Aug 19, 2005 7 min read

CLEVELAND (AP) – Jake Westbrook won for the fifth time in six starts and the Cleveland Indians moved closer in the AL wild-card race, beating the Texas Rangers 9-4 Thursday. Jhonny Peralta had three hits, including a two-run homer, as the Indians pulled within 21/2 games of idle Oakland. Coco Crisp and Travis Hafner each drove in two runs.

Cleveland won for the second time in six games at Jacobs Field after completing a 6-0 trip to Detroit and Kansas City. Texas lost for the eighth time in nine games – all on the road.

Indians second baseman Ronnie Belliard left the game after running headlong into umpire Eric Cooper’s left hip while chasing a groundball in the sixth. Belliard had a strained neck and was taken to a hospital for precautionary X-rays.

Justin Thompson pitched the eighth for Texas in his first major league appearance since Aug. 15, 1999.

Thompson gave up Peralta’s two-run homer, his 19th.

Westbrook (11-13) allowed four runs and 10 hits over six innings to improve to 9-4 in 13 starts since June 14. He finished his outing by getting Mark DeRosa to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded, preserving a 5-4 lead.

The inning began when Alfonso Soriano grounded a single up the middle. Belliard and Cooper collided, and they both went tumbling to the ground.

Four Indians relievers combined to pitch three hitless innings. Bob Howry got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth by getting Sandy Alomar Jr. to hit into a double play and took the mound to start the ninth, but was replaced by David Riske before making a pitch.

Mark Teixeira drove in two runs for Texas. Michael Young had an RBI double and DeRosa singled home a run.

Crisp’s two-run double gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead in the third inning against C.J. Wilson (0-6). Hafner and Belliard added RBI doubles later in the inning to make it 5-2.

Phillies 2, Nationals 1

Nationals 5, Phillies 4

PHILADELPHIA – Carlos Baerga’s go-ahead single in the eighth inning lifted Washington to a split of a day-night doubleheader with Philadelphia.

In the opener, Vicente Padilla kept up his recent run of outstanding starts and Bobby Abreu delivered a key two-RBI double for Philadelphia.

The Nationals had been shut down twice in the late innings by Philadelphia’s bullpen the last two games only to rally against Ugueth Urbina (3-1) in the eighth.

Urbina pitched a scoreless eighth the last two games against the Nationals – including one stint only hours earlier – but blew a 4-3 lead.

Jose Guillen opened the eighth with a double and scored on Preston Wilson’s game-tying single to left. Baerga followed with the single to help the Nationals gain a split of the four-game series.

Luis Ayala (8-6) earned the win for Washington with two scoreless innings of relief. Chad Cordero pitched the final 1 2-3 innings for his 39th save.

Padilla (6-11) gave up one run and six hits in six innings, holding the lead after Abreu’s two-run double in the third. Billy Wagner worked the ninth for his 29th save.

Reds 4, Giants 2

CINCINNATI – Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 530th career home run and Felipe Lopez also connected Thursday as Cincinnati avoided a sweep with a 4-2 win over San Francisco.

Ramon Ortiz pitched a season-high 7 2-3 innings in helping prevent the Giants’ first four-game sweep in Cincinnati since May 1983.

Giants closer Armando Benitez made his first appearance since injuring his right hamstring on April 26. Benitez, who needed surgery to repair two torn tendons, got the final two outs of the eighth.

Griffey followed Rich Aurilia’s first-inning walk with his 29th homer of the season, a two-run shot to center. Lopez hit his first homer in 86 at-bats since July 22, a two-run drive that put the Reds ahead 4-1 in the fourth.

Ortiz (8-8) gave up two runs and nine hits. David Weathers pitched the last 1 1-3 innings for his 10th save.

Marlins 2, Padres 0

MIAMI – Josh Beckett pitched seven innings and had an RBI single as Florida shut out San Diego for the second straight game.

Beckett (12-6) allowed four hits, two walks and struck out six in winning his fourth straight decision.

Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 26th save. The shutout tied Florida’s team record of 14 set last year.

Jake Peavy (10-6) allowed two runs, five hits, three walks and struck out nine in losing consecutive starts for the only second time this season.

Mike Lowell led off the second with his third career triple. Following strikeouts by Alex Gonzalez and Matt Treanor, Lowell scored on Beckett’s bloop single to center. Treanor’s run-scoring single in the fourth gave Florida a 2-0 lead.

Dodgers 7, Braves 4

ATLANTA – It’s too early to give the NL East to the Atlanta Braves – or even to count out Los Angeles in the NL West.

Jeff Weaver won his fourth straight decision and Milton Bradley hit a three-run homer as the Dodgers tightened the races in both divisions by beating the Braves.

By splitting a doubleheader with Washington on Thursday, Philadelphia pulled within 41/2 games of first-place Atlanta in the NL East.

The Dodgers, 10 games under .500, are only four games behind first-place San Diego in the NL West after the Padres’ 2-0 loss to Florida on Thursday night.

Weaver (11-8) gave up 10 hits and four runs – three earned – in six innings.

Weaver gave up three hits, including a run-scoring single by Brian McCann, in the second inning. He then shut out the Braves until Andruw Jones hit his major league-leading 39th homer, a two-run shot to left, in the sixth inning. The homer drove in Chipper Jones, who reached on third baseman Oscar Robles’ fielding error.

Adam LaRoche followed with his 15th homer, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 7-4.

The Dodgers have won five of seven. The Braves fell to 5-4 on their 12-game homestand.

Duaner Sanchez pitched the ninth for his second save – both in this series.

Brewers 5, Astros 2

HOUSTON – The Milwaukee Brewers got to Roger Clemens for four runs in the seventh inning to rally over the Houston Astros.

Damian Miller’s bases-loaded, two-run double put the Brewers ahead and highlighted the seventh inning as Milwaukee won its third straight and fourth in the last five games.

Clemens (11-5) gave up a season-high five earned runs and lost for the first time since July 17. He was 4-0 in five starts since then.

Clemens retired the first seven hitters, before Miller had a bloop single to right in the third. He then retired 10 straight until Rickie Weeks homered in the sixth, ending Clemens’ season-high scoreless innings streak at 26.

Tomo Ohka (8-7) went six innings, allowing two runs and eight hits for the win. Derrick Turnbow pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances.

The loss was Houston’s third straight and fifth in the last six games. It dropped the Astros into a second-place tie with Washington in the NL wild-card race, a half game behind Philadelphia.

Houston has now totaled 90 runs in Clemens’ 25 starts. The Astros have scored two or fewer in 11 of his starts and Clemens is 1-5 in those games.

Jason Lane hit his 18th home run of the year to lead off the second inning and singled with the bases loaded to drive in another for a 2-0 lead in the third.

Weeks’ 11th homer of the year closed the Astros’ lead to 2-1 in the sixth.

In the seventh, Lyle Overbay led off with a double and Carlos Lee walked. One out later, Bill Hall tied the game at 2 with a run-scoring single to left-center.

After a walk to Russell Branyan loaded the bases, Miller hit a two-run double to right field to chase Clemens. The 29,844 in attendance gave him a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

Pinch-hitter Prince Fielder’s sacrifice fly drove in Branyan for the 5-2 lead and Miller was thrown out at third trying to advance on the play.

Clemens’ previous season for earned runs was four in a 6-4 win over St. Louis on June 5th.