NATIONAL LEAGUE
Andruw Jones and Brian McCann hit back-to-back homers to start a six-run sixth inning, and Atlanta beat Pittsburgh 9-1 on Friday night.
Tim Hudson (9-5) gave up five hits and walked one batter in seven shutout innings. He had four strikeouts and is 3-0 in his last four starts.
The Braves, who have won 10 of 14, pulled within one and a half games of the first-place New York Mets in the NL East.
The Braves had seven hits in the sixth, knocking Pirates starter Ian Snell out of the game. Snell (7-6) gave up three homers, two by McCann, who drove in four runs for the second straight game.
Hudson hit a bases-loaded single and Edgar Renteria added a two-run single as the Braves sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth.
Reds 8, Mets 4
At New York, Brandon Phillips hit a first-inning grand slam and drove in six runs to lead Cincinnati.
Phillips' second slam in 11 days put John Maine in a four-run hole before he retired a batter. Phillips added an RBI double in the fifth and a run-scoring single in the sixth, matching his career high for RBIs.
That made it an easy night for Aaron Harang (10-2), who struck out eight in six innings to win his fifth straight decision.
Lastings Milledge homered late for the NL East leaders, who dropped to 3-7 this month.
Ryan Freel opened the game with a double, Norris Hopper reached on a bunt single and Ken Griffey Jr walked to load the bases. Phillips drove the next pitch over the left-field fence for his 18th home run of the season and third career slam.
Maine (10-5) gave up a season-high seven runs -- four earned -- and six hits.
Phillies 13, Cardinals 3
Kyle Kendrick had another effective outing and drove in two runs and Philadelphia stayed on 9,999 losses.
Chase Utley had a homer, four hits and three RBIs, and Greg Dobbs also had four hits for the Phillies, who had a season-high 23, four shy of the team record.
Albert Pujols of the Cardinals hit his 17th homer, his first since June 14.
Kendrick (4-0) has pitched at least six innings in all six of his starts and hasn't allowed more than four earned runs.
The Phillies are about to become the first professional US sports team to reach an unwanted record: 10,000 losses.
Philadelphia rocked starter Kip Wells (3-12) for five runs in the first inning and scored nine runs by the fifth.
Jimmy Rollins hit a leadoff double in the first, Utley had an RBI single and Ryan Howard doubled as part of a seven-hit, five-run inning.
Kendrick pitched seven innings, his longest outing, allowing one run and four hits.
In other National League action on Friday it was:
* Cubs 6, Astros 0
* Rockies 10, Brewers 6
* Diamondbacks 8, Padres 3
* Dodgers 9, Giants 1
* Nationals 14, Marlins 10
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Gary Sheffield stood behind his controversial comments about Joe Torre, Barry Bonds and the New York Yankees before the game, then hit the 12th grand slam of his career to lead Detroit to a 6-3 victory over Seattle on Friday night.
Sheffield fielded questions before the game about his comments to HBO's Real Sports regarding the treatment of black and white players by Torre and his past relationship with Bonds.
Jeremy Bonderman (10-1) pitched seven innings, struck out five, and allowed just six hits. Todd Jones gave up two hits in the ninth before getting his 23rd save.
In the interview with HBO, Sheffield says the black players on the Yankees' roster would be "called out" in the clubhouse by Torre. Sheffield also denied he ever took steroids, but admitted taking the "clear" and the "cream" -- two designer steroids created by BALCO. Sheffield said he didn't know they were steroids, said he trusted and felt himself being controlled by Bonds. But, Sheffield claimed, "if I took what Barry Bonds took, why don't I look like him?"
Sheffield hit Detroit's sixth grand slam of the season in the third off Jarrod Washburn (8-7).
Devil Rays 6, Yankees 4
At St Petersburg, Florida, Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in six innings to outpitch Roger Clemens and earn his first win at home in more than a year.
Kazmir (6-6), an All-Star a year ago who then missed much of the second half because of an injury, yielded one unearned run and struck out seven.
He won at Tropicana Field for the first time since pitching a two-hit shutout against Boston on July 3, 2006. He was 0-4 in 14 starts during the stretch of futility at home.
Josh Wilson and Dioner Navarro each drove in two runs for Tampa Bay, which won for just the second time in 16 games.
Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui hit solo homers to trim New York's deficit to 6-4 in the eighth.
In other American League action on Friday it was:
* Orioles 2, White Sox 0
* Indians 5, Royals 4
* Twins 5, Athletics 3
* Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 5
* Angels 2, Rangers 1
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite