delgado hit a go-ahead double off the left-centre fence to end the Mets' 3-for-42 slide with the bases loaded, and New York broke loose in the eighth inning to rally past Atlanta.
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Phillies 5, Nationals 4
At Philadelphia, Jayson Werth hit a tiebreaking solo homer off Steven Shell (0-1), sending Washington to its 11th straight loss.
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Astros 5, Brewers 2
At Milwaukee, Geoff Blum hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning for Houston.
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Pirates 4, Cardinals 1
At St. Louis, Ian Snell threw seven scoreless innings to outpitch Braden Looper and lead Pittsburgh.
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Diamondbacks 7, Padres 6
At Phoenix, Adam Dunn hit his league-leading 33rd home run in his Arizona home debut.
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Rockies 8, Dodgers 3
At Los Angeles, rookie Ian Stewart homered and drove in a career-high five runs for Colorado, which won its fourth straight.
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Marlins 6, Giants 0
At San Francisco, Florida's Ricky Nolasco pitched a two-hitter for his first career shutout and drove in two runs with his first double.
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With every win, A.J. Burnett's free-agent asking price rises. And after striking out- Yankees on Tuesday, Burnett could be guaranteeing himself a lucrative off-season even if the Toronto Blue Jays miss the playoffs.
A man long on talent and short on results for most of his career, Burnett (16-9) lifted the Blue Jays (65-60) to a dramatic 2-1 win over the New York Yankees (66-59) before a crowd of 37,221 at the Rogers Centre.
While it was nice that Burnett's season-high- strikeouts propelled the Jays to within a game of the Yankees for third place in the wild card race, the sobering reality is the pattern of top-notch performances by the starter can only enhance his value in an off-season where he can opt out of the final two years of his five-year contract, leaving the Jays without a No. 2 hurler.
This year, the Jays need a miracle to employ Burnett's services in the playoffs as they are 7 1-2 games behind the wild card-leading Boston Red Sox.
"He's a real good pitcher," Yankees centre-fielder Johnny Damon said. "I hope he opts out of his deal."
Seeing as Jays manager Cito Gaston speculated on the weekend that Burnett would do just that, Damon may get his wish.
What's more, Damon helped Burnett nail down his sixth win in a row with a bad play in the eighth inning. With the game tied at 1-1, a deep fly ball from Marco Scutaro forced Damon back, but when he leaped the ball popped in and out of his glove.
The ruled double, on a potential inning-ending play, off Yankees reliever Jose Veras (3-2) cashed in the game's winning run as the Jays tied a season-best by going five games over .500.
"I just didn't get back far enough maybe on the last one and I made myself have to jump," said Damon, who was charged with an error in the first on another dropped ball.
"When you do that, your head shakes a bit. I couldn't believe I didn't come down with it."
Elsewhere in the AL it was: Cleveland 9, Kansas City 4; Boston 7, Baltimore 2; Tampa Bay 4, Los Angeles 2; Detroit 11, Texas 3; Minnesota-, Oakland 2; and Chicago 5, Seattle 0.
At Toronto, with Burnett seemingly en route to an unfortunate loss after giving up a run in the first, the Jays bats finally came alive late in the game. Adam Lind hit his third home run in as many games in the seventh off Yankees starter Darrell Rasner to tie it at 1-1.
It was just the third and final hit for the Jays against Rasner, who went 6 2-3 innings in recording a no-decision.
As good as Rasner was, he didn't compare to Burnett, who mixed a rocketing fastball with a nasty curve to elevate his AL-leading strikeout total to 178.
"I knew I had a couple (strikeouts)," said Burnett, who gave up five hits in eight innings. "Everything was working, that's basically all you can say. We got ahead and everything else after that kind of took care of itself."
After closer B.J. Ryan entered in the ninth, he received some fine defence from first baseman Lyle Overbay, who chased down an Alex Rodriguez blooper that went over his head and fired to second to nail the unpopular Yankees third baseman. Ryan went on to record his 24th save.
"I can't say enough about Lyle staying on it and making a great play," Ryan said.
With two more games against the Yankees followed by three with the Red Sox, who entered the evening seven games ahead of Toronto, the Jays need a big week to stay relevant in the AL.
The Jays have to go 25-12 the rest of the way just to finish with 90 wins. At least 94 wins have been needed to claim the wild card in the AL the past seven years.
"This week can make or break you and if it makes you, you've still got another week of make or break you," Jays manager Cito Gaston said before the game. "It doesn't get any easier. You've got to play well. You can't afford to get swept. You've got to win some series here. Otherwise, you can start thinking about next year."
Rays 4, Angels 2
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Willy Aybar broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run double, and Tampa Bay rallied past Los Angeles 4-2 on Tuesday night for its ninth victory in 11 games.
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Red Sox 7, Orioles 2
At Baltimore, Daisuke Matsuzaka won his fourth straight start despite struggling through five innings, and Boston got homers from Jason Varitek and Kevin Youkilis.
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Indians 9, Royals 4
At Cleveland, Grady Sizemore hit his 28th homer, a three-run shot, and the Indians beat the Royals.
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White Sox 5, Mariners 0
At Chicago, Clayton Richard pitched six innings for his first major league win, and Nick Swisher and Jim Thome homered for the White Sox.
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Twins-, Athletics 2
At Minneapolis, Kevin Slowey had a career-high 12 strikeouts and Brian Buscher matched his career best with five RBIs for Minnesota.
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Tigers 11, Rangers 3
At Arlington, Texas, Matt Joyce homered twice, including a three-run shot in Detroit's nine-run seventh inning, and Armando Galarraga beat his former team.
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