Major League baseball
Astros hold off Pirates for 12-8 victory PITTSBURGH (AP) – Lance Berkman hit his 20th homer and drove in five runs as the Houston Astros built an 8-0 lead and then held off the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-8 on Wednesday night.
It was the seventh win in eight games for Houston, which entered the day with a two-game lead over Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race.
Berkman hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning and Mike Lamb hit a three-run homer in a four-run second as the Astros moved 14 games over .500 (83-69) for the first time this season.
Roy Oswalt (18-12) allowed four runs, three earned, and nine hits over six innings to win for the fourth time in five decisions. He struck out six and walked two.
Kip Wells (7-17) became the first pitcher in the majors to lose 17 games this season. He lasted two innings, his shortest outing since retiring just two batters on Aug. 24 against St. Louis, allowing eight runs and five hits while walking three.
Pittsburgh cut the lead to 8-4, but the Astros scored two runs off reliever Brian Meadows. The Pirates got within 10-7 on Ryan Doumit’s two-run homer off Russ Springer in the seventh and Freddy Sanchez’s solo homer off Dan Wheeler in the eighth.
Brad Eldred added a solo homer in the ninth for the Pirates.
Giants 5, National 1
WASHINGTON – Barry Bonds homered for the fourth consecutive game to raise his career total to 707, and San Francisco starter Brad Hennessey hit a solo shot while winning for the first time in 10 outings, leading the Giants past the Washington Nationals.
The Giants have won five straight to hold onto an outside chance of catching the NL West-leading San Diego Padres, who began the day with a five-game lead. Washington lost its fourth straight.
Bonds connected for a two-run homer in the first inning on a 1-1 pitch from John Patterson (9-6), sending it into the visitors’ bullpen beyond right field.
Cardinals 5, Reds 1
CINCINNATI – Jason Marquis pitched seven solid innings, and homers by David Eckstein and So Taguchi powered St. Louis Cardinals to its 96th victory.
The Cardinals clinched the NL Central title over the weekend, giving themselves two weeks to get ready for the playoffs and another shot at the World Series.
The Reds’ 81st loss eliminated them from wild-card contention and guaranteed a fifth straight season without a winning record, their longest such stretch since 1945-55. Albert Pujols had three hits and gave teammates a scare when he pulled up while running out a fifth-inning double off Ramon Ortiz (9-11).
Yankees 2, Orioles 1
NEW YORK – Randy Johnson was his old self, glaring and pointing. The Big Unit not only made it into the late innings, he pitched the New York Yankees into first place.
Johnson limited the Baltimore Orioles to three hits over eight innings in his first start since a second-inning ejection last week, and Matt Lawton broke out of a long slump with a two-run homer that carried the Yankees to victory.
New York, which won for the ninth time in 10 games, took over the AL East lead by a half-game over Boston, which lost at Tampa Bay.
Devil Rays 7, Red Sox 4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tampa Bay rallied for five runs in the eighth inning to knock defending world champion Boston out of first place in the AL East.
Jorge Cantu chased Boston starter Tim Wakefield with a two-out RBI single, and Jonny Gomes’ two-run triple off Mike Timlin (7-3) put the last-place Devil Rays ahead 5-4. Eric Munson followed with a two-run double and Alex Gonzalez added an RBI single to ensure Boston’s 64-day stay atop the division would end.
Manny Ramirez homered for the third time in two games for the Red Sox.
Trever Miller (2-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the victory. Danys Baez worked the ninth to earn his 39th save in 47 opportunities.
Mariners 3, Blue Jays 2
TORONTO – Rookie phenom Felix Hernandez took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning before giving up a questionable single, and Seattle beat Toronto.
The 19-year-old Hernandez cruised into the seventh until Corey Koskie hit a one-out liner to the left side. Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt jumped and had a chance to make a backhand catch, but the ball glanced off his glove.
Twins 10, Athletics 4
OAKLAND, Calif. – Michael Cuddyer homered, hit three doubles and drove in four runs, and Minnesota snapped a three-game losing streak.
Cuddyer finished with a career-high four hits. After his solo homer in the second inning, he followed with three doubles for his third career four-RBI game. Matthew LeCroy added three hits and two RBIs for Minnesota, which had lost five of six. The Twins tagged Joe Kennedy (3-4) in taking a 7-0 lead in the fifth, and avoided a three-game sweep.
Scott Baker (2-2) pitched five effective innings to win for the first time in five starts.
Royals 4, Tigers 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Pinch-hitter Denny Hocking’s two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning gave Kansas City its first four-game sweep in six years.
The Royals again avoided becoming the first team in the majors with 100 losses this season. Detroit dropped its seventh in a row despite an impressive home run by Chris Shelton that bounced off an SUV.
Indians 8, White Sox 0
CHICAGO – Cleveland’s chase of the White Sox got a big boost from 6-foot-8 Scott Elarton and powerful Travis Hafner. Now the Indians are only 21/2 games behind first-place Chicago in the AL Central again.
Elarton pitched five-hit ball into the eighth inning and Hafner homered twice, leading the Indians to victory.