Carlos Beltran homered twice for the second straight game, leading the New York Mets to an 8-3 victory and handing the Philadelphia Phillies their third straight loss.
Paul Lo Duca and David Wright also connected and Jorge Sosa (7-3) pitched five effective innings before he left after straining his left hamstring running to first in the sixth.
Beltran had a pair of solo homers Friday off Cole Hamels, helping New York complete a sweep of a day-night doubleheader. Ryan Howard hit his 19th homer for injury-riddled Philadelphia, which fell six games behind the Mets.
Brewers 13, Cubs 4
In Chicago, Milwaukee bounced back from a tough defeat, scoring nine runs in the first three innings to make it easy for Ben Sheets (10-3), who had a season-high 11 strikeouts in his sixth straight win.
Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer and went 4-for-5 with four RBIs for Milwaukee, which finished with 15 hits in ending Chicago's seven-game winning streak.
Braves 6, Marlins 5
At Miami, Tim Hudson pitched seven sharp innings and Edgar Renteria hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth as Atlanta beat Florida.
Renteria's double off reliever Armando Benitez (2-4) drove in Willie Harris, breaking a 1-1 tie.
Reds 5, Cardinals 1
At Cincinatti, Kyle Lohse (4-10) rebounded from the worst outing of his career with one of his best, pitching into the eighth inning and hitting a sacrifice fly while leading Cincinnati to victory over St Louis.
The Reds reached the halfway point of their season at 31-50, the worst record in the majors.
Rockies 5, Astros 0
At Houston, Jeff Francis allowed three hits in seven innings and Colorado beat its former ace Jason Jennings (1-3) as the Rockies ended an eight-game losing streak by downing Houston.
Garrett Atkins drove in two runs, Matt Holliday had an RBI double.
Pirates 7, Nationals 2
At Pittsburgh, Tom Gorzelanny (8-4) improved his chances of being Pittsburgh's All-Star representative by limiting Washington to two runs over seven innings and Adam LaRoche drove in three runs in the Pirates victory.
LaRoche had a two-run double and Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez each had two-run singles in a six-run second inning against Jason Bergmann (1-5), giving Pittsburgh a 6-1 lead.
Giants 4, Diamondbacks 1
At San Francisco, Barry Bonds barely missed his 751st home run and settled for an RBI double to help San Francisco end a three-game skid by beating Arizona.
It was the 376th double for Bonds with the Giants.
Padres 3, Dodgers 1
At Los Angeles, Jake Peavy and Brad Penny pitched to a stalemate, Jose Cruz Jr. and pinch-hitter Geoff Blum hit RBI doubles in the 12th and the Padres won to take a two-game lead over the Dodgers in the West Division.
Chad Gaudin combined with Rich Harden on a one-hitter and the Oakland Athletics connected for three home runs off Kei Igawa in a 7-0 victory over the lethargic New York Yankees on Saturday.
Light-hitting Jason Kendall was 3-for-3 with a homer and a walk to lead an Oakland offense that ranks 13th out of 14 American League teams in runs scored.
Twins 8, Tigers 5
In Detroit, Michael Cuddyer and Lew Ford homered and drove in three runs apiece in Minnesota's victory over Detroit.
Cuddyer hit a three-run homer, went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.
Minnesota has won the first two games of the series.
Rangers 5, Red Sox 4
At Boston, Sammy Sosa hit his 602nd career homer to break a fifth-inning tie, leading Texas to victory over Boston and spoiling Josh Beckett's last start before the All-Star rosters are announced.
Sosa lined a solo shot off the front row of the Monster Seats to break a 4-4 tie.
Indians 8, Devil Rays 6
At Cleveland, C.C. Sabathia became the majors' first 12-game winner and Grady Sizemore drove in three runs to lead Cleveland over Tampa Bay.
Sabathia (12-2) matched last season's win total and is 7-1 with a 2.62 ERA in his past 10 starts.
Orioles 6, Angels 3
At Baltimore, Brian Burres gave up just three hits entering the eighth inning, Ramon Hernandez hit a three-run homer and the Orioles improved to 6-4 under interim manager Dave Trembley by beating Los Angeles.
Kevin Millar drove in two runs and scored twice and Melvin Mora recorded straight three-hit games for the Orioles.
White Sox 3, Royals 1
At Kansas City, Tadahito Iguchi poked a two-run single into right field with two out in the 10th inning, helping Chicago snap Kansas City's five-game win streak.
Octavio Dotel (0-1) started the 10th. He gave up a pinch single to A.J. Pierzynski, then hit Scott Podsednik, who reached base for the fourth time in the game.
Mariners 8, Blue Jays 3
At Seattle, Miguel Batista pitched into the seventh inning and Ben Broussard tied a career-high with four hits as Seattle won its seventh straight game by downing Toronto.
It's Seattle longest win streak since it took nine in a row in 2003.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two