Pinch-hitters Darin Erstad and David Newhan had back-to-back run-scoring hits in the eighth inning, lifting the Houston Astros to a 7-5 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.The Astros have won 10 of 11 to pull within six games of NL wild card-leading Milwaukee, which lost 10-1 loss to San Diego on Sunday. more >>
Pablo Sandoval finished with five RBIs and the San Francisco Giants rode a 10-run inning to an 11-6 victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday, assuring the Pirates their record-tying 16th consecutive losing season. San Francisco rapped out nine hits in its big fourth inning and took advantage of two errors to push across its most runs in a frame since it scored 10 in the second inning against the Houston Astros on Sept. 23, 2003. It also was the most runs in an inning for the Giants at their new ballpark, which opened in 2000. more >>
James Loney had three RBIs and the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of Arizona on Sunday with a 5-3 victory that gave them a 1 1/2-game lead on the Diamondbacks in the NL West. The Dodgers tied a season best with their eighth straight win, following an eight-game skid. Hong Chih-Kuo (5-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings of relief for the victory and Jonathan Broxton got four outs for his 13th save. more >>
Elijah Dukes hit a three-run double in the 14th inning and the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 7-4 on Sunday. Dukes, who homered twice and went 4-for-5 in Saturday's 10-inning victory, was hitless in six at-bats before he faced Jeff Bennett in the 14th. more >>
Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez and Dusty Ryan homered and the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 7-5 on Sunday. Ryan, a rookie catcher, hit a two-run homer in his first major league start. Chris Lambert earned his first career win and the Tigers won consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 22-23. more >>
Jose Lopez hit two homers, Ryan Feierabend went from idle to impressive and the Seattle Mariners sent the New York Yankees tumbling into fourth place with a 5-2 victory on Sunday. Lopez's liner just over the wall in left field gave Seattle a 3-2 lead in the fourth off Mike Mussina (17-8), who allowed four runs and seven hits and made a key error - his first in three years - in six innings. more >>
David Ortiz hit his first home run in 20 games, Paul Byrd pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings to win his fourth straight decision and the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 7-2 Sunday to move within 1 1/2 games of the AL East lead. The Red Sox (84-58) are the closest they've been to division-leading Tampa Bay since July 28. Six of their next nine games are against the skidding Rays, starting Monday night at Fenway Park. more >>
Cliff Lee won his 10th straight decision, the longest winning streak in the majors this season, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Sunday. Lee, who leads the majors with 21 wins, is 10-0 in 11 starts since a July 6 loss at Minnesota. In those 11 starts, Lee has a 1.84 ERA. He lowered his major league leading ERA to 2.28. more >>
Chris Young came within four outs of a perfect game, retiring the first 23 Milwaukee Brewers in order before Gabe Kapler homered, and the San Diego Padres beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-1 on Sunday. Young got Prince Fielder and Corey Hart to pop out in the eighth before Kapler hit Young's 76th pitch of the game - a 1-0 fastball - into the left-field bleachers. more >>
Joe Saunders flashed his All-Star form while earning his first win in over a month, and the Los Angeles Angels rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 Sunday, avoiding a three-game sweep. The AL West leaders moved a step closer to their fourth division title in five years, thanks to a solid effort by Saunders and a questionable decision by Jermaine Dye to catch pinch-hitter Garrett Anderson's sacrifice fly in foul territory in the eighth. The Angels hung on after blowing a three-run lead the previous night and ultimately losing 7-6 on Jim Thome's homer in the 15th inning. more >>
Jolbert Cabrera hit a game-ending RBI single off Chicago Cubs closer Kerry Wood to complete Cincinnati's three-run ninth inning and give the Reds a 4-3 win on Sunday. Edwin Encarnacion started the rally with a leadoff single into center field and hustled to second when the ball got past a charging Jim Edmonds. After Jay Bruce walked, Encarnacion was cut down at third when Ryan Hanigan bunted into a forceout but Wood (4-4) walked pinch-hitter Javier Valentin to load the bases. more >>
Rich Aurilia hit one of three Giants home runs and San Francisco finally beat the Pittsburgh Pirates at home, 7-6 on Saturday night. Scott McClain homered for the second time in four games and Nate Schierholtz hit his first career home run to help the Giants snap a seven-game losing streak at home against the Pirates. The Giants hadn't beaten the Pirates at AT&T Park since June 8, 2006. more >>
Tim Wakefield's milestone appearance for Boston ended with his shortest outing of the season and kept the Red Sox from getting closer to the AL East leader. The knuckleballer, pitching his 500th game for Boston, allowed seven runs in a span of nine batters in the second inning, and the Texas Rangers went on to a 15-8 victory Saturday night that ended Boston's four-game winning streak. more >>
Ryan Langerhans hit a 10th-inning homer, the Nationals' fifth of the game, and Washington recovered from blowing a two-run lead in the ninth to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-5 on Saturday night. The Nationals matched their season high for homers, including two by Elijah Dukes. Langerhans' go-ahead shot in the 10th off Mike Gonzalez (0-2) was his second this season, both as a pinch hitter. more >>
Jack Cust hit two solo home runs, Greg Smith pitched seven shutout innings and the Oakland Athletics handed the Baltimore Orioles their eighth straight loss, 5-1 Saturday night. Jack Hannahan also homered for the A's, who have won two in a row for only the second time since the All-Star break. more >>
Gil Meche gave up three hits in seven innings to win for the first time in more than a month, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 3-1 Saturday night. The Indians lost on the road for the first time since Aug. 6 at Tampa Bay, snapping a 10-game winning streak away from home. more >>
Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run and Todd Wellemeyer pitched a season-high eight innings to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins 5-3 on Saturday night. Pujols hit his 31st home run of the season in the first off Scott Olsen to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. more >>
Ben Sheets pitched a five-hitter for his career-high 13th win and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 1-0 on Saturday night. Sheets struck out seven in his fourth career shutout - third this season - and 18th career complete game. more >>
Evan Longoria was activated off the 15-day disabled list Saturday after the Tampa Bay slugger said he felt "almost 100 percent" following 30 swings with a regular bat. Longoria won't be returning to the lineup right away. Rays manager Joe Maddon wants the rookie third baseman to take two or three days of regular batting practice first, meaning Longoria likely will be available only as a defensive replacement until the Rays open a three-game series at New York on Friday. more >>
The Arizona Diamondbacks gave Manny Ramirez three chances to hurt them Saturday. He came through twice, and that was enough for the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers. Ramirez hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie and added a two-run double in the sixth, helping the Dodgers beat Brandon Webb and the Diamondbacks 7-2 to take over sole possession of first place in the NL West for the first time since April 4. more >>
