Jesus Flores hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting the Washington Nationals 7-6 over the Philadelphia Phillies, who also lost All-Star second baseman Chase Utley to a broken hand on Thursday.
Ryan Howard homered and Pat Burrell had three hits and two RBIs for the Phillies, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.
Ryan Zimmerman grounded to third leading off the eighth but reached on a throwing error by Wes Helms. Jose Mesa (0-2), pitching in his 1,000th major league game, walked Austin Kearns with one out and Flores connected with two outs.
PHOTO: AP
Jon Rauch (6-2) pitched two scoreless innings, and Chad Cordero finished for his 20th save in 27 chances.
Utley was hit in the fifth inning by John Lannan, who was making his major league debut. Utley finished the game, going 2-for-4, but X-rays afterward showed he broke a bone in the hand.
Reds 6, Brewers 5
PHOTO: AP
At Cincinnati, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 588th homer, and Cincinnati rallied against All-Star closer Francisco Cordero.
After Scott Hatteberg's single off Cordero (0-3) tied it in the ninth, Javier Valentin's single in the 10th gave the Reds three victories in their four-game series against fading National League Central-leading Milwaukee.
Jared Burton (2-1) got the win after the NL's worst bullpen blew a lead of its own.
Since they opened an 8.5-game lead on June 23, the Brewers have gone 13-15 and let the Chicago Cubs get back into the race. Their lineup has been the main problem, hitting an NL-low .225 since the All-Star break.
Pirates 8, Mets 4
At New York, Josh Phelps capped a five-run sixth inning with a two-run homer, then added an RBI double in the seventh to help Pittsburgh win for just the second time in 12 games since the All-Star break.
Left-hander Paul Maholm (7-12) won for the third time in four starts, limiting New York to three runs and six hits over six-plus innings.
Astros 7, Padres 1
At Houston, Carlos Lee, Morgan Ensberg and Craig Biggio hit home runs, and Wandy Rodriguez allowed one run in seven innings to send Houston to its fifth win in seven games.
It was Biggio's second home run in three games since announcing his retirement.
Rodriguez (7-9) allowed a run and five hits to improve to 6-2 with a 1.76 ERA at home. The left-hander is 1-7 with a 7.43 ERA on the road.
Cardinals 11, Cubs 1
At St. Louis, Albert Pujols snapped an 0-for-11 slump with a three-run homer, Chris Duncan added a grand slam and St. Louis routed Chicago.
Pujols drove in five runs, tying his season high.
Chicago starter Jason Marquis (7-6) allowed six runs in five innings. He walked four and struck out just one. Marquis had beaten his former teammates in two earlier starts this season.
Dodgers 5, Rockies 4
At Denver, Brad Penny scattered five hits over six innings before leaving with an abdominal cramp and Rafael Furcal hit a two-run homer for Los Angeles.
Penny (13-1) was taken out of the game after hurting himself as he beat out an infield single in the seventh inning. He hunched over after he reached first base and the trainers sprinted out to examine him. Penny was led off the field.
Takashi Saito pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 29 chances, striking out Matt Holliday with a runner on to end it. Saito had missed the previous seven games because of a sore right shoulder.
Diamondbacks 7, Marlins 4
At Phoenix, Eric Byrnes hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Arizona a four-game sweep of Florida.
Scott Podsednik scored from first base on pitcher Zach Miner's throwing error in the ninth inning, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 to win a five-game series against the defending American League champions on Thursday.
Chicago had not won a home series since winning two of three against Oakland from May 21-23.
With the score 3-all, Podsednik singled off Miner (1-3) leading off the ninth. Josh Fields sacrificed, Miner bobbled the ball and then made a bad throw to second baseman Placido Polanco, who was covering first base. The ball went into foul territory down the right-field line, and Ryan Raburn's throw to the plate was too late to get Podsednik.
Bobby Jenks (3-4) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory, Chicago's fifth in nine games against the Tigers this season.
Orioles 10, Devil Rays 7
At Baltimore, Brian Roberts hit a three-run homer and walked three times, helping Baltimore wins its fourth straight and improve to 18-13 under interim manager Dave Trembley.
Kevin Millar, Nick Markakis and Chris Gomez had two RBIs apiece for the Orioles, 9-4 since the All-Star break.
Red Sox 14, Indians 9
At Cleveland, Manny Ramirez hit the third-longest home run at Jacobs Field, a tree-clearing solo shot, and added a two-run homer as Boston outslugged Cleveland.
Ramirez's tape-measure rocket in the second inning off Cliff Lee (5-8), conservatively estimated at 481 feet, set the tone for the Red Sox, who won three of the four games against one of the AL's other premier teams.
Royals 7, Yankees 0
At Kansas City, Missouri, Jorge De La Rosa repeatedly pitched out of trouble, and Kansas City teed off on Kei Igawa to stop New York's winning streak at six.
Alex Gordon homered, tripled and doubled, and Tony Pena Jr. and Mark Grudzielanek also tripled for Kansas City, which had lost the first three games of the four-game series.
Athletics 6, Mariners 2
At Seattle, Nick Swisher hit two home runs to back Dan Haren, and Oakland extended Seattle's losing streak to a season-high seven games.
Swisher's second homer broke open a 3-2 game in the ninth off George Sherrill, after Chris Reitsma had walked consecutive batters.
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
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