Tim Lincecum won his showdown against fellow ace Mat Latos as the San Francisco Giants beat San Diego 6-1 on Sunday to move into a tie with the Padres for first place in the National League West.
Two-time reigning NL Cy Young winner Lincecum (14-9) struck out nine in seven innings and added a two-run single to lead the Giants to their third win against the Padres in the finale of the critical four-game series.
“When you’ve got the team rolling behind me, scoring runs, you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Lincecum told reporters after winning his third straight start following an 0-5 stretch.
“My confidence is at an all-time high, especially coming off the last month,” he said.
Lincecum’s single in the fourth gave San Francisco a 5-0 lead against Latos, who allowed seven hits and five runs in just four innings.
Latos (14-6) surrendered more than two earned runs for the first time since June 4, snapping a streak of 15 successive starts, and San Diego (80-62) lost for the 13th time in 17 games to draw even with the Giants (81-63) in the standings.
The teams will meet for one final three-game series to close the season Oct. 1-3.
San Francisco jumped on the Padres early when Buster Posey blasted a two-run home run in the first inning. The team added a run in the third and two more in the fourth.
Posey had two hits and Aubrey Huff finished 3-for-5.
Right-hander Latos entered the game with a Major League-best ERA of 2.21 but had it swell to 2.43.
“I feel it makes us a little stronger with the ups and the downs,” Latos said.
“This is going to be a tough race. The Giants have got a good ballclub. Colorado’s making a nice little push. We need to step our game up a little bit,” he said.
Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 2
In Denver, pinch-hitter Jason Giambi hit a two-run homer off Sam Demel (1-1) with two outs in the ninth, giving Colorado its 10th straight win.
Jonathan Herrera started the rally when he reached on an error by second baseman Kelly Johnson.
Colorado’s winning streak is the longest in the NL this season and one game short of the major league best shared by the Chicago White Sox and Texas.
Phillies 3, Mets 0
In New York, Roy Oswalt (12-13) pitched a four-hitter for his second complete game this season as Philadelphia blanked New York.
Raul Ibanez hit a solo homer off Jon Niese (9-8), and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard had RBI singles for the Phillies (83-61), who nosed ahead of second-place Atlanta in the NL East by winning for the fifth time in six games.
In other NL play it was:
• Pirates 3, Reds 1
• Cardinals 7, Braves 3
• Marlins 6, Nationals 5
• Astros 7, Dodgers 4
• Brewers 2, Cubs 0
AP, ARLINGTON, Texas
Cliff Lee allowed two hits while pitching into the ninth inning in his return from a back injury and Julio Borbon hit a go-ahead single to carry the Texas Rangers to a 4-1 victory over the New York Yankees and a sweep of the series between division leaders.
Lee (11-8) didn’t give up a hit for 5 1-3 innings, facing the minimum in that stretch. Both hits and the lone run came in the sixth inning.
Neftali Perez struck out the next three batters for his 36th save in 39 chances, completing the first three-game sweep of the Yankees this year.
New York lost for the sixth time in seven games but maintained a half-game lead in the American League East because second-place Tampa Bay lost 5-4 to Toronto.
Twins 6, Indians 2
In Cleveland, Kevin Slowey earned his first win in nearly a month as the Twins beat Cleveland for its 4,000th win since the franchise moved to Minnesota.
Slowey (12-6) gave up two runs over five innings in his second start since being sidelined with a strained right triceps.
The original Washington franchise moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Twins. The AL Central leaders open a three-game series in Chicago against the second-place White Sox today.
Minnesota took a 5-0 lead in the first inning on a walk, stolen base, four singles, error, wild pitch and sacrifice fly against Mitch Talbot (9-12) and emergency reliever Justin Masterson.
Blue Jays 5, Rays 4
In Toronto, Adam Lind hit a two-run homer off Rafael Soriano in the ninth inning to give Toronto a win over Tampa Bay.
With Toronto trailing 4-3, Aaron Hill led off the ninth with a single off Soriano (2-2), who had converted his previous 19 save chances since July 20. After falling behind 0-2, in the count, Lind lined his 22nd home run of the season to right field.
B.J. Upton’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly off Kevin Gregg (2-5) had put Tampa Bay ahead following Brad Hawpe’s one-out walk and Desmond Jennings’ hit-and-run single.
In other AL play it was:
• Angels 3, Mariners 0
• White Sox 12, Royals 6
• Red Sox 5, Athletics 3
• Tigers 6, Orioles 2
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but