NL: Bruce hot as Reds extend surge
CINCINNATI (AP) – Jay Bruce homered in three consecutive at-bats, matching his career high with five RBIs, and the first-place Cincinnati Reds extended their two-week playoff surge by beating the Chicago Cubs 7-1 on Friday night. The Reds are 10-3 since getting swept at home by the St. Louis Cardinals from Aug. 9-11. The streak pushed Cincinnati back ahead of the Cardinals in the NL Central, which the Reds have led for the last 13 days.
Johnny Cueto (12-4) got his first win since serving a seven-game suspension for kicking a couple of Cardinals during a brawl in their series. The right-hander gave up a run and six hits in eight innings.
Bruce hit a solo homer and a three-run shot off left-hander Tom Gorzelanny (7-8), who lasted only five innings. He added a solo shot in the seventh off reliever Scott Maine, giving him three homers in a span of five pitches.
It was Chicago’s first loss since manager Lou Piniella retired on Sunday and was replaced by Mike Quade.
Marlins 7, Braves 1
ATLANTA (AP) – Florida led off a game with back-to-back homers for the first time in franchise history, Chris Volstad pitched eight strong innings and the Marlins romped past slumping Atlanta.
The NL East leaders lost their fourth in a row, their worst slump since a nine-game skid in April. The last two defeats have been especially ugly – Atlanta squandered a 10-1 lead at Colorado and fell 12-10, then got blown out by the Marlins, who have won eight of 10.
Cameron Maybin hit the first pitch of the game into the left-field seats, ending Tommy Hanson’s streak of 47 2-3 innings without giving up a homer. Logan Morrison then connected off Hanson (8-10) for his first major league home run.
Hanson gave up two more runs in the second, including a run-scoring single by Volstad (8-9). The Marlins chased Hanson in the sixth, leading off with another pair of consecutive homers, by Dan Uggla and Gaby Sanchez.
Cardinals 4, Nationals 2
WASHINGTON (AP) – On the day injured phenom Stephen Strasburg was declared done for the season, another rookie kept humming along, pitching St. Louis to a victory over Washington.
Jaime Garcia tossed 5 1-3 scoreless innings and Albert Pujols hit his 401st home run as the Cardinals broke a three-game skid. Matt Holliday also went deep.
Garcia (12-6) tied a season high with seven strikeouts and extended his streak to 20 1-3 innings without allowing an earned run. The 24-year-old left-hander leads major league rookies in wins.
St. Louis had lost eight of 11 – including three straight to last-place teams – to fall behind in the NL Central and wild-card races.
Pujols, who hit his 400th home run Thursday night and later twisted his ankle in a 13-inning loss, connected off Scott Olsen (3-7) for his 35th of the season and fifth in seven career games at Nationals Park.
Ryan Franklin got through a shaky ninth inning to earn his 22nd save in 24 chances.
The Nationals lost for the fifth time in six games, failing to lift the cloud that descended over the franchise Friday morning when the team announced that Strasburg has a torn elbow ligament and will likely need Tommy John surgery.
Mets 2, Astros 1
NEW YORK (AP) – Mike Pelfrey pitched eight dominant innings and New York took advantage of a wild outing by former teammate Nelson Figueroa to end Houston’s five-game winning streak.
Pelfrey (13-7) went at least seven innings for the fourth straight start, shutting down an Astros squad that was coming off a four-game sweep in Philadelphia. He threw a career-high 124 pitches and matched his major league best for wins in a season.
Right fielder Jeff Francoeur threw out a runner trying to score and Hisanori Takahashi escaped a ninth-inning jam for his second save.
Facing the hometown club that drafted him in 1995 and cut him in April, Figueroa (3-2) gave up only three hits in seven innings. But he walked five, made a key throwing error and tossed a crucial wild pitch.