National League
Reds squeeze past Braves in 15 innings ATLANTA (AP) – Brandon Phillips’ two-run single off rookie Jose Ascanio in the 15th inning gave the Cincinnati Reds a 5-4 victory over the Braves on Wednesday and their first three-game sweep in Atlanta since April 1990.
Phillips’ hit drove in Norris Hopper and Ken Griffey Jr. and helped the Reds improve to 8-3 in their last 11 games. Hopper reached on second baseman Kelly Johnson’s error to lead off the inning and Griffey singled to right with one out.
Ascanio (0-1), the seventh Atlanta pitcher, gave up two hits and two unearned runs in two innings. The Braves have lost three straight.
Jeff Francoeur singled in Andruw Jones to cut it to 5-4 in the bottom half of the 15th. Atlanta went on to put runners on first and second with two outs but Michael Gosling (1-0) struck out pinch-hitter Kyle Davies, a starting pitcher, to end the game.
Cubs 12, Giants 1
CHICAGO – Carlos Zambrano pitched five shutout innings to become the National League’s first 12-game winner, Koyie Hill drove in a career-high five runs on a pair of doubles, and the surging Cubs won for the fifth time in six games since the All-Star break.
Matt Cain (3-11), the Giants’ hard-luck right-hander, didn’t allow a hit until Cliff Floyd’s two-out single started Chicago’s four-run fourth inning.
Zambrano improved to 7-2 in his nine starts since fighting with then-Cubs catcher Michael Barrett on June 1. He went only five innings, likely a precaution with such a big lead after he took a ball off his hand on Dave Roberts’ leadoff groundout in the first.
Nationals 7, Astros 6
WASHINGTON – Ryan Langerhans hit a three-run homer, Jason Bergmann won for the first time in more than two months, and the Washington Nationals enjoyed a rare offensive outburst.
Bergmann (2-5) was charged with four runs and six hits over seven-plus innings, earning his first victory since May 14 when he took a no-hitter into the eighth against Atlanta. After that start, though, the right-hander went on the disabled list and has struggled since his return.
Washington did all of its scoring against Jason Jennings (1-6), who lost his fifth consecutive start – the worst stretch of the 2002 NL Rookie of the Year’s career. He went five innings, giving up seven hits and four walks.
The Nationals led 7-2 before Houston scored four runs in the seventh. But reliever Jon Rauch pitched a perfect eighth and Chad Cordero threw a scoreless ninth to earn his 17th save.
Dodgers 5, Phillies 4
LOS ANGELES – Andre Ethier hit a three-run homer, Luis Gonzalez added a tiebreaking solo shot in the sixth inning and the NL West-leading Dodgers won their second consecutive series since the All-Star break.
Rudy Seanez (6-1) got the victory by throwing one perfect inning of relief. Starter Chad Billingsley allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, struck out four and walked four before turning it over to the bullpen, which gave up one hit in four scoreless innings.
Takashi Saito pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances.
Cardinals 6, Marlins 0
MIAMI – Kip Wells allowed two hits in eight innings and Juan Encarnacion drove in three runs for St. Louis.
Wells (4-12) struck out four and walked two to win for the first time since he threw two shutout innings in relief against Kansas City on June 20. It was his first win in a start since he beat Pittsburgh on May 23.
Encarnacion had three hits and So Taguchi added two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who chased struggling Florida starter Dontrelle Willis in the fourth. Albert Pujols also had two hits and drove in a run.