Major League Baseball
Giants snap 9-game losing streak SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Moises Alou homered, hit a two-run double and also singled in a run, Jason Schmidt struck out 10, and the San Francisco Giants ended their longest losing streak in 10 years with an 8-6 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.
Shea Hillenbrand, acquired from Toronto on July 21, hit his first home run for the Giants, who stopped a nine-game losing streak.
Schmidt (8-7) won for only the second time in 10 starts, allowing one run and four hits in six innings. Mike Stanton, acquired Friday from Washington, got the final out for his first save since Sept. 24, 2003.
Tony Armas (7-7) lost for the fourth time in five starts, giving up six runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings.
Dodgers 5, Reds 3
CINCINNATI – Brad Penny pitched six sharp innings and drove in a run to help the Dodgers win their fifth straight game.
Penny (11-5) snapped his three-game losing streak and won for the first time since July 5 against Arizona. He allowed two runs and three hits, walked two and struck out six.
Takashi Saito retired all four batters he faced for his 10th save in 10 chances.
Ken Griffey Jr., Royce Clayton and Scott Hatteberg homered for the Reds, who have lost four straight.
Elizardo Ramirez (4-7) allowed five runs and five hits in 4 2-3 innings for the Reds. He struck out five and had a career-high four walks.
Mets 6, Marlins 5
MIAMI – The Mets took advantage of four errors by the Marlins, and closer Billy Wagner escaped a ninth-inning jam by striking out the side to close out the win.
Florida’s four errors, which matched the Marlins’ season high, led to three unearned runs and a 6-0 deficit by the third inning.
Wagner, who blew a save Tuesday when he gave up Josh Willingham’s game-ending homer, needed 22 pitches in the ninth for his 23rd save in 28 chances.
Miguel Cabrera hit his 17th homer and drove in four runs for Florida, and Hanley Ramirez hit his 11th home run.
Steve Trachsel (10-5) gave up two homers and three runs in 5 2-3 innings but won for the eighth time in his past nine decisions.
Ricky Nolasco (9-7) lasted just two innings for Florida. He gave up eight hits and five runs, three earned.
Rangers 10, Twins 2
MINNEAPOLIS – Kip Wells made a successful first start for Texas, Mark Teixeira homered twice and the Rangers beat Minnesota 10-2 on Wednesday to give the Twins their first losing homestand this season.
Acquired in a deadline-day trade with Pittsburgh, Wells got his first win as an American Leaguer since 2001. He pitched into the sixth inning, allowing seven hits and one run.
Boof Bonser (2-3), an emergency callup to fill in for rookie left-hander Francisco Liriano, lasted only four innings and left trailing 7-0. He gave up six hits and four earned runs.
Teixeira homered in the second and ninth, his 16th and 17th of the season.
Liriano, 12-2 with a league-best 1.96 ERA, was scratched from this start because of inflammation in his forearm.
Mariners 2, Orioles 1
BALTIMORE – Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer, and Seattle ended Erik Bedard’s seven-game winning streak.
Beltre homered in the first inning, and Felix Hernandez and the Seattle bullpen made the margin stand up. The Mariners won two of three from Baltimore to capture the season series 6-4.
Bedard (12-7) allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings. Bedard won seven straight starts before getting a no-decision against Chicago on Friday. The left-hander’s last loss was on June 11, at Minnesota.
Athletics 3, Angels 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Mark Kotsay drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning single, and Oakland increased its lead over Los Angeles to 11/2 games in the AL West.
Scot Shields (6-7) relieved Kelvim Escobar after seven innings, and gave up Kotsay’s hit with runners on first and third.
Kiko Calero (3-1) allowed one hit in 1 1-3 innings and Huston Street pitched two perfect innings for his 23rd save.
It was 15th one-run decision in 31 meetings between the teams since the start of last season.
Escobar gave up two runs and three hits.
Yankees 7, Blue Jays 2
NEW YORK – Chien-Ming Wang pitched eight more shutout innings to win his fifth straight start for the Yankees.
Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada homered for the AL East-leading Yankees, who won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to 10-1-1 in their last 12 series.
Bobby Abreu singled and doubled for his first two hits with New York, and fellow newcomer Craig Wilson added a pair of singles in his Yankees debut.
Coming off a two-hitter against Tampa Bay last Friday for his first career shutout, Wang (13-4) buzzed through the best-hitting team in the major leagues and ran his scoreless streak to 18 innings.
Red Sox 6, Indians 5
BOSTON – Mark Loretta doubled with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and the Red Sox took advantage of a meltdown by reliever Fausto Carmona to beat the Indians.
Cleveland led 3-0 after one inning and were ahead 5-4 after eight, but Carmona (1-6) couldn’t deliver the Indians their first save since closer Bob Wickman was traded to Atlanta on July 20. He struck out the first two batters before hitting Doug Mirabelli and Alex Gonzalez on consecutive pitches, then walking Kevin Youkilis on a 3-2 pitch that wasn’t close.
Tigers 8, Devil Rays 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Magglio Ordonez hit a go-ahead two-run double and Craig Monroe added a two-run homer in a four-run eighth inning for the Tigers.
Ordonez gave Detroit a 4-3 lead with his double off reliever Jon Switzer (2-2). He has nine RBIs in his last seven games.
Monroe made it 6-3 with his 16th homer of the season, off Rudy Lugo.