INTERLEAGUE PLAY
Raul Ibanez hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh, Vance Worley pitched seven strong innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Red Sox 2-1 on Wednesday night.
In a series billed as a World Series preview, the major league-leading Phillies (51-30) have taken two straight and went for a sweep yesterday.
Worley (3-1) allowed one run and five hits. The rookie right-hander has filled in nicely for injured starters Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton.
Michael Stutes pitched a perfect eighth and Antonio Bastardo finished for his third save and first filling in for Ryan Madson.
Boston’s John Lackey (5-7) gave up two runs and eight hits in 7-2/3 innings in one of his best starts this season. He lowered his ERA from 7.36 to 6.81.
The Red Sox have lost six of seven since going 14-2.
ANGELS 1, NATIONALS 0
In Anaheim, California, Dan Haren allowed two hits through 7-1/3 innings as the Los Angeles Angels swept past Davey Johnson’s new team.
The 68-year-old Johnson took over the Nationals this week, returning as a major league manager for the first time since 2000. Washington had won 13 of 15 going into the series at Anaheim, with most of the wins coming before manager Jim Riggleman resigned.
YANKEES 5, BREWERS 2
In New York, A.J. Burnett pitched neatly into the eighth inning and Russell Martin hit a three-run homer as the New York Yankees maintained its winning momentum.
Robinson Cano tripled to start a four-run fourth inning and Jorge Posada rounded the bases twice on his solo shot in the sixth, which was changed to a home run after umpires watched the video replay.
Nick Swisher had an RBI single for the Yankees, who have won four straight and 14 of 18 overall.
Ryan Braun had three singles and an RBI for the Brewers, extending his career-best hitting streak to 19 games.
WHITE SOX 3, ROCKIES 2
In Denver, A.J. Pierzynski drove in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning as Chicago held on to beat Colorado.
Carlos Quentin and Paul Konerko hit singles off Huston Street (0-2) to start the ninth with Quentin getting to third on Konerko’s hit. Street struck out Alexei Ramirez before Pierzynski, who had an RBI double earlier, drove a fly ball to right field.
REDS 4, RAYS 3
In St Petersburg, Florida, Ryan Hanigan hit a three-run homer off James Shields as Cincinnati beat Tampa Bay.
Hanigan connected with two out in the fourth for his first homer since going deep twice on April 3 against Milwaukee.
Shields (8-5) had given up just two runs in his previous three starts, all of which were complete-game wins.
Edinson Volquez (5-3) gave up three runs and four hits in 6-1/3 innings.
Evan Longoria hit a two-run double and B.J. Upton went deep for Tampa Bay.
Upton has four homers in his last six games.
METS 16, TIGERS 9
In Detroit, Scott Hairston launched a bases-loaded triple and Ronny Paulino contributed four hits as part of another offensive barrage by New York, which beat Detroit.
The Mets set a team record by scoring 52 runs in a four-game span, STATS LLC said.
They have 69 hits during their spree.
Tigers utilityman Don Kelly got the final out, becoming the first Detroit position player to pitch since 2000. Miguel Cabrera hit two of Detroit’s five homers. The Mets romped, despite not hitting any home runs.
BRAVES 5, MARINERS 3
In Seattle, Freddie Freeman dominated pitcher Felix Hernandez with three hits and two RBIs as Atlanta completed an impressive three-game sweep that included victories over Seattle’s best starting pitchers.
The Braves won for the eighth time in 10 games and picked up their 25th road victory of the season. They handed losses to Hernandez, rookie star Michael Pineda and Erik Bedard during their rare trip to Seattle. Dustin Ackley hit a two-run homer for Seattle.
CARDINALS 5, ORIOLES 1
In Baltimore, Chris Carpenter scattered seven hits for his second complete game of the season and Colby Rasmus homered as St Louis downed Baltimore.
Carpenter (3-7) threw a season-high 132 pitches to win his second straight start following a five-game losing streak. The right-hander struck out five, walked one and surrendered just one extra-base hit. Carpenter’s other complete game came on May 25, a 3-1 loss in San Diego.
In other interleague action, it was:
‧ Indians 6, Diamondbacks 2
‧ Rangers 3, Astros 2
‧ Twins 1, Dodgers 0
‧ Blue Jays 2, Pirates 1
‧ Padres 4, Royals 1
‧ Marlins 3, Athletics 0
In the National League, it was:
‧ Cubs 2, Giants 1
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