Starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens of the Atlanta Braves lost his eighth game of the season on Sunday evening against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After exchanging zeros with Chad Billingsley in the first four frames, the team of manager Joe Torre finally came through in the top of the fifth, putting four runs on the board en route to a 9-1 win. Matt Kemp went three-for-five with five RBI, including a three-run homerun off Jurrjens. Jurrjens allowed ten hits, four runs and two bb in five innings, striking out five. He is now 9-8 with an ERA of 2.85.
On Friday, Sidney Ponson of the Kansas City Royals got roughed up and now gets designated for assignment. Kyle Davies, who was pitching for the Triple-A team in Omaha is getting Ponson’s spot in the rotation and is going to start on Wednesday. The right-hander, who pitched for the Dutch team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, had a 1-7 record with an ERA of 7.36 in 14 games (nine starts) for the Royals this season. It is no new situation for Ponson, who was released during the season five times since 2005.