The Colorado Rockies beat the struggling Cincinnati Reds 9-2 in the National League on Wednesday, earning their sixth consecutive victory despite losing starting pitcher Aaron Cook to a broken leg.
Cook was struck in the lower right leg by a line drive off the bat of Joey Votto in the sixth inning. The team initially reported the injury as a bruise, but X-rays revealed a fracture. Cook (6-8) allowed one run in five-plus innings.
Troy Tulowitzki provided the bulk of the offense, hitting a three-run homer off Bronson Arroyo (14-10) in the third and a solo shot two innings later.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Rockies matched their longest winning streak of the season and remained four-and-a-half games behind both NL West leader San Diego and wild-card holder Atlanta.
Despite their fourth straight loss, the Reds still lead the NL Central by six games over St Louis.
Phillies 10, Marlins 6
In Philadelphia, Ryan Howard had six RBIs to power Philadelphia past Florida.
Howard hit his 28th homer of the season and the NL East-leading Phillies had a season-high 18 hits.
Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels got the run support he had been missing most of the season. Hamels (10-10) pitched seven innings and extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 25. He struck out five and won his third straight start.
Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins left with tightness in his right hamstring.
Florida starter Andrew Miller (1-1) gave up seven runs in four innings.
Padres 4, Dodgers 0
In San Diego, rookie Cory Luebke struck out seven in six sparkling innings, guiding San Diego past Los Angeles.
Luebke (1-1) gave the Padres a big lift in his second major league start.
San Diego has won three consecutive games since losing 10 in a row and is two games clear of San Francisco atop the NL West. The Padres will host the Giants in a vital four-game series beginning yesterday.
Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley (11-9) allowed four runs in five-and-one-third innings.
In other NL games, it was:
• Brewers 8, Cardinals 1
• Diamondbacks 3, Giants 1
• Mets 3, Nationals 2
• Braves 9, Pirates 3
• Astros 4, Cubs 0
AP, NEW YORK
Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer off Koji Uehara in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday to give the New York Yankees a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
With the Orioles closing in on their first three-game sweep in the Bronx since 1986, Alex Rodriguez opened the ninth with a single on the first pitch from Uehara (1-1). Robinson Cano flied out and Swisher drove a 2-0 pitch to the opposite field, into Baltimore’s bullpen in left-center.
It was Swisher’s 26th homer this season and his third career game-ending shot.
Matt Wieters hit a two-run homer for Baltimore.
Red Sox 11, Rays 5
In Boston, Tim Wakefield became the oldest pitcher to win for Boston, who backed the 44-year-old knuckleballer with five home runs in a win over Tampa Bay.
Marco Scutaro hit two homers and Adrian Beltre, David Ortiz and Victor Martinez also connected. Four of the homers were off Matt Garza (14-8).
Wakefield (4-10) surpassed Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, who was 43 when he got his last win for the Red Sox.
The Rays dropped to two-and-a-half games behind the American League East-leading Yankees. Boston is nine games behind New York.
B.J. Upton hit a three-run homer for Tampa Bay.
Twins 4, Royals 3
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Brian Duensing allowed one run and struck out seven batters over eight innings as Minnesota continued an impressive run of success against Kansas City pitcher Zack Greinke to complete a three-game sweep.
Duensing (8-2) allowed six hits and dropped his ERA to 2.02. J.J. Hardy homered and Denard Span added a two-run triple for the Twins, who have won six straight games to take a five-and-a-half game lead over Chicago in the AL Central.
Greinke (8-12) fell to 0-4 with an 8.18 ERA against the Twins this season. He allowed four runs and five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in eight innings.
The Royals scored twice in the ninth off Matt Capps, but he got pinch-hitter Mitch Maier to fly out for his 11th save.
Angels 4, Indians 3, 16 inns
In Anaheim, California, Jeff Mathis drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 16th inning for Los Angeles, who got home runs from Mike Napoli and rookie Peter Bourjos in the longest game of the season for both of the teams.
Cleveland rookie Hector Ambriz (0-2), working his fourth inning of relief, gave up a leadoff double to left-center by Torii Hunter on the 500th pitch of the game.
Hunter advanced on a grounder to first and jogged home after Mathis’ flyball to right.
Matt Palmer (1-1) pitched three innings of two-hit relief for the victory, striking out the side in the 15th.
In other AL action, it was:
• Rangers 8, Blue Jays 1
• Tigers 5, White Sox 1
• Athletics 4, Mariners 3
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