Take Me Out to the Brawl Game

Both win easily, with Tampa star a unanimous choice in AL

(NEWSER) - Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto and Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria were named the rookies of the year today in the National and American leagues, respectively. Soto, 25, was voted an All-Star Game starter and finished the season with a .285 batting average, 23 home runs, and 86 RBI, the Tribune reports. He easily beat out Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto. More»

Rays at the head of the class—Rockies, Marlins at the back

(NEWSER) - Report card time! Here’s how the rambunctious kids of MLB are doing so far, in Yahoo Sports’ Steven Henson’s estimation. A students—Rays, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, White Sox Particular kudos go to the Rays, the poor kid who went to the head of the class. B students—Cardinals, Brewers, Twins, Phillies, Yankees, Athletics, Marlins, Orioles The Cardinals have a slight edge in the wildcard race. The Yankees, meanwhile, barely scrape together a B. More»

Most dingers for Cincy in nearly nine years

(NEWSER) - Jon Lieber became only the second pitcher in Chicago Cubs history to give up four homers in an inning, and Joey Votto connected three times in all as the Cincinnati Reds powered their way to a 9-0 victory on Wednesday. Votto started a four-homer second inning off Lieber (2-2), who was making his first start of the season. More»

Cubs ace goes eight in 3-0 gem

(NEWSER) - Carlos Zambrano had his way with Cincinnati's slumping lineup, allowing only three hits in eight innings, and Ronny Cedeno singled home a pair of runs that sent the Chicago Cubs to a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night. The Cubs won for only fourth time in 12 games, a span marked by inconsistency all around. More»

(NEWSER) - Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer deep into the seats in right field, and rookie Johnny Cueto got back to hitting the corners with his 95 mph fastball, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a slump-busting 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Reds ended a five-game losing streak by taking advantage of a pair of errors that set up five unearned runs off Ryan Dempster (4-1). More»