Major League Baseball
Braves lose, drop to 0-9 in 1-run games this season WASHINGTON (AP) – Felipe Lopez’s bases-loaded hit to left with no outs in the 12th lifted the Washington Nationals to a 3-2 victory over the Braves on Wednesday, dropping Atlanta to 0-9 in games decided by the slimmest possible margin.
The Braves are the first team since the 2000 Houston Astros to lose their first nine one-run games. The loss went to Manny Acosta (0-1), who came in to start the 10th.
The Nationals, meanwhile, have their first three-game winning streak since opening the season 3-0. They fell behind 2-1 in the 12th on Mark Kotsay’s RBI single off Saul Rivera (3-1), who nonetheless earned the win with two innings of relief.
Cardinals 5, Reds 2
ST. LOUIS – Braden Looper worked six solid innings and Rick Ankiel had three hits and two RBIs, helping the St. Louis Cardinals hand Aaron Harang another tough luck loss.
Aaron Miles drove in two runs with and Jason Isringhausen earned his ninth save in 11 chances for the surprising Cardinals, who won a franchise-record 18 games the first month of the season. Last year’s team needed 43 games to win No. 18.
Looper (4-1) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings for the Cardinals.
Harang (1-4) has worked at least six innings in each of his seven starts and has little to show for his 2.98 ERA because the Reds have totaled 23 runs in his outings. He allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings.
Padres 4, Phillies 2
PHILADELPHIA – Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and Chris Young pitched six effective innings for the Padres, who won for the second time in nine games.
After giving up a two-run homer to Chase Utley in the first, Young (2-2) allowed three hits over his last five innings, striking out six and walking three.
Tadahito Iguchi had four hits and drove in a run for San Diego.
Joe Thatcher and Heath Bell each pitched a scoreless inning and Trevor Hoffman got his fifth save in seven opportunities with a scoreless ninth. Jamie Moyer (1-2) gave up nine hits and four runs in 5 1-3 shaky innings.
Dodgers 13, Marlins 1
MIAMI – Chad Billingsley pitched seven innings to win for the first time this season and Rafael Furcal had a career-high five hits for the Dodgers.
Furcal went 5-for-6 with a double, giving him 17 extra-base hits, the most by a Dodger at the end of April since the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Furcal’s average rose to .381.
Billingsley (1-4) allowed three hits and one run to lower his ERA from 6.53 to 5.20. He had eight strikeouts, giving him 40 in 27 2-3 innings.
Scott Olsen (3-1) allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings, and the NL East-leading Marlins lost for the first time in his six starts.
Diamondbacks 8, Astros 7
PHOENIX – Pitcher Micah Owings’ pinch-hit homer off Dave Borkowski (0-2) tied the game in the sixth and Arizona rallied from four runs down to beat Houston.
Chris Young followed with a double, then scored the go-ahead run on Eric Byrnes’ single.
The Astros led 6-2 after two innings against Randy Johnson. Houston scored four in the first, three on Carlos Lee’s sixth home run of the season.
Brandon Medders (1-0) gave up an unearned run in two innings. Brandon Lyon threw a scoreless inning to earn his ninth save in 11 tries.
Giants 3, Rockies 2
SAN FRANCISCO – Jose Castillo ended a 450 at-bat homerless drought with a tiebreaking shot to lead off the seventh inning and Fred Lewis preserved the lead with a diving catch in the eighth for the Giants.
Castillo’s homer to left field off Ryan Speier (0-1) was his first since Aug. 14, 2006, for Pittsburgh against Milwaukee.
Merkin Valdez (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings to earn his first career win and Brian Wilson got three outs for his ninth save in 10 chances.
Indians 8, Mariners 3
CLEVELAND – Cliff Lee won his fifth straight start to improve to 5-0 and lead the Cleveland Indians to a win over Seattle.
Lee’s consecutive scoreless innings streak ended at 27 on Wladimir Balentien’s three-run homer in the seventh. It raised his ERA from 0.28 to 0.96, still lowest in the majors.
Lee was pulled after the homer, the only runs and he allowed in six innings. The left-hander has given up four earned runs in 37 2-3 innings in his five starts.
Franklin Gutierrez drove in three runs on an RBI single in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth.
Seattle starter Jarrod Washburn (1-4) allowed six runs in 4 1-3 innings for his third straight loss.
Red Sox 2, Blue Jays 1
BOSTON – Manny Ramirez slid in just ahead of the tag on Jason Varitek’s single in the ninth, giving the Red Sox their second straight win in their last at-bat.
Ramirez barely beat the throw from center fielder Vernon Wells, who threw out Jed Lowrie at the plate on the previous play, a single by Brandon Moss. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 1-0 on Tuesday night on Kevin Youkilis’ RBI single in the ninth.
Jonathan Papelbon (2-0) won for the second straight night as Boston took the lead in its last at-bat for the fifth time in its last six victories.
Scott Downs (0-1) put runners at first and second with no outs in the ninth on a single by Ortiz and a walk to Ramirez. Mike Lowell then struck out before Moss singled.
Rays 8, Orioles 1
BALTIMORE – Andy Sonnanstine allowed one run in eight innings, Erik Hinske homered and the Rays completed the first winning April in franchise history.
Sonnanstine (4-1) gave up six hits, walked two and had a season-high five strikeouts in winning his third straight start. He became the first Tampa Bay pitcher to win four games in April and tied the team record for wins in any month.
The victory was the seventh in eight games for the Rays, who went 14-12 in April (after going 1-0 in March). Tampa Bay has never been three games over .500 this late in the season.
Baltimore starter Matt Albers (2-1) allowed three runs and four hits in six innings.
Tigers 6, Yankees 2
NEW YORK – Placido Polanco homered twice and Marcus Thames also went deep off Andy Pettitte (3-3) to help Detroit to its seventh win in nine games after a horrendous start to the season.
Jeremy Bonderman (2-2) pitched into the eighth inning after getting off to a rough start and Gary Sheffield had two hits for Detroit (13-15). The $139 million Tigers opened the season with seven straight losses.
With Alex Rodriguez sidelined by a strained right quadriceps, slumping New York managed just two hits after the first inning. The Yankees have scored just 15 runs in their last five games.
A-Rod went on the DL for the first time since July 2000 before the game. So was Phil Hughes, due to a strained right oblique muscle.
Twins 4, White Sox 3.
MINNEAPOLIS – Justin Morneau came through with yet another clutch hit for Minnesota, a two-out RBI double in the seventh inning.
Nick Blackburn (2-1) wasn’t sharp, but he lasted seven innings, allowing only three runs to give the Twins consecutive victories by starting pitchers for the first time in 18 days.
Morneau hit a high pitch from Boone Logan to deep left-center to drive in Carlos Gomez for the go-ahead run in the seventh and hang the loss on reliever Ehren Wasserman (0-1).
Copyright Associated Press 2008