When it comes to facing the youthful Florida Marlins, Jamie Moyer always finds a way to win one for the aged.
Joey Votto had the hit that gave Edinson Volquez the little room he needed.
Joe Torre had a few feel-good moments in his managerial return to New York. There was, after all, that nice smattering of applause when he made a pitching change in the seventh inning.
Brandon Webb was halfway through May and hadn't lost a game before Wednesday night. So was Shawn Chacon, in an entirely different way.
Tom Glavine picked up his first win in his second stint with Atlanta as the Braves' patchwork bullpen managed to hold things together against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Joey Votto and his Cincinnati teammates made like the Big Red Machine and the Colorado Rockies found some of that Rocktober magic for one of the few times this season.
Mike Cameron delighted in his season debut for Milwaukee and Max Scherzer of Arizona was unhittable in his first major league action.
Chase Utley used his bat and glove to help the Phillies win, while Micah Owings of Arizona and Mark Hendrickson of Florida pitched and hit their teams to victory.
Randy Johnson's primary concern with his season debut: four walks. Other than that, The Big Unit thinks he will soon get on track.
Greg Maddux won another game for the aged. His 300-win compatriot Tom Glavine appeared to have been showing his age when he left after throwing just 16 pitches.
Ben Sheets had high expectations when he pitched his first shutout back in 2001.
Back in January, when Jimmy Rollins was making bold predictions, he left one out. Not only were his Phillies the team to beat in the NL East, he was headed for an MVP season.
Jake Peavy has been one of the best pitchers in the National League for years. This season, he pulled away from the pack.
Philadelphia did the celebrating instead of the flopping. And while the fate of the Phillies and New York Mets is certain, Colorado and San Diego will need a tiebreaker game to determine the major leagues' final playoff spot.
Rookie Yovani Gallardo is used to seeing big leads disintegrate for Milwaukee. He wouldn't let that happen when the Brewers scored six runs early on against the team with the most wins in the National League.
For the Phillies, the ninth-inning toll Wednesday night included two ejections, two defensive gaffes, an injury to Brett Myers and a blown four-run lead. They regrouped in the 10th, when Abraham Nunez singled home the tie-breaking run with two outs for an 8-7 victory over the Florida Marlins.
Barry Bonds and Carlos Lee put on quite a show in Pennsylvania. Bonds hit his 736th and 737th career homers before being lifted in the fourth inning of the San Francisco Giants' 8-5 win in Pittsburgh. That wasn't even the best performance of the night in the Keystone State as Lee clubbed three homers in the Astros' 9-6 win at Philadelphia.
Philadelphia's sluggish start has an all too familiar feel for Phillies fans. Chuck James pitched five solid innings, Kelly Johnson hit a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep of Philadelphia with an 8-4 victory on Thursday.
Ryan Howard had a season that defied convention, one that made him only the second player voted Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in consecutive years.
Ryan Howard hit his 55th and 56th home runs, and Jamie Moyer pitched eight sharp innings to help the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Mariners 3-2 Friday night.
For the first time in major league history Tuesday night, two games on the same day lasted 18 innings. The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs played on and on, long after Roger Clemens left and Brad Lidge blew another save. The other was in Colorado, where the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled out a 2-1 victory at 12:26 a.m. MDT.
Cincinnati had a chance to widen its lead in the National League wild-card race and couldn't do it. Arizona and San Diego each had an opportunity to catch the Reds and fell short.
David Wright has made a habit this season of coming up with the big hit.
Barry Bonds stayed stuck at 714. The big home runs on this night in the National League were hit by three other stars: Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran and Ken Griffey Jr.
Pedro Martinez picked the perfect time to get his 200th win.