Diamondbacks avoid sweep with 3-0 win at Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Claudio Vargas allowed six hits over six innings and won for the fourth time in five decisions as Arizona avoided a three-game sweep by scoring on a wild pitch and two errors to beat Milwaukee 3-0 Wednesday. Vargas (4-5) struck out six and walked one to beat former Washington teammate Tomo Ohka (6-6). Brian Bruney pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save.
Ohka gave up a run in the third on a wild pitch, and first baseman Lyle Overbay’s throwing error made it 2-0 in the seventh. An errant pickoff attempt by reliever Julio Santana allowed a run to score in the eighth.
Ohka gave up two runs – one earned – and four hits in seven innings.
Milwaukee (50-52), which hasn’t finished with a winning record since 1992, was trying to reach .500 for the first time since May 28.
Astros 3, Phillies 2
HOUSTON – Roger Clemens pitched seven innings, and the streaking Astros benefited from a fielding gaffe by Philadelphia pitcher Vicente Padilla.
The Astros won their fourth straight and 10th in 11 games. They swept the three-game series, beating the Phillies for the ninth straight time and improving to 18-2 in their last 20 home games.
Clemens (9-4) gave up six hits, walked two and struck out four. His major league-leading ERA is 1.46 after his sixth win in his last seven decisions. Brad Lidge pitched the ninth for his 24th save.
Orlando Palmeiro doubled in the first run in the second, and later scored when Padilla (5-9) failed to catch a popped up bunt by Brad Ausmus. Lance Berkman added an RBI single in the third.
Chase Utley and Mike Lieberthal had RBIs for Philadelphia.
Cubs 4, Giants 3
CHICAGO – Jeromy Burnitz’s RBI single in the ninth gave Chicago its fourth victory in five games.
The Cubs tied it in the eighth when Derrek Lee, who singled leading off, scored on pinch-hitter Matt Murton’s fly ball that right fielder Michael Tucker lost in the sun and allowed to drop for an RBI single.
In the ninth, Jody Gerut pinch hit for Ryan Dempster (5-3) and was walked by Kevin Correia (1-3) leading off the inning. Jeff Fassero relieved and got two outs. Lee was intentionally walked and Burnitz scored him with the single to right.
Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano allowed three runs and 11 hits in 7 1-3 innings. He hasn’t lost since June 22, and has pitched at least seven innings in every start and allowed three runs or fewer.
Braves 4, Nationals 3
ATLANTA – Jeff Francoeur had three hits and two RBIs, including a decisive double in the eighth inning that gave the Braves a two-game lead over Washington in the NL East.
Tim Hudson gave up a run on five hits in seven innings, handing his bullpen a 3-1 lead. But John Foster walked two batters to start the eighth before Dan Kolb (3-6) gave up RBI singles to Jose Guillen and Nick Johnson.
In the bottom of the inning, Chipper Jones singled with two outs and stole second before Adam LaRoche was intentionally walked to bring up Francoeur. He blooped a double to shallow center off Gary Majewski (2-2), and Atlanta won its second straight in the three-game series.
Royals 6, White Sox 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Mike Sweeney homered twice and drove in five runs, and Emil Brown hit a run-scoring single in the 13th inning as Kansas City overcame a five-run deficit to beat Chicago.
White Sox starter Jon Garland, trying to become the first 16-game winner in the majors, left in the eighth with a 5-2 lead but his bullpen couldn’t hold it, partly because of sloppy fielding.
The Royals, who won two of three in the series, got seven shutout innings from their bullpen with Shawn Camp (1-2), promoted Monday from Triple-A, getting a win for a perfect 13th.
With the score 5-all, David DeJesus led off the 13th with a single off Luis Vizcaino (4-5), the seventh White Sox pitcher. DeJesus went to third on a single and Sweeney’s single to center loaded the bases. Brown ended the game with his third hit.
Garland gave up three runs – one earned – and five hits in seven-plus innings.
Sweeney hit a two-run homer in the sixth and a three-run shot in the eighth for his 16th multihomer game.
Kansas City starter Runelvys Hernandez, who had won his previous three starts, gave up five runs and five hits in six innings.
Athletics 5, Indians 4
OAKLAND, Calif. – Marco Scutaro singled to drive in the winning run in the 10th and Oakland won for the eighth time in nine games and improved to 8-2 in extra innings this year.
Mark Ellis hit a two-out single in the 10th and Jay Payton followed with a double off David Riske (2-3), who then gave up Scutaro’s single. Rookie Huston Street (4-1) pitched two innings for the victory.
The A’s tied it in the ninth against closer Bob Wickman, who had converted his previous 11 saves.
Aaron Boone hit a two-run homer and Scott Elarton pitched seven strong innings, but the Indians couldn’t hold a two-run lead. Boone and Grady Sizemore each had three hits for Cleveland.
Red Sox 4, Devil Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tim Wakefield scattered six hits over 7 1-3 innings, and Curt Schilling earned the save by getting the final out of a nervous ninth inning to give Boston a 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
Wakefield (9-9) allowed an unearned run in the fourth to win for the first time since July 5.
Red Sox starter Matt Clement was released from the hospital Wednesday after being hit in the head with a line drive during Tuesday night’s 10-9 victory over Tampa Bay in 10 innings. He rejoined his teammates at Tropicana Field less than 24 hours after being struck.
Schilling came in to face pinch-hitter Eduardo Perez with two outs. He walked Perez to load the bases and Crawford fouled off four straight pitches then grounded out to first to give Schilling his third save in four opportunities.
Blue Jays 3, Angels 2
TORONTO – Brendan Donnelly’s wild pitch with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th inning allowed Toronto to score the winning run and the Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels.
Russ Adams led off Toronto’s 10th with a single off Donnelly (6-3) and Frank Catalanotto advanced him with a sacrifice bunt. Donnelly intentionally walked Vernon Wells to face rookie Aaron Hill, who ended an 0-for-18 slump with an infield single to third that loaded the bases.
Donnelly then bounced his first pitch to Corey Koskie, allowing Adams to slide in for the winning run.
Miguel Batista (5-3) pitched two innings for the victory as the Angels lost their third straight.
Koskie, Toronto’s third baseman, made a spectacular catch in foul territory in the top of the 10th.
Chone Figgins hit a pop up near the stands in left and Koskie tracked it down before crashing to the turf.
Darin Erstad followed with a single and Batista intentionally walked Vladimir Guerrero, who had homered, to face Garret Anderson, who flied out. Steve Finley followed with an infield single to load the bases, but Batista escaped the jam when he got Bengie Molina to hit a comebacker.
Guerrero should have been the third out of the first inning, but first baseman Eric Hinske dropped a pop up in foul territory for an error, prolonging the at-bat. Five pitches later Guerrero homered over the wall in left center.
Twins 7, Yankees 3
NEW YORK – Johan Santana had his best start in six weeks, shutting down New York Yankees for seven innings and leading the Minnesota Twins to a victory.
Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with two walks on his 30th birthday, and Al Leiter struggled with his control and lost his second straight start for the Yankees, who fell two games back of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East.
The Twins had had scored just 43 runs in 13 games following the All-Star break, going 19-for-101 with runners in scoring position, and they were 2-for-14 in that category through the six innings. But they broke open the game with three runs in the seventh against Tanyon Sturtze and stopped a 10-game regular-season losing streak at Yankee Stadium.
Santana (10-5) was more effective than he was when he beat the Yankees 2-0 in Game 1 of last year’s division series. In that game, he needed a record five double plays to help keep New York in check.
On Wednesday, he scattered seven hits and only once came close to giving up a run – center fielder Torii Hunter threw out Derek Jeter at the plate in the third inning.
Santana won his third straight start after dropping three consecutive decisions, striking out five and walking two. He hadn’t shown the form that earned him the 2004 AL Cy Young Award since throwing a four-hitter against Arizona on June 8.
Justin Morneau had an RBI double in the third off Leiter (1-2) to give Minnesota the lead, and Hunter’s RBI single and Shannon Stewart’s two-run double made it 4-0 in seventh. Jacque Jones added a two-run homer in the eighth against Scott Proctor, and Morneau connected in the ninth off Alex Graman.
Juan Rincon forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk to Jason Giambi in the eighth, and the Yankees scored two more on second baseman Bret Boone’s throwing error before Joe Nathan entered and got four outs for his 28th save in 31 opportunities. With two on, Bernie Williams nearly tied it with a drive down the right-field line that landed a few feet foul.
Making his first start in pinstripes since April 14, 1989, Leiter labored through five innings, allowing the leadoff batter to reach base four times and throwing 115 pitches – just 62 for strikes. But thanks to a well-executed relay by Hideki Matsui in left and Jeter at shortstop, he allowed just one run.
The performance was as gritty as his previous home game the Yankees. He threw 162 pitches in eight-plus innings against the Twins, getting the win despite giving up five runs and walking nine with 10 strikeouts. Two weeks later he was traded to Toronto.
On Wednesday, Leiter walked five, hit a batter and struck out two. The Twins loaded the bases in the first two innings but came away without a run.
New York also threw out a runner at the plate in the third. Morneau hit a double off the wall in left field, scoring Joe Mauer. Boone tried to come around from first but was easily thrown out by Jeter’s relay.