Jake Peavy was nearly unhittable on Wednesday night. And for three innings, he was untouchable.
San Diego's ace fell one strike short of Tom Seaver's major league record of 10 consecutive strikeouts and fanned 16 batters in seven innings before Stephen Drew hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 3-2 victory over the Padres on Wednesday night.
Peavy struck out the side in the second, third and fourth innings and had thrown 117 pitches when he was relieved by Scott Linebrink to open the eighth with San Diego leading 2-0.
With San Diego ahead 2-0, pinch-hitter Miguel Montero homered off Linebrink in the eighth. Trevor Hoffman (1-1) relieved to start the ninth, walked Chad Tracy with one out, then allowed Drew's homer on a 3-1 pitch.
Tony Pena (2-1) earned the victory with a scoreless ninth inning.
Arizona starter Brandon Webb gave up two runs and six hits in eight innings.
Pirates 4, Astros 3, 16 innings
At Pittsburgh, Adam LaRoche grounded a winning single into left field and Pittsburgh rallied after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth to hand Houston its fifth consecutive loss.
LaRoche had been 0-for-18 at PNC Park before his grounder barely got past shortstop Adam Everett to score Jack Wilson.
John Wasdin (1-1), the eighth Pirates pitcher, won it with two scoreless relief innings. Brian Moehler (0-1) took the loss as Houston outhit the Pirates 16-10 but stranded 18 runners.
Giants 6, Dodgers 4
At Los Angeles, Barry Bonds hit his 741st career homer, a three-run shot in the first inning, Pedro Feliz had the go-ahead homer in the sixth and San Francisco beat Los Angeles for its first seven-game winning streak in nearly three years.
Bonds has homered in three of his last four games, moving him within 14 of Hank Aaron's career record. He sent a 1-1 pitch from Randy Wolf into right-center field in the first inning. Bonds went 2-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Rockies 11, Mets 5
At New York, Willy Taveras had five of Colorado's season-high 20 hits and the Rockies snapped out of an offensive drought.
Todd Helton had four hits and three RBIs, and John Mabry added a three-run homer. The Rockies, who managed just one run in each of the first two games of the series, opened a 9-0 lead by the fifth.
Cubs 9, Brewers 3
In Chicago, Derrek Lee and Cliff Floyd each had four hits and Chicago stopped a three-game losing streak, improving to 4-9 at Wrigley Field.
After a 71-minute rain delay, Brewers ace Ben Sheets pitched three scoreless innings before leaving with a strained right groin.
Marlins 4, Braves 3
At Miami, Miguel Olivo scored on a passed ball to cap a four-run rally in the ninth inning against Atlanta's Tim Hudson and Bob Wickman.
Phillies 9, Nationals 3
At Philadelphia, Jon Lieber limited the Nationals to two runs in six innings, Chase Utley was 5-for-5 with three RBIs, and Philadelphia won its fifth straight.
Jimmy Rollins hit his NL-leading eighth homer and Ryan Howard added a two-run shot for the Phillies.
Cardinals 5, Reds 2
At St. Louis, Albert Pujols hit a two-run, tie-breaking double to spark a four-run eighth inning and St. Louis won for the second time in nine home games.
Curt Schilling pitched seven innings of five-hit ball and the Boston Red Sox exploited Baltimore's revamped bullpen in a 6-1 victory on Wednesday night.
After losing two straight to Toronto by a combined 17-6 score, Boston scored five runs over the final three innings to avoid its first three-game skid of the season. Alex Cora hit his first homer for the Red Sox, who have won 16 of their last 19 games against the Orioles.
Schilling (3-1) gave up one run, struck out three and walked two. The 40-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Miguel Tejada but allowed only one other batter beyond second base.
Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera (1-2) pitched well but was victimized by the bullpen in Baltimore's third straight defeat. The right-hander left in the seventh after getting two outs and walking two batters with the score tied at 1.
David Ortiz broke the tie with an opposite-field single off reliever Jamie Walker to start a three-run rally.
Royals 4, Twins 3
At Minneapolis, David DeJesus and Mike Sweeney combined to send Minnesota to its first four-game losing streak since last June.
DeJesus had three hits, including a home run, and Mike Sweeney also homered for Kansas City.
Odalis Perez (2-2) beat the Twins for the second time in six days, allowing three runs and five hits in six-plus innings.
Tigers 6, White Sox 2
At Chicago, Detroit's Chad Durbin struck out a career-high nine in eight innings and Magglio Ordonez had three hits and three RBIs against his former team.
Durbin, the journeyman right-hander who took Kenny Rogers' spot in the rotation when he went on the disabled list with a blood clot, gave up just three hits in his 60th career start.
Joel Zumaya couldn't complete the shutout, walking four and allowing two runs in two-thirds of an inning. Todd Jones finished off the four-hitter by getting Brian Anderson to groundout with the bases loaded. It was Jones' eighth save in 10 chances.
In other AL action it was:
Indians 8, Rangers 7, 11 innings
Mariners 2, Athletics 0
Angels 9, Devil Rays 1
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB