Major League Baseball
Pirates rally for 5-3 win over Braves ATLANTA (AP) – Every time the Atlanta Braves take a step forward this year, it’s usually followed by a step back.
Freddy Sanchez and Jason Bay hit consecutive run-scoring singles in the eighth inning Tuesday night, rallying the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Braves 5-3.
Atlanta, which wasted a 2-1 lead, dropped 61/2 games behind Cincinnati, the NL wild card leader. Following 14 straight division titles, the chances of making the playoffs are dwindling for the Braves (59-66). Atlanta hasn’t strung together three straight home wins since May 15-18, when the Braves won four straight at Turner Field.
Danys Baez (5-6) gave up one-out walks to Chris Duffy and Jack Wilson in the eighth, and Sanchez and Bay followed with consecutive singles that put the Pirates ahead 3-2. Sanchez and Bay had been a combined 0-for-13 in the series before their hits.
Xavier Nady and Ronny Paulino added RBI singles for a 5-2 lead.
Damaso Marte (1-7) earned his first win since May 24, 2005, got one out in the seventh. He had lost his last eight decisions.
Martin Prado hit an RBI single in the eighth off Matt Capps – the rookie’s third RBI in two games since his recall – and Mike Gonzalez pitched a perfect ninth for his 22nd save without a blown opportunity.
Jose Bautista hit an RBI double in the fifth, but Tony Pena Jr. tied it in the bottom half with his first major league homer in 21 at-bats. Following Pena’s homer, Shawn Chacon walked the bases loaded before Brian McCann hit into a double play.
Marcus Giles, who missed his fifth straight start with a bruised left hand, led off the seventh inning with a pinch-hit double off John Grabow and was sacrificed to third. After an intentional walk to Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones blooped a single for a 2-1 lead.
Chacon gave up one run, three hits and five walks in five innings, hitting two batters.
Oscar Villarreal, making his second start for Atlanta after pitching 47 games out of the bullpen, gave up one run and four hits in five innings.
Mets 8, Cardinals 7
NEW YORK – Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, putting a rousing ending to a night of grand-slam derby and rallying the New York Mets over the St. Louis Cardinals .
St. Louis star Albert Pujols hit a slam and a three-run homer, setting a career-high with seven RBIs. Mets slugger Carlos Delgado almost matched that, crunching a solo shot and a slam to reach 400 homers.
Beltran’s one-out drive to right field off Jason Isringhausen (4-7) capped the Mets’ comeback from a 7-1 deficit. It also decided the game between NL division leaders and gave the Mets a five-game winning streak.
On a rollicking night at Shea Stadium, a Mets crowd of 49,661 that included former President Clinton had plenty to cheer about. Fans found out Tom Glavine will not need surgery on his left shoulder, and learned Shawn Green was acquired from Arizona.
Beltran set off the biggest ovation, connecting after Paul Lo Duca singled.
Aaron Heilman (3-4) won in relief.
Marlins 7, Nationals 5
MIAMI – Miguel Cabrera reached on an eighth inning error and then scored the go-ahead run on Jeremy Hermida’s ground out to help Florida beat Washington.
Cabrera led off the eighth by reaching on third baseman Ryan Zimmerman’s fielding error.
Josh Willingham singled and Mike Jacobs walked to load the bases against reliever Ryan Wagner (0-2).
After Miguel Olivo flied out to short right, Hermida chopped the ball to Nick Johnson, who stepped on first before throwing wide of home.
Florida added two more unearned runs to finish the scoring.
Johnson hit a 413-foot solo homer to center off reliever Taylor Tankersley (2-1) in the top of the eighth to tie the score 4-4.
Joe Borowski gave up an RBI double to Alfonso Soriano in the ninth, but got his 29th save in 32 opportunities.
Reds 14, Astros 0
CINCINNATI – Adam Dunn’s three-run homer completed an eight-run third inning that swept the Reds to their fourth straight victory.
Cincinnati hit four homers in all – Scott Hatteberg also had a three-run shot – during its most lopsided victory of the season.
Right-hander Kyle Lohse (1-0) gave up four hits in eight innings and had three of his own, getting his first victory and his biggest ovations since arriving in a July 31 trade with the Twins.
After rallying in the eighth inning for a 4-3 victory in the series opener, the Reds got this one in hand early by taking advantage of Astros rookie right-hander Jason Hirsh (1-2), rocked in his third big-league appearance.
Tigers 4, White Sox 0
DETROIT – Kenny Rogers shut down the slumping Chicago White Sox, giving the Detroit Tigers their biggest lead in the AL Central in almost two weeks and guaranteeing their first .500 season in more than a decade.
Rogers (13-6) dominated for seven innings and was backed by Marcus Thames’ solo homer and RBI triple in Detroit’s win, its second straight victory in a possibly pivotal four-game series.
The World Series champions, who got just five hits, have lost six of eight, falling behind Detroit in the division by 71/2 games, the biggest the gap since after play on Aug. 11.
Mark Buehrle (10-11) allowed four runs and nine hits over 5 1-3 innings.
Orioles 6, Twins 3
BALTIMORE – Rookie Nick Markakis homered in his first three at-bats, and the Orioles beat the Twins.
Markakis homered in the first, third and fifth innings off Carlos Silva (8-11).
Seeking to become the 16th player in major league history to hit four in a game, he hit a short fly ball to left in the sixth against Willie Eyre.
Markakis was left standing in the on-deck circle at the conclusion of the Baltimore eighth.
Brian Roberts and Corey Patterson also connected off Silva, who allowed six runs and 10 hits in 5 1-3 innings.
He has yielded 30 homers this season.
Blue Jays 4, Athletics 3
TORONTO – A.J. Burnett won his fourth straight start and Vernon Wells homered to lead the Blue Jays.
Before the game, manager John Gibbons said he overreacted when he tangled with Ted Lilly near the dugout during Monday’s game.
The A’s tied an Oakland record for the biggest comeback victory by rallying from a 8-0 deficit on Monday, but their win was overshadowed by the scuffle between Lilly and Gibbons.
Devil Rays 5, Rangers 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Rocco Baldelli and Ben Zobrist hit consecutive sacrifice flies in the seventh inning, helping Tampa Bay beat Texas.
Baldelli’s flyball off Vicente Padilla (12-8) tied it at 3, and Zobrist drove in the go-ahead run on a drive to center. Travis Lee extended lead to 5-3 with an eighth-inning homer of Ron Mahay.
Shawn Camp (5-1) struck out two in a perfect seventh.
Seth McClung earned his second save despite loading the bases in the ninth.
McClung allowed back-to-back singles to Ian Kinsler and Gerald Laird and walked pinch-hitter Matt Stairs before retiring Michael Young on a game-ending flyout.