Xavier Nady hit a grand slam off rookie Joey Devine in the 13th inning to lead the San Diego Padres past Atlanta 7-2 on Saturday, handing the Braves their third straight loss at Turner Field.
"You've got to overcome adversity if you're going to be a successful player," Devine said. "I'll come to the ballpark tomorrow with a smile on my face."
Devine (0-1), the Braves' first-round pick in the June draft, was called up from minor league Double-A Mississippi before the game, took an early morning flight to Atlanta and made his major league debut on 45 minutes sleep.
PHOTO: EPA
The right-hander pitched a scoreless 12th and was one pitch from finishing the 13th when Nady connected with a 1-2 fastball, sending a 415-foot drive into the center-field seats.
"I knew I had hit it good," said Nady, who was hitless in his first five at-bats. "I looked up as I rounded first base, and when I saw it was out, I was beside myself. The best part was looking in the dugout and seeing their reaction."
The Padres loaded the bases on Eric Young's single and two walks, one of them intentional. After Nady's 13th homer, the Padres added another run on Miguel Olivo's run-scoring single off John Foster.
PHOTO: AP
First-place Atlanta has its first three-game home losing streak. Overall, it's only the third time the Braves have lost three in a row.
Rudy Seanez (4-1) pitched a scoreless 12th.
Cardinals 4, Giants 2
In St. Louis, Matt Morris (13-5) earned his 100th win and Jim Edmonds scored twice, leading St. Louis over San Francisco.
Mark Grudzielanek's single snapped a 2-all tie in the sixth inning, and the Cardinals added one more run with another successful suicide squeeze. Albert Pujols and John Mabry each had an RBI for St. Louis, which activated right fielder Larry Walker from the disabled list before the game.
Jason Isringhausen got four outs for his 32nd save in 35 opportunities. He retired pinch-hitter Moises Alou on a routine fly with the bases loaded to end it.
Morris (100-57) is the first Cardinals hurler to reach the 100-win mark since Bob Forsch in 1982. The right-hander is 7-2 in 12 starts at home this season and has won four of his last five at Busch Stadium.
Kevin Correia (2-4) gave up four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in six innings.
Dodgers 11, Marlins 6
At Miami, helped by Choi Hee-seop's three hits, Los Angeles ended Florida's shutout streak and came from behind twice.
Choi went 3-for-3 with two RBIs against his former team, scored three times and started a decisive rally in the seventh inning. Dioner Navarro drove in two runs with his first career double in the second to end the Marlins' streak of 28 consecutive scoreless innings pitched.
Brian Moehler, bidding for Florida's fourth shutout in a row, lasted only two-plus innings and gave up four runs.
Choi had a single, double and triple, and was hit by a pitch from Ron Villone (0-2) to start a comeback in the seventh.
Brewers 3, Astros 2
At Houston, Ben Sheets scattered eight hits in his third complete game of the season, and Geoff Jenkins hit a tiebreaking home run as Milwaukee beat Houston.
The Astros, who have lost six of eight, slipped one-half game behind Philadelphia in the National League wild-card race.
Jenkins snapped a 2-all tie in the seventh with his 17th home run off Chad Harville (0-2).
Sheets (9-9) struck out eight and walked none in his 11th career complete game. He has allowed only eight walks in his last 11 games.
Mets 9, Nationals 8, 10 innings
At New York, Chris Woodward's pinch-hit single in the 10th inning drove in the winning run, and New York beat Washington despite blowing an eight-run lead after Pedro Martinez left.
Gerald Williams walked with one out in the 10th against reliever Gary Majewski (2-3). After Kaz Matsui flied out, Jose Reyes walked. Woodward hit for winning pitcher Roberto Hernandez (6-5) and singled up the middle, scoring Williams from second.
Brian Schneider drove in four runs as the Nationals rallied against the New York bullpen. His two-run, two-out double in the ninth against Mets closer Braden Looper capped Washington's comeback and cost Martinez his first win in almost a month.
Rockies 4, Cubs 2
At Denver, Aaron Cook pitched seven strong innings and Dustan Mohr homered off Kerry Wood and drove in two runs, leading Colorado over Chicago.
The last-place Rockies won for the third time in nine games, snapping Chicago's three-game winning streak.
Cook (2-1) allowed one run and seven hits for his second consecutive win. He has yielded seven earned runs in 31 1-3 innings over his last four starts.
Mike DeJean gave up a run in the eighth before Brian Fuentes worked the ninth for his 21st save in 24 opportunities. He retired Derrek Lee on a grounder with a runner on to end it.
Diamondbacks 6, Reds 2
At Cincinnati, Javier Vazquez (10-12) allowed one run in eight innings and Tony Clark hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the eighth to send Arizona over Cincinnati.
After wasting opportunities in the first seven innings against Reds starter Aaron Harang, the Diamondbacks broke through in the eighth against Jason Standridge (2-2).
With the score tied at 1, Royce Clayton led off with a walk and moved to second on Luis Gonzalez's single. Clark, whose sixth-inning double snapped a 2-for-15 slump, followed with his 22nd homer, a 416-foot shot into the right-field bleachers.
The Kansas City Royals ended baseball's longest losing streak in 17 years Saturday, defeating the Oakland Athletics 2-1 to snap a club-record 19-game skid.
Emil Brown doubled in a run, Matt Stairs added an RBI groundout and Mike Wood (4-4) pitched five effective innings, helping the Royals stop their slide two shy of the American League record. They also ended a 12-game road losing streak that tied the franchise single-season mark.
It didn't come without a couple of bloopers that so defined the play of the lowly Royals for 23 days since their previous victory, a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox in 13 innings on July 27.
Kansas City (39-82), which owns the majors' worst record, beat A's ace Barry Zito (11-10) and got clutch outs when Oakland had a runner on third base with fewer than two outs in the fifth and sixth.
Mike MacDougal got four outs for his 15th straight save and 16th in 18 chances -- his first since July 24.
Angels 4, Red Sox 2
At Anaheim, California, rookie Ervin Santana took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning, and Los Angeles beat Boston in a matchup of AL division leaders.
The loss was the sixth in 22 games for the Red Sox, who lead the New York Yankees by three games in the AL East. Boston will move Curt Schilling back into the rotation Thursday night in Kansas City, ending his inconsistent stint as the team's closer.
Santana (7-5) gave up five hits and two runs in 7 2-3 innings. Scot Shields allowed a two-run single to Edgar Renteria before striking out David Ortiz with two on to end the eighth.
Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for his 28th save.
Yankees 5, White Sox 0
At Chicago, Shawn Chacon throttled Chicago's punchless offense and Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run double as New York sent the White Sox to their seventh straight loss.
Chacon (2-1) allowed four hits in eight sharp innings for his second straight win, and the Yankees again beat former teammate Orlando Hernandez, who had a frustrating day.
El Duque was warned for throwing a pitch behind Rodriguez, committed his first two errors in 109 games and was also called for a balk. He gave up six hits and five runs -- four earned -- in six-plus innings.
Hernandez (8-6) lost to his former team for the second time this month.
Mariners 8, Twins 3, 10 innings
At Minneapolis, Richie Sexson hit a grand slam in the 10th inning, and Seattle snapped Minnesota's six-game winning streak.
Seattle rookie Felix Hernandez allowed five hits and struck out nine in eight innings. Sexson added a solo homer in the seventh and had five RBIs.
Jamal Strong led off the 10th with a pinch-hit triple off Matt Guerrier (0-2) and scored on Yuniesky Betancourt's single to give the Mariners the lead. Sexson removed all doubt with a bases-loaded blast -- his second grand slam of the season and eighth of his career.
The Mariners' six-run 10th snapped an 18 1-3 innings scoreless streak for Guerrier and a 23 2-3 innings scoreless streak for the Twins' bullpen and gave Seattle its fourth win in six games.
George Sherrill (2-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
Indians 6, Orioles 1
At Cleveland, Cliff Lee remained unbeaten since July 8, pitching seven superb innings as Cleveland stayed with the rest of the AL wild-card pack by beating the Baltimore.
Lee (13-4) allowed one run and four hits, but only two after the first inning. The left-hander hasn't lost in his last seven starts, going 4-0.
Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez each hit a two-run homer off Rodrigo Lopez (12-7).
Cleveland (67-56), which is 11 games over .500 for the second time, is 8 games behind American League Central-leading Chicago -- the closest the Indians have been since June 19.
The Orioles made four errors and bobbled several other balls, perhaps still feeling the effects of a 5-4 loss in 10 innings on Friday.
Devil Rays 4, Rangers 2
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Jorge Cantu homered and tied a career high with four RBIs, Scott Kazmir (7-8) allowed one run and struck out 10 in six innings, and Tampa Bay beat Texas.
Cantu hit a two-run homer in the fourth and drove in two more runs with a single one inning later. He has 19 homers and 81 RBIs.
Chad Orvella, Joe Borowski and Danys Baez, who pitched the ninth for his 28th save, completed Tampa Bay's fourth straight win. The Devil Rays have won seven of eight and are 22-12 since the All-Star break.
Gary Matthews and Alfonso Soriano homered for Texas, making the Rangers the third major league team with 200 homers in five consecutive seasons. The Rangers are 1-11 on a 13-game road trip.
Tigers 3, Blue Jays 2, 13 innings
At Detroit, Magglio Ordonez doubled in the winning run with one out in the 13th inning, leading Detroit past Toronto for its third straight victory.
Placido Polanco singled off Miguel Batista (5-4) to open the inning, then moved to second when Chris Shelton walked. Ordonez's hit sailed over left fielder Reed Johnson to the wall.
Franklyn German (4-0) worked the last 1 1-3 innings for the Tigers, who have won six of seven.
Tigers starter Jason Johnson gave up two runs -- one earned -- and four hits in eight innings.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
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