Sep 18, 2006 8 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Pinch-hitter Terrmel Sledge singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning and the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Sunday to take over first place in the NL West for the first time since Aug. 9. The victory gave the Padres a half-game lead over Los Angeles, while the Dodgers took a one-game lead over Philadelphia for the wild card.

San Diego and the Dodgers play again Monday night in their final meeting of the regular season.

Sledge singled to right off Jonathon Broxton to score pinch-runner Khalil Greene from second base. Josh Bard singled with one out, Greene came into the game and Geoff Blum walked.

With the bases loaded, Broxton (3-1) struck out Brian Giles and retired Josh Barfield on a foul pop to keep the Dodgers within one run.

Scott Linebrink (7-3) shut out Los Angeles in the eighth, and Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 39th save in 43 chances. The save was his 475th, three shy of Lee Smith’s major league record.

Phillies 6, Astros 4

HOUSTON – Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 57th home run – without any dispute – and Mike Lieberthal connected twice as Randy Wolf and the Phillies kept up their push for a wild-card spot by beating Houston.

Jimmy Rollins also homered as Philadelphia prevented the New York Mets from clinching the NL East. The second-place Phillies, however, are aiming at the wild card and are one game behind Los Angeles for that spot.

Howard tied a team record with 29 road home runs in a season. He’s homered in 16 of the 19 parks he’s played this year.

Wolf (4-0) won while pitching on three days’ rest for the first time in his career. He won his career-best ninth straight decision, the first time a Phillies starter has done that since Steve Carlton in 1980-81.

Braves 8, Marlins 7

ATLANTA – Marcus Giles hit an RBI single and another runner scored when Florida left fielder Josh Willingham let the ball go through his legs, capping a five-run rally.

After Florida scored four times in the top of the 10th, errors by shortstop Hanley Ramirez and Willingham let Atlanta win it.

It was a demoralizing defeat for the young Marlins, who fell four games behind Los Angeles in the wild-card race. Florida lost for the fourth time in five games.

With one out in the Atlanta 10th, Brian McCann doubled off Joe Borowski (3-3) and took third on a single by Jeff Francoeur. Matt Diaz followed with a two-run double and took third on a bloop single by Willy Aybar.

Pinch-hitter Bryan Pena then reached when Ramirez when failed to hold onto a forceout throw, scoring Diaz to make it 7-6. Giles followed with his one-out single that rolled through Willingham, scoring Aybar and Pena.

Kevin Barry (1-1) got one out for the win.

Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 1

PHOENIX – Jeff Francis gave up three hits in eight strong innings and Jeff Baker hit his first homer of the season to help the Rockies beat the error-prone Diamondbacks.

Francis (12-11) struck out five and did not walk a batter as Colorado snapped a three-game losing streak. Brian Fuentes pitched the ninth to complete the three-hitter.

Cubs 11, Reds 3

CHICAGO – Carlos Zambrano hit his fifth homer of the season and threw seven shutout innings in his return to help the Cubs beat the Reds.

Zambrano (15-6) had missed his last two starts with lower back stiffness and picked up his first win since Aug. 24. He gave up four hits, struck out six and walked four.

The right-hander left a game on Sept. 4 in the second inning complaining of back troubles. He was questionable to start this game before Saturday but is now one win away from tying his career high, set in 2004 when he went 16-8.

Jacque Jones, Ronny Cedeno and Zambrano all homered in the Cubs’ seven-run first inning.

Nationals 6, Brewers 1

WASHINGTON – Austin Kearns homered and hit the go-ahead single in the seventh to lead the Nationals past the Milwaukee Brewers.

Doug Davis (10-11) was perfect for the first 4 1-3 innings before Kearns hit his 23rd home run of the season to left field. In the seventh, Bernie Castro reached on an infield single, moved to second on a sacrifice by Felipe Lopez and scored when Kearns looped a single to shallow right field.

The Nationals added four runs in the eighth inning, including a rare three-run single by Lopez.

Saul Rivera (3-0) pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the win.

Twins 6, Indians 1

CLEVELAND – Minnesota turned five double plays for the first time in 11 years and Scott Baker pitched six strong innings as the Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, keeping pressure on Detroit and Chicago in the race for postseason play.

The Twins closed within one game of Detroit in the AL Central and moved four games ahead of the White Sox in the wild-card race. Minnesota has won eight of 10.

Baker (5-8) finally put together a good outing against Cleveland, allowing one run and six hits. The right-hander came in 0-3 with a 6.64 ERA in four career starts against the Indians.

Matt Guerrier pitched the final three innings for his first career save. Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded into his second double play of the game to end it.

The last time Minnesota made five double plays in a game was June 3, 1995, against Texas.

Torii Hunter’s two-run single with the bases loaded broke a 1-1 tie in the third against Paul Byrd (9-8).

Orioles 12, Tigers 8

DETROIT – Miguel Tejada hit a tiebreaking single to spark a four-run 10th inning and help the Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers.

Since leading the division by 10 games after play on Aug. 7, Detroit has lost 24 of 37 games. The Tigers open a three-game series against third-place Chicago today.

Brian Roberts led off the 10th with a single, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Tejada’s hit. The Orioles added three more runs off Jason Grilli (2-3).

Chris Ray (2-3) pitched 2 1-3 innings and earned the win after blowing his fifth save in 36 opportunities.

Sean Casey tied it at 8 in the eighth with a two-out, two-run homer on the second pitch from Ray.

After the game, Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco said he was out for the season. He was hitting .294 with 44 RBIs when he separated his left shoulder in mid August.

Athletics 5, White Sox 4

OAKLAND, Calif. – Frank Thomas dealt another big blow to his former team’s dwindling playoff hopes, hitting a three-run homer to help Oakland Atbeat Chicago.

Thomas homered twice and drove in seven runs in the final two games of Oakland’s three-game sweep against the defending World Series champions.

Thomas is batting .344 with a major league-leading 10 homers and 26 RBIs this month for the AL West leaders.

Chicago broke out to a 2-0 lead against Joe Blanton (16-11) before Thomas erased it with one swing in the fourth inning. Thomas connected against Jose Contreras (13-8).

Justin Duchscherer pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.

Red Sox 6, Yankees 3

Red Sox 5, Yankees 4

NEW YORK – Two little, too late for the Boston Red Sox.

Boston beat the New York Yankees twice in one day for the first time in 30 years, rallying on Mark Loretta’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly. In the opener of the team’s second straight day-night doubleheader, David Ortiz’s league-leading 49th homer and Kevin Youkilis’ three-run double in the seventh boosted Boston to the win.

Boston, which overcame a 4-2, eighth-inning deficit in the nightcap, had not defeated the Yankees twice in one day since July 31, 1976, at Fenway Park, and hadn’t accomplished the feat at Yankee Stadium since July 4, 1973.

Blue Jays 5, Devil Rays 3

TORONTO – Aaron Hill hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning to lead Toronto over Tampa Bay.

Bengie Molina homered and had three hits for the Blue Jays, who have won four straight.

With the game tied at 3 and two outs in the eighth, Hill hit a two-run shot, his sixth of the season, off Shawn Camp (7-4).

Toronto reliever Justin Speier (2-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the victory. B.J. Ryan pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save in 37 chances.

Rangers 8, Angels 1

ARLINGTON, Texas – Vicente Padilla pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning, Gary Matthews Jr. hit a two-run homer as Texas beat Los Angeles.

Padilla (14-9) gave up seven hits, struck out four and walked three in 7 1-3 innings. It was his first start against the Angels since he was ejected for hitting two batters and nearly plunking a third on Aug. 15.

This four-game series ended without a major incident as Padilla did not a batter Sunday. Padilla equaled his career high for 14 wins.

Mariners 10, Royals 5

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Chris Snelling and Kenji Johjima homered to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals.

With the game tied at 5 in the seventh, Eduardo Perez had a pinch-hit RBI single and then Snelling hit a 2-2 pitch off Joel Peralta for his third home run and an 8-5 lead. The Mariners have won 16 of their last 21 games against the Royals.

Gil Meche (11-8) gave up nine hits and five runs in six innings to win his second straight start.