Atlanta's Andruw Jones homered and Chipper Jones and Brian McCann added RBI singles as the Braves snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Los Angeles.
Braves starter Chuck James (8-7) allowed one run in five innings. Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 19 chances. The Dodgers did get the tying run to the plate in the final inning, but pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz struck out to end the game.
Dodger Mark Hendrickson (2-4) gave up two runs and seven hits in five innings and lost his fourth consecutive start.
Nationals 6, Cubs 0
At Washington, Dmitri Young hit a grand slam and Matt Chico pitched seven innings of four-hit ball, leading the Washington Nationals to a 6-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.
Phillies 8, Astros 3
In Houston, Ryan Howard had a two-run homer and an RBI single to help Cole Hamels earn his elusive 10th win for Philadelphia.
Giants 9, Reds 5
In Cincinnati, Fred Lewis hit another grand slam and slumping starter Matt Cain turned it into a long-awaited win, while Barry Bonds watched from the dugout with a day off.
Pirates 5, Brewers 3
In Pittsburgh, Adam LaRoche hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning, leading the Pirates past the team with the worst record in MLB.
Cardinals 5, Diamondbacks 4
At St Louis, Juan Encarnacion and Scott Rolen hit consecutive RBI doubles in the eighth inning to help St. Louis overcome an early three-run deficit and beat Arizona.
For Arizona, starting pitcher Livan Hernandez and Miguel Montero both hit two-run homers off Brad Thompson.
Rockies 17, Mets 7
At Denver, Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins both drove in a season-high five runs as Colorado became the first team in more than half a century to sweep two New York clubs in the same year.
Colorado's three-game home sweeps of the Yankees and Mets were sandwiched around a 1-9 road trip which was the worst three-city swing in franchise history.
Padres 1, Marlins 0
At San Diego, Chris Young allowed five hits and struck out nine in seven innings as San Diego downed Florida.
Johan Santana pitched seven innings to win his fourth straight start and Jason Kubel hit a tiebreaking homer that helped the Minnesota Twins beat the New York Yankees 6-2 on Wednesday.
Santana (10-6) gave up two runs and four hits, struck out five and walked two. The Major League Baseball All-Star left-hander hasn't lost since June 9 against Washington.
Hideki Matsui hit his ninth homer for the Yankees, who dropped to 3-3 on a 10-game homestand that takes them up to the MLB All-Star break.
Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 5
In Boston, MLB All-Star Mike Lowell homered to help carry a lineup of Red Sox reserves, and Tim Wakefield cruised through six innings to send Tampa Bay to its 10th consecutive loss.
Blue Jays 10, Athletics 3
In Oakland, California, Matt Stairs homered and drove in four runs, Dustin McGowan pitched seven scoreless innings and the Toronto Blue Jays wrapped up a 10-game road trip with a win.
Tigers 6, Indians 4
At Detroit, Brandon Inge drove in two runs and Kenny Rogers made another strong start as Detroit snapped Cleveland's six-game winning streak.
Orioles 9, White Sox 6
At Chicago, Jay Gibbons homered and Kevin Millar hit two doubles in Baltimore's win over Chicago.
Mariners 4, Royals 0
At Kansas City, Jarrod Washburn scattered just five hits over eight-plus innings and John McLaren got his first win in his third game as Seattle manager as the Mariners downed Kansas City.
Rangers 4, Angels 2
At Arlington, Jamey Wright (2-2) allowed two runs in six innings and Marlon Byrd drove in the tiebreaking run for Texas.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but