Braves win for 21st time on their final swing
ATLANTA (AP) – Atlanta did it again in its final at-bat, beating Washington 3-2 on Jason Heyward’s run-scoring single in the ninth inning Wednesday night. The Braves won for the 21st time in their final swing, which leads the majors. They also improved baseball’s best home record to 44-16, maintaining their 2 1/2-game lead on Philadelphia in the NL East.
With one out, Rick Ankiel fisted a bloop single just over the outstretched glove of second baseman Adam Kennedy. Sean Burnett (0-7) was replaced by Tyler Clippard, who walked David Ross. Clippard struck out Omar Infante, then Heyward hit a liner to left-center.
Billy Wagner (7-2) struck out the side in the ninth.
The Braves’ fourth straight win came hours after they acquired slugging first baseman Derrek Lee from Chicago for three minor league pitchers.
Atlanta starter Tim Hudson and Washington’s Livan Hernandez pitched seven strong innings, allowing two runs apiece, but neither was involved in the decision.
Phillies 8, Giants 2
PHILADELPHIA – Jimmy Rollins hit a three-run homer and Joe Blanton pitched neatly into the seventh for Philadelphia.
The two-time NL champions have won 20 of 25 and moved two games ahead of the Giants in the wild-card race. The Phillies remained 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the East.
Andres Torres and Pat Burrell hit solo homers for the Giants, who have lost three straight.
Blanton (5-6) allowed two runs and eight hits, striking out seven in 6 1-3 innings.
Rollins singled, tripled and homered off Matt Cain (9-10).
Pinch-hitter Domonic Brown hit a solo homer in the eighth for Philadelphia.
Cain gave up five runs – two earned – and seven hits in six innings. Giants starters are 0-9 with a 5.73 ERA in the last 14 games.
Brewers 3, Cardinals 2
ST. LOUIS – Randy Wolf pitched three-hit ball into the ninth inning and Milwaukee handed 17-game winner Adam Wainwright his first home loss of the season.
Trevor Hoffman struck out Brendan Ryan with the bases loaded to earn his 598th career save. Hoffman came in after the Cardinals pushed across a pair of runs in the ninth.
Rookie Lorenzo Cain had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run. He also had a key steal to set Milwaukee’s first run in the fifth.
After sweeping the mini two-game series, the Brewers are 18-9 at Busch Stadium the last three seasons. The Cardinals have lost four straight to drop out of the top spot in the NL Central.
Wainwright (17-7) gave up three runs and seven hits in seven innings, but missed a chance to become the majors’ first 18-game winner. He dropped to 11-1 with a 1.42 ERA in 13 home starts this season.
Wolf (10-9) gave up one run and three hits in 8 1-3 innings.
Padres 5, Cubs 1
CHICAGO – Matt Stairs, taking advantage of a rare outfield start, hit a two-run double and Adrian Gonzalez homered for streaking San Diego.
The Cubs announced after the game that they had traded first baseman Derrek Lee to the Atlanta Braves for three minor leaguers.
Clayton Richard allowed one run and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings for the Padres, who have outscored opponents 53-20 while winning nine of their last 10 games. San Diego (72-47) has the NL’s best record and is 25 games over .500 for the first time since its pennant-winning 1998 season.
The Cubs (50-71) lost their sixth straight home game and are 4-17 overall since July 27. The announced attendance at Wrigley Field was a season-low 33,267.
Casey Coleman (0-1) allowed three runs and six hits over 4 1-3 innings in his first start for Chicago.
Rays 8, Rangers 6
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Evan Longoria hit a solo homer and drove in four runs to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers, completing a sweep of the three-game series between potential playoff opponents.
Longoria also had a pair of RBI doubles and a sacrifice fly. The All-Star third baseman had three RBIs in Tampa Bay’s 10-1 victory Tuesday night.
James Shields (11-11) allowed two runs and four hits over seven innings, stopping a personal two-game slide. Rafael Soriano got two outs for his 35th save.
Tampa Bay, which began the day tied with the New York Yankees for the AL East lead, has won five straight overall.
Taylor Teagarden and Mitch Moreland homered for the AL West-leading Rangers, who are 7-10 since July 30. Derek Holland (2-2) got the loss.
Athletics 5, Blue Jays 4
OAKLAND, Calif. – Cliff Pennington hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to bail out Oakland’s bullpen and give the Athletics the win.
The A’s blew a 4-1 lead in the top of the ninth but managed to pull out the victory to remain undefeated in 51 games this season when they led after eight innings.
Gio Gonzalez allowed two hits in seven innings and Coco Crisp had a homer, two doubles and two RBIs for the A’s, who won their sixth straight home series. Brad Ziegler (3-4) got the victory.
Yankees 9, Tigers 5
NEW YORK – Mark Teixeira homered and Dustin Moseley pitched well enough to overcome the two home runs he gave up to Miguel Cabrera in the New York Yankees’ testy win over the Detroit Tigers.
Jeremy Bonderman (6-9) hit Brett Gardner in the leg with his first pitch and umpire crew chief Eric Cooper warned the benches against further trouble.
Gardner’s hard slide at the end of Monday’s game took out Detroit second baseman Carlos Guillen, who went on the disabled list with a bruised knee. One out after the speedy Gardner was hit, Teixeira made it 2-0.
Red Sox 7, Angels 5
BOSTON – Bill Hall and Adrian Beltre homered before the Red Sox took the lead without even hitting the ball, scoring runs on a wild pitch and a hit batsman to lead Boston over the Los Angeles Angels.
Boston improved to 9-0 against the Angels this season and John Lackey (11-7) won for the third straight time against his former team. The former Los Angeles right-hander allowed five runs and 10 hits in seven innings, picking up the win when the Red Sox overcame a 5-4 deficit in the seventh.
Mariners 6, Orioles 5
BALTIMORE – Matt Tuiasosopo extended his unlikely power surge with a three-run homer, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles for their season-high fourth straight series win.
Tuiasosopo’s drive off Jeremy Guthrie (7-12) in the second inning put Seattle ahead for good. Tuiasosopo, a seldom-used utility player, has two homers and seven RBIs over the last two nights after totaling one homer and two RBIs in his first 30 games.