Major League Baseball
Phillies edge Mets for ninth straight victory PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Pinch-hitter David Dellucci hit a two-out triple in the ninth and then scored on pitcher Aaron Heilman’s wild throw down the first-base line to give the Philadelphia Phillies their ninth straight victory, 5-4 over the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
Heilman (0-1) retired the first two batters, but Dellucci, hitting for the pitcher, lofted a triple that landed just inside the right-field foul line. Jimmy Rollins was hit by a pitch and Chase Utley walked to load the bases for Bobby Abreu.
Abreu tapped the ball in front of the plate, and Heilman’s throw to first base sailed down the line, allowing Dellucci to score for the emotional win.
The last time Philadelphia won nine in a row was a 13-game streak in 1991.
Tom Gordon (2-1) blew his first save of the year in the ninth and wasted a strong eight-inning outing from Brett Myers. With the Phillies leading 4-2, Gordon allowed a single, then Carlos Delgado’s tying two-run homer, his 12th, that brought a roar from the always mixed crowd.
Nationals 7, Reds 1
CINCINNATI – Tony Armas Jr. pitched into the seventh inning and Jose Guillen hit two home runs to lead Washington.
Ryan Zimmerman, Alfonso Soriano and Matthew LeCroy added solo drives for Washington, which finished with a season-high five homers. Guillen had three RBIs.
Soriano’s ninth-inning drive off Brian Shackelford traveled an estimated 492 feet, making it the fourth longest ever hit at Great American Ball Park.
Armas (3-2) held the Reds to one hit until he loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh on a single, a walk and a hit batsman. Scott Hatteberg hit a sacrifice fly off Joey Eischen to cut the Washington lead to 6-1 but Gary Majewski relieved Eischen and retired Austin Kearns and Jason LaRue to end the threat.
Reds starter Brandon Claussen (2-4) allowed 11 hits in 5 1-3 innings and struck out four in his second straight loss.
Braves 10, Marlins 2
MIAMI – Brian Jordan hit a three-run homer and John Thomson pitched five innings for his first win of the season as the Braves handed the Marlins a franchise-record tying 11th consecutive home loss.
Thomson (1-2) lowered his ERA to 1.88 but won for the first time in six starts. He gave up four hits and an unearned run, and drove in a run with a single.
Brian Moehler (0-4) lost his 10th consecutive decision since last season. He gave up seven runs in 5 1-3 innings, hiking his ERA to 9.76.
Atlanta’s Edgar Renteria was 0-for-11 lifetime against Moehler before he doubled in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to start the season to 23 games. Renteria, who came into the game leading the NL in batting, finished 2-for-5 to hike his average to .354.
Red Sox 14, Yankees 3
NEW YORK – Josh Beckett walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium a winner once again, thanks to another poor start by Randy Johnson and New York’s bumbling defense.
Beckett (4-1) allowed a two-run homer to Jason Giambi in the first inning and little else in a rout by the Boston Red Sox.
Light-hitting Alex Gonzalez and Manny Ramirez both homered for the Red Sox, who matched their longest winning streak of the season at five and their season highs for runs and hits (16). Boston also stopped New York’s winning streak at five, improving to 2-0 against its rival this season and moving past the Yankees into the AL East lead.
Alex Rodriguez made a pair of errors at third base and 21-year-old Melky Cabrera, brought up when Gary Sheffield went on the disabled list before the game, dropped a fly to right field by Ramirez for a two-run error. New York, which allowed six unearned runs, had just 12 errors coming in, tied for the second-fewest in the majors.
Johnson (5-3), who came out of Arizona’s bullpen to beat the Yankees in 2001’s Game 7, was booed loudly and often by the sellout crowd of 54,688.
Athletics 6, Blue Jays 5
TORONTO – Bobby Crosby and Adam Melhuse homered and Toronto starter Josh Towers fell to 0-7.
Crosby and Melhuse homered in the fourth off Towers, who has lost all seven of his starts this season.
Towers’ ERA fell from 10.59 to 10.09 despite allowing three runs in four innings. The right-hander won 13 games last season and signed a two-year contract in the offseason, but he has lost a career-worst seven straight decisions.
He did rebound last season after losing six straight decisions.
Oakland starter Dan Harin (2-3) looked sharp, allowing three runs and six hits in 7 1-3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
Orioles 7, Tigers 6
BALTIMORE – Melvin Mora hit one of Baltimore’s four home runs before driving in the tiebreaking run with an eighth-inning single, and the Orioles beat the Tigers to snap a five-game losing streak.
Miguel Tejada, Jeff Conine and Jay Gibbons also homered for the Orioles, who scored three unearned runs off two errors by Detroit shortstop Carlos Guillen.
Magglio Ordonez homered in the fourth straight game for the Tigers. He connected in the seventh inning against Todd Williams to put Detroit ahead 6-4.
But the Orioles tied it in the bottom half against Fernando Rodney (1-1), who came in with a spotless ERA over 13 innings. After Mora homered on Rodney’s second pitch, Gibbons hit a one-out drive to center to tie it.
Gibbons has 10 homers, including four in his last seven games.
The Tigers got runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth against LaTroy Hawkins (1-1) before the right-hander struck out Ivan Rodriguez.
Cardinals 4, Rockies 2
ST. LOUIS – Albert Pujols’ major league-leading 17th home run, a three-run shot off Jose Mesa in the eighth inning, gave the Cardinals a victory over Colorado.
Pujols’ blast came one inning after Colorado’s Matt Holliday hit his third homer in two games to snap a 1-all tie. Holliday also singled in the fifth and is 14-for-30 with six homers in his last eight games. He is 16-for-32 against the Cardinals for his career.
The Cardinals were stymied for seven innings by Josh Fogg, who entered with a 1-8 record and 8.47 ERA against them. Once Mesa entered in the eighth, it didn’t take them long to seize control and end the Rockies’ four-game winning streak.
David Eckstein led off with a single and pinch-hitter Juan Encarnacion singled on a drive up the middle that appeared to deflect high into the air off the pitching rubber. Pujols nearly fanned on a 1-2 pitch, stepping out of the box to collect himself before hammering a 3-2 delivery from Mesa (0-1) over the left-field wall.
Adam Wainwright (1-0) worked a perfect eighth and Jason Isringhausen struck out the side in the ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.