NATIONAL LEAGUE
Ryan Howard and Pedro Feliz hit solo homers in the eighth inning as Philadelphia ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over St. Louis on Wednesday night.
Howard drove an 0-2 pitch from Kyle McClellan (1-4) for his 25th homer, rallying the Phillies after they blew a 2-0 lead. Feliz added his shot off Chris Perez.
Brad Lidge retired Albert Pujols on a fly ball and struck out Rick Ankiel with two on to earn his 20th save.
Howard tied All-Star teammate Chase Utley for the NL home run lead. Howard’s 80 RBIs lead the league, and he set a team record for most RBIs before the All-Star break.
Jimmy Rollins and Howard each drove in a run in the fifth, ending Philadelphia’s scoreless streak at 16 innings.
Pujols had a sacrifice fly and Troy Glaus snapped an 0-for-21 skid with a two-out RBI single in the seventh to tie the game at 2.
Mets 5, Giants 0
At New York, Johan Santana tossed five effective innings before his night was cut short by a rain delay, but the Mets won their fifth straight.
Ramon Castro had a three-run homer, and Carlos Delgado had three hits and is batting .429 (15-for-35) in nine games this month.
The Giants have lost four of five and were shut out for the second straight game.
Santana (8-7) was 0-4 despite a 2.48 ERA in his previous six starts. He allowed three hits, walked three and struck out five in his shortest outing since he went three innings in his final start for Minnesota, a 9-4 loss at Detroit on Sept. 26.
Santana, Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez and Joe Smith combined to retire San Francisco’s last 13 batters and finish the Mets’ first consecutive shutouts since Sept. 6-7, 2006.
Dodgers 2, Braves 1
At Los Angeles, Derek Lowe took a perfect game into the seventh inning and Matt Kemp homered for the home team.
Lowe retired the first 18 batters before Gregor Blanco led off the seventh with a clean single to center. Jonathan Broxton replaced Lowe (7-8) after Jeff Francoeur homered in the eighth. Takashi Saito pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 17th save.
Atlanta’s Tim Hudson (9-7) did not permit a runner until James Loney’s leadoff double in the fifth.
Lowe (7-8) gave up one run, walked two and struck out four in 7 2-3 innings. Hudson allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings.
Kemp homered to center with two outs in the sixth. Andruw Jones singled home a run in the seventh for a 2-0 lead.
Cubs 5, Reds 1
At Chicago, Carlos Zambrano allowed one hit over eight innings — a second-inning homer by Adam Dunn — and retired the final 20 batters for Chicago.
In his second start since coming off the disabled list with a right shoulder strain, Zambrano (10-3) walked none and struck out five.
Other than Dunn’s 23rd homer, the only Reds’ baserunner against Zambrano was Jeff Keppinger, who reached on third baseman Aramis Ramirez’s one-out error in the first.
Ramirez hit his 16th homer in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie.
Rockies 8, Brewers 3
At Milwaukee, Garrett Atkins hit two homers for Colorado and Glendon Rusch won as a starter for the first time in exactly two years.
Rusch (2-3) had not won as a starter since beating the Brewers on July 9, 2006, in his last start for the Chicago Cubs. He missed all of last season while recovering from a blood clot in his lung, and took a loss in his only other start for Colorado this year.
Rusch, who was recalled from Triple-A on Saturday, went six innings, giving up one run and five hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
Brewers starter Ben Sheets (10-3) struck out season-high 11 over six innings, giving up three runs and five hits.
Nationals 5, Diamondbacks 0
At Washington, Jesus Flores’ three-run, pinch-hit homer in the sixth inning ended the Nationals’ six-game losing streak.
Nationals starter John Lannan (5-9) allowed two hits and walked three in six shutout innings for his first victory since May 18.
The Nationals’ first shutout since May 19 was completed by Joel Hanrahan, Luis Ayala and Jon Rauch with one inning each of relief.
In other games, it was:
• Marlins 5, Padres 2
• Astros 6, Pirates 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Bobby Abreu hit a game-winning double off Grant Balfour in the 10th inning for New York on Wednesday night.
Derek Jeter scored twice and Jason Giambi singled in a run for the Yankees, who gave out 20,000 replica mustaches to fans to support the slugger’s All-Star candidacy.
New York has won four straight after losing five of six, closing within 6 1/2 games of the surprising Rays, who lead the AL East. The Rays have lost three straight for the first time since they were swept at Boston from June 3-5.
Jeter walked with one out against Balfour (2-1), who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous 10 appearances. Abreu fell behind 0-2, then doubled to right-center as Jeter scored without a throw to the plate. It was Abreu’s first game-ending hit with the Yankees.
Mariano Rivera (4-3) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena hit a tying homer off Sidney Ponson in the sixth.
Tigers 8, Indians 6
At Detroit, Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and Detroit rallied from an early six-run deficit to beat Cleveland 8-6, the Indians’ 10th straight loss.
The Tigers, who trailed 6-0 in the sixth, won when Cabrera connected with one out for his third homer in two games.
Todd Jones (4-0) pitched out of a jam in the top of the ninth, escaping when Casey Blake was thrown out at the plate.
Marcus Thames led off the bottom half with a pinch-single. After an out, Cabrera hit a drive off Jensen Lewis (0-3) for his 16th homer of the season.
The Tigers, who won their third straight, scored a run in the sixth and tied it with five in the seventh.
Jhonny Peralta hit an RBI double, Blake had a sacrifice fly and Shin-Soo Choo singled home a run in the first for the Indians.
Red Sox 18, Twins 5
At Boston, Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run double as Boston followed an overturned triple-play call with seven runs in the seventh inning to beat Minnesota and complete a three-game sweep.
Jacoby Ellsbury had a career-high four hits, and Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis and Sean Casey had three apiece to help the Red Sox set season highs for hits (23) and runs.
Josh Beckett (9-5) allowed three runs in the first and followed it with four scoreless innings before being chased after two batters in the sixth.
Livan Hernandez (9-6) gave up six runs and 11 hits in 4 1-3 innings, but he was long gone by the time Boston broke it open in the seventh.
Umpires originally ruled that a sliding Denard Span caught Jason Varitek’s sinking liner to center, allowing the Twins to double off two runners for an 8-4-5 triple play.
The call was reversed — correctly, replays confirmed — and irate Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire was quickly ejected for arguing.
Blue Jays 9, Orioles 8
At Toronto, Alex Rios and David Eckstein both drove in two runs and A.J. Burnett won for the third time in four starts for Toronto, which had a seven-run fourth inning.
Eckstein had two doubles and Rios had two singles for the Blue Jays, whose bullpen survived a shaky ninth to seal a second straight win for the first time this month.
In other games, it was:
• White Sox 7, Royals 6
• Rangers 5, Angels 4
• Mariners 6, Athletics 4
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care