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Smotlz pitches Braves to 9-1 victory despite sore hamstring

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) – John Smoltz was bothered by a sore hamstring and he started to tire in the sticky air. None of it slowed him down enough to give him trouble with Philadelphia. Smoltz won his fifth straight start, and Andruw Jones and Kelly Johnson each hit three-run homers to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 9-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

Smoltz (9-5) continued his run of brilliant starts, improving to 5-0 with three complete games in his last five starts. The 38-year-old Smoltz went 5-1 with a 2.50 ERA in June with complete games in his last two starts.

Smoltz had a solid six-inning outing this time, giving up just one run and five hits while striking out seven.

“The only thing that made it easier was two great three-run homers,” Smoltz said. “I probably didn’t pitch my best, but I made the pitches when I had to.”

After pitching 43 1-3 innings in his last five starts, Cox decided to give Smoltz a short stint because of a tender left hamstring and a humid night. Smoltz said he hurt the hamstring a couple of starts ago and pitched through it until Friday when he said it “zapped him.”

He mastered the fading Phillies, who lost for the 12th time in 16 games and were criticized before the game by closer Billy Wagner who said the team wasn’t good enough to get to the playoffs.

The Phillies (40-40) fell back to .500 for the first time since June 2.

Atlanta snapped a 1-all tie with a three-run fourth against struggling starter Vicente Padilla (3-8).

After Padilla retired the first two batters, Rafael Furcal singled, Pete Orr reached on a fielders’ choice and Johnson hit his fifth homer of the year into the right-field seats.

Padilla gave up nine hits and four runs in four innings and lost his third straight start.

“We have to get him going,” manager Charlie Manuel said.

Padilla started the season on the disabled list while recovering from right triceps tendinitis and has pitched poorly since returning to the rotation on April 19. Only once in 12 starts has he pitched six innings.

Reliever Geoff Geary didn’t fare any better, giving up Jones’ major league-leading 26th homer in the sixth for a 7-1 lead. Jones started July much the same way he ended June when he set the team record for homers in a month with 13.

“He’s having a lot better at-bats than he’s ever had since he’s been here,” Cox said.

Astros 10, Reds 7

CINCINNATI – Flattened by a fastball that barely missed his head, Morgan Ensberg got up and collected his scrambled thoughts.

The third baseman knew he was lucky that all he got was dirty. He also knew he couldn’t dwell on the moment.

He didn’t. Ensberg dug in and hit the next pitch – another high fastball – into the upper deck for a three-run homer, leading the Houston Astros to an emphatic victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

“That’s the way to answer,” Astros manager Phil Garner said. “That’s old-school. This stuff of charging the mound came in recent memory. That’s the way you talked back in the old days.”

Ensberg, one of the majors’ best hitters in June, also had a pair of doubles, starting a new month on the same tear. The third baseman has 11 homers and 32 RBIs since June 1.

Lance Berkman drove in a pair of runs with a double and a single off Luke Hudson (1-3), adding to his legacy of tormenting the Reds. Adam Everett added a two-run homer, his first in more than a month.

The outburst helped Andy Pettitte (5-7) muddle through a tough night. The left-hander gave up 10 hits and four runs in six innings, needing 122 pitches to get that far. He took a comeback grounder off his right forearm in the sixth, but finished the inning.

Rich Aurilia’s bases-loaded double off John Franco cut it to 10-7 in the eighth. Dan Wheeler, filling in for ailing closer Brad Lidge, got the last three outs for his first save in two chances.

The Astros have won 15 of their last 19 games against the Reds, including seven of 10 at Great American Ball Park. They played the series opener to a 2-all tie Thursday night, when rain ended it after seven innings.

Berkman and Ensberg had run-scoring doubles in the first off Hudson, who had the NL’s highest earned run average in June at 8.35. The right-hander didn’t get any better with the turn of the calendar.

Hudson gave up a career-high seven runs in 2 1-3 innings against Cleveland last Saturday, and didn’t even reach the third inning this time. Berkman had a run-scoring single in the second inning, part of a three-hit game that raised his career average against Cincinnati to .341.

Next up was Ensberg, who tumbled backward to avoid getting hit in the forehead. Catcher Jason LaRue had to stretch on one leg to catch it.

Ensberg got off his back, dug in with a determined look and hit the next pitch – a chest-high fastball – into the upper deck in left field for his 21st homer, rounding the bases with his head down.

Mets 7, Marlins 6

NEW YORK – Chris Woodward hit a tie-breaking RBI-single in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins despite blowing a late three-run lead.

With the score tied 6-all, Marlon Anderson led off the eighth for the Mets with a double over Florida center fielder Juan Pierre’s head. He advanced on a sacrifice by Ramon Castro and scored on Woodward’s single off Jim Mecir (1-3) to put the Mets back out in front.

Mike Cameron homered to lead off the seventh and put the Mets ahead 6-3, but New York’s shaky bullpen couldn’t protect it.

The Marlins tied it in the top of the eighth. Paul Lo Duca singled, Juan Encarnacion walked, and Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run double off Aaron Heilman. Gonzalez scored to make it 6-all when, Luis Castillo hit a two-out single that went off reliever Roberto Hernandez’s glove.

Braden Looper put runners on first and second in the ninth but finished for his 17th save.

Hernandez (3-2) pitched an inning for the win.

The Marlins got on the board first with back-to-back doubles by Luis Castillo and Miguel Cabrera in the third inning.

In the fourth, New York’s David Wright singled up the middle scoring Cliff Floyd from second to tie it. Wright then stole second, and scored on Anderson’s single to put the Mets up 2-1.

The Marlins retook the lead in the fifth on Mike Lowell’s run-scoring doubled to right-center and Lo Duca’s RBI single.

Poor fielding cost the Marlins a 3-2 lead in the bottom half. Florida third baseman Lowell committed two throwing errors in the inning, allowing the Mets to put two runners on base with only one out. Cameron followed with an RBI double and Jose Reyes scored on a wild pitch, just touching the plate with his hand before Marlins starter A.J. Burnett applied the tag.

Burnett protested the call, and manager Jack McKeon came out to argue as well. Burnett then proceeded to walk Carlos Beltran, hit Floyd with a pitch to load the bases and walk Wright to force in a run. He was then replaced by Nate Bump.

While walking to the dugout, Burnett gestured to home plate umpire Randy Marsh and appeared to continue arguing as he left the field.

Cardinals 6, Rockies 0

ST. LOUIS – Chris Carpenter carried a five-hitter into the eighth inning and became the major leagues’ fourth 12-game winner as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies.

Albert Pujols homered in the first to extend his hitting streak to 13 games and Carpenter contributed a sacrifice fly for the Cardinals, who rebounded from a shutout loss in the series opener and improved to 50-29. That matched their season high at 21 games above .500.

Aaron Miles had two singles for the Rockies, who are a major league-worst 6-32 on the road. It’s also the worst in baseball since the 1982 Twins began 5-32.

Carpenter (12-4) joined Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins, Livan Hernandez of the Nationals and Jon Garland of the White Sox at 12 wins – three shy of his season total last year. He had nine strikeouts, leaving him two behind league-leading Pedro Martinez, and two walks.

Carpenter was 4-1 with an 0.90 ERA in June and has allowed only one run in 33 2-3 innings in his last four starts, including two shutouts, to lower his ERA to 2.60. Ray King struck out Todd Helton with a runner on for the last out in the eighth and Julian Tavarez got three outs.

Rockies starter Joe Kennedy (4-8) lasted 6 1-3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. He’s 1-7 on the road with a 7.01 ERA.

Carpenter retired nine of the first 10 batters, issuing only a first-inning walk to Helton, before the Rockies loaded the bases on two hits and a walk in the fourth. He escaped by getting Desi Relaford to pop up to first.

Carpenter had the best defensive play for the Cardinals, too, making a diving stab on Miles’ chopper up the middle and then rolling off the mound and making a strong throw while sitting that just missed catching him at first. Helton followed with a single to extend his hitting streak to 10 games but the Rockies again came up empty when Garrett Atkins grounded into an inning-ending double play.

So Taguchi had an RBI single and a second run scored on a wild pitch by Kennedy in the second. Carpenter’s sacrifice fly in the sixth gave him four RBIs on the year and gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Scott Rolen drove in his first run in 11 games since returning from shoulder surgery, an RBI single in the seventh that knocked out Kennedy, and Pujols added and RBI single in the eighth.

Nationals 4, Cubs 3

CHICAGO – Livan Hernandez tied a franchise record by winning his 11th straight decision, allowing three runs on 10 hits over eight innings to lead the Washington Nationals to a victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Washington’s Jose Guillen hit a solo homer in the first inning – his 16th – and Brian Schneider was 3-for-5 with two doubles and helped preserve a one-run lead by picking off the potential tying run at third base with one out in the eighth inning.

Cubs starter Mark Prior (5-2) allowed three runs on six hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter in five innings in his second start since being activated from the disabled list.

The Cubs’ Derrek Lee homered and tripled, and Jeromy Burnitz had two hits and an RBI, but was also caught off third by Schneider in the eighth with Todd Hollandsworth, who homered earlier, at-bat.

Hernandez (12-2) struck out three and walked two in joining Dennis Martinez as the only pitchers in franchise history to win 11 consecutive decisions. Martinez did it in 1989.

Hernandez, who has not lost since April 19, took a shutout into the sixth, before Lee and Hollandsworth hit solo homers.

Twins 7, Devil Rays 4

MINNEAPOLIS – Jacque Jones hit a bases-loaded triple that sped down the right-field line in the eighth inning and lifted the Minnesota Twins to a victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Jesse Crain (8-0) extended his AL record to 11 consecutive wins in relief to start a career, despite allowing a two-run home run to Jorge Cantu that ran Johan Santana’s home victory drought to eight.

Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 21st save in 23 chances after the Twins rallied four runs in the eighth against Dewon Brazelton (1-8).

Brazelton bailed out starter Casey Fossum in the seventh by getting pinch-hitter Michael Ryan to ground into an inning-ending double play and preserve a 4-3 lead.

But things went sour in the eighth, an inning in which Tampa Bay has been outscored 87-26 this year.

He walked five batters in the eighth, though two of them were intentional – including one to Joe Mauer that loaded the bases for Torii Hunter with one out. Hunter walked, tying the game at 4. Then Jones got his big hit, clearing the bases and coming in standing up at third while excitedly clapping his hands and kicking his leg out in celebration.

Santana has not won at the Metrodome since April 10, a 5-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. The AL’s reigning Cy Young Award winner is 1-3 with a 4.14 ERA at home, compared to 6-1 with a 3.27 ERA on the road.

After giving up eight hits, two runs and a walk while striking out nine and throwing 101 pitches over six innings, Santana – who leads the majors with 140 strikeouts – took a 3-2 lead to the clubhouse.

But Crain plunked Nick Green with a one-out pitch in the seventh. Then Cantu, a strong candidate to represent the lowly Devil Rays in the All-Star game, hit the first pitch he saw from Crain into the left-field seats – his 13th home run this season.

Almost all the balls hit off Santana were hard. Eduardo Perez drove in Green with a two-out single to left in the first inning, when Shannon Stewart’s throw was high and well up the line.

Aubrey Huff, who hit 86 homers over the past three years, went deep in the third – his sixth – to bring Tampa Bay within one.

Casey Fossum fell behind 3-0 in the first when Hunter smacked a two-run double to the gap between left and center, scoring Juan Castro and Mauer.

Fossum, making his ninth start this season, settled down and retired 13 straight – and 18 out of 19 – until Brazelton relieved him in the seventh. Fossum gave up four hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks in 6 1-3 innings while striking out three.

Tigers 10, Yankees 2

DETROIT – Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run homer in his return to Detroit’s lineup , and the Tigers roughed up Randy Johnson in a victory over the New York Yankees.

Jeremy Bonderman (10-5) gave up eight hits in his second complete game in three starts and fourth of his career.

Ordonez, who was sidelined with a hernia since April 13, hit a 1-0 pitch off Johnson (7-6) in the fifth inning. Ordonez got a standing ovation from the fans when he took his position in right field in the sixth.

Johnson gave up nine hits and seven runs over five innings for New York, which has lost six of eight and fell back to .500 (39-39). It was the second time Johnson gave up seven runs in his last three starts. He struck out two and walked one.

New York got a first-inning run on Gary Sheffield’s groundout but the Tigers tied it in the bottom half on back-to-back doubles by Brandon Inge and Placido Polanco.

Indians 3, Orioles 1

BALTIMORE – C.C. Sabathia took a three-hitter into the eighth inning, and the Cleveland Indians used a three-run sixth to beat the slumping Baltimore Orioles.

Travis Hafner had two hits and scored a run for the Indians, who have won six of seven overall and 10 of their last 12 road games.

Sabathia (6-4) allowed one run, three hits and five walks in 7 2-3 innings. He struck out seven, matching a season high.

It was the first time in four starts since June 10 that the left-hander went more than five innings; he was 0-1 with an 11.77 ERA during that span. Sabathia was pulled in the eighth after issuing his second walk of the inning.

Chris Gomez drove in the lone run for the Orioles, who have lost eight of nine to fall seven games over .500 (43-36) for the first time since April 26.

Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro went 0-for-3 with a walk and remained eight hits short of becoming the fourth player in major league history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. It was the first time in 13 games he failed to get at least one hit.

The Indians got only one runner past second base until the sixth, when they took a 3-1 lead against Rodrigo Lopez (7-4). A single by Hafner, a walk to Ben Broussard and an infield hit by Ronnie Belliard loaded the bases for Aaron Boone, who hit a fly ball to center that scored Hafner and sent Broussard to third. Jody Gerut followed with a sacrifice fly and Josh Bard doubled in a run.

Lopez gave up three runs and nine hits in seven innings. It was his second consecutive loss after a string of five straight victories.

In the second inning, Boone hit a leadoff double but was stranded. In the bottom half, the Orioles used successive two-out doubles by Eli Marerro and Gomez to take a 1-0 lead.

Blue Jays 15, Red Sox 2

BOSTON – Reed Johnson hit a pinch-hit grand slam and drove in six runs, and the Toronto Blue Jays continued their success against the Boston Red Sox with a 15-2 victory Friday night.

The Blue Jays are 7-2 this season against Boston, which is 43-26 in its other games. Ted Lilly (6-8) has struggled much of the season but pitched six strong innings, improving to 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA against the Red Sox this year. His ERA is 5.89 overall.

Lilly’s third win in four starts moved the Blue Jays into third place in the AL East, one game ahead of the New York Yankees, who lost to Detroit 10-2.

Boston leads the division but lost for the third time in four games after winning seven straight.

Matt Clement (9-2) had two bad innings before leaving with two outs in the sixth. He allowed four runs in the third, then had two perfect innings before giving up another four in Toronto’s five-run sixth.

Mike Myers replaced Clement with the bases loaded and two outs and allowed Johnson’s sixth homer of the season and first career grand slam.

Boston’s season-long bullpen woes worsened in the seventh when Matt Mantei walked the bases loaded, gave up a two-run double to Eric Hinske and walked Alex Rios to reload the bases. John Halama came in and allowed a two-run double to Russ Adams and a two-run single to Johnson, who played left field after hitting for Frank Catalanatto.

Angels 5, Royals 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Paul Byrd pitched a career-best two-hitter and the Los Angeles Angels improved to 48-31 – their best after 79 games – with a victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Aided by two double plays and a Royals’ mix-up with their batting order, Byrd (8-5) faced one batter over the minimum in his first shutout since 2002.

Runelvys Hernandez (5-9), who had won three in a row before losing to Colorado in his previous start, went 6 1-3 innings and was charged with five runs and eight hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Byrd actually gave up three hits, but one was erased by an embarrassing Kansas City blunder. The Royals apparently delivered the wrong lineup to umpires before the game.

So when David DeJesus singled leading off and Angel Berroa came to the plate to bat second, Angels manager Mike Scioscia came out to speak to umpires.

The umpires called time and huddled a few minutes, then Berroa was called out and DeJesus was required to bat again. He flied out, and the Royals did not have another hit until Matt Stairs singled leading off the fifth – only to be erased on an inning-ending double play.

Vladimir Guerrero, who led the majors in June with a .443 average, singled home two runs in the seventh for a 5-0 lead for the Angels, who were coming off an 18-5 loss in which Texas hit eight home runs.

Dallas McPherson drew a one-out walk from Hernandez in the second, stole second and made it 1-0 on Bengie Molina’s RBI single.

With two outs in the sixth, Garret Anderson doubled and scored when Juan Rivera followed with a two-base hit just inches above the outstretched glove of third baseman Mark Teahen. Macier Izturis then made it three straight doubles for a 3-0 lead.

Molina had three singles.

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