NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cole Hamels snapped his winless streak with a two-hit, complete-game shutout to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 1-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday.
Hamels, the MVP of last season’s World Series, struck out nine batters and allowed just one walk to earn his first victory since July 28. It was the fourth shutout of his career and second of the season.
The win was the National League East-leading Phillies’ (76-53) third in four games.
“I really tried not to stress myself out in going out there and trying to be too good or trying to fall into those expectations,” Hamels told reporters. “You have to really put things in perspective. I have a team behind me. They’re there for a reason.”
Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard drove in the game’s only run with a double in the fourth inning. The big slugger has had 11 home runs in the last 18 games.
Ryan Garko and Rich Aurilia recorded the hits for the Giants (72-60), who had won five of their six previous games and climbed into a tie with the Colorado Rockies in the NL Wild Card race.
Hamels (8-8) has struggled this season, particularly in August when he went 0-3 in five starts with an ERA of 4.91.
However, the left-hander looked back to his best on Tuesday, a performance that came on the back of eight shutout innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 26. He has a career-best scoreless innings streak of 19.
“He’s throwing the fastball again and that is making his changeup better,” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. “He’ll keep you off balance. In and out.”
Hamels’ performance overshadowed a solid effort from San Francisco starter Jonathan Sanchez, who took the loss despite striking out eight and allowing only one run over six innings.
CARDINALS 7, BREWERS 6
In St Louis, Matt Holliday’s three-run homer snapped a seventh-inning tie and helped St Louis edge Milwaukee.
The Cardinals are a major-league-best 26-9 since acquiring Holliday from Oakland five weeks ago.
Pitcher Joel Pineiro notched his eighth straight win as the Cardinals kept pace with Los Angeles and Philadelphia in the fight for the overall best record in the NL.
BRAVES 4, MARLINS 3
In Miami, Atlanta moved two games ahead of Florida, winning a clash of two fringe contenders for the wild card. Tim Hudson gave up just two runs in 5-1/3 innings in his first big league start since having elbow ligament replacement surgery almost 13 months ago.
Atlanta is three games behind Colorado for the NL wild card, and Florida fell five back.
Also on Tuesday, it was:
• Rockies 8, Mets 3
• Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 3
• Cubs 4, Astros 1
• Reds 11, Pirates 5
• Padres 4, Nationals 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Jonathan Papelbon pitched Boston out of an eighth-inning jam, and Jason Bay, J.D. Drew and Kevin Youkilis homered on Tuesday to help the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 in the opener of a series crucial to the American League wild-card race.
Papelbon entered with two runs in and the bases loaded with no outs and shut down the AL champions in the eighth with help from a diving catch by center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who snared Jason Bartlett’s sinking liner before scrambling to his feet to keep a runner from tagging up at third.
Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save, fifth of more than one inning.
Jon Lester (11-7) allowed two runs and seven hits, walked one and struck out nine in six innings.
Andy Sonnanstine (6-8) returned from a two-month stint in the minor leagues to fill the opening in Tampa Bay’s rotation created by the trade that sent Scott Kazmir to the Los Angeles Angels. He gave up homers to Bay and Drew.
YANKEES 9, ORIOLES 6
At Baltimore, Jorge Posada homered twice, and Nick Swisher and Eric Hinske hit successive drives in a three-run seventh inning that carried New York past Baltimore for its fifth straight win.
Robinson Cano also connected for the Yankees, who were to try to complete a three-game sweep yesterday.
The AL East leaders remained 6.5 games ahead of second-place Boston, which beat Tampa Bay.
RANGERS 5, BLUE JAYS 2, 1ST GAME
RANGERS 5, BLUE JAYS 2, 2ND GAME
At Arlington, Texas, Josh Hamilton hit two home runs and Brandon McCarthy pitched into the seventh inning of his first start in nearly three months as Texas beat Toronto for a doubleheader sweep.
Also on Tuesday, it was:
• Mariners 2, Angels 1
• Tigers 8, Indians 5
• Twins 4, White Sox 3
• Royals 4, Athletics 3
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