NATIONAL LEAGUE
The Philadelphia Phillies roared to an early lead and thumped the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-3 allowing Roy Halladay to win his National League-leading 13th game.
Halladay was in near perfect form, allowing just one hit while striking out five in seven innings. He retired the final 12 batters he faced.
Photo: AFP
Capping off the win was news that the Phillies had acquired Houston Astros All-Star outfielder Hunter Pence.
“Out there, you’re kind of in your own world ... but it’s nice, especially coming off a nice win and hear good news like that, it’s always good,” Halladay said of the Pence trade.
Philadelphia scored three runs in the first inning and added five more in the second inning led by a three-run home run by Chase Utley. Utley went 3 for 5 in the game, driving in four runs and needed a double to complete the cycle.
Photo: Reuters
Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to stretch the Phillies lead to 10-0, before the Pirates broke the shutout with three runs in the eighth inning off Phillies relief pitcher Drew Carpenter.
Charlie Morton took the loss for Pittsburgh to drop to 8-6 on the season, allowing eight runs on nine hits while striking out and walking four batters in four innings.
CARDINALS 9, CUBS 2
Photo: AFP
In St Louis, Missouri, Albert Pujols recorded his 2,000th career hit as St Louis beat Chicago.
In his 10th season, Pujols is 263rd overall on the major league hit list. He is the fifth Cardinal to reach 2,000 hits in a career. He is the 12th quickest player to 2,000 hits in history, taking 1,650 games.
He joined Stan Musial (3,630), Lou Brock (2,713), Rogers Hornsby (2,110) and Enos Slaughter (2,063) as the only Cardinals to get 2,000 with the franchise.
Edwin Jackson pitched seven innings in his debut with St Louis, while David Freese hit a three-run homer and Ryan Theriot, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the sixth, drove in three runs on two hits.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 0
In Atlanta, Georgia, the hosts ended Florida’s five-game winning streak.
Dan Uggla hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning, extending his hitting streak to 20 games and leads the Braves with 19 homers. He has improved his meager batting averaged from .176 to .206 this month.
Brandon Beachy (4-2) went 7-1/3 scoreless innings.
Emilio Bonifacio’s 26-game hitting streak, the second-longest in Marlins history, came to an end. He struck out twice and was thrown out trying to bunt his way on base before hitting a groundout in the eighth.
REDS 4, GIANTS 3, 13 INNINGS
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Edgar Renteria singled in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift Cincinnati over his former team San Francisco.
Jay Bruce walked on a 3-2 pitch from Brian Wilson (6-3) to lead off the 13th. After a fly out, pitcher Jose Arredondo — in his first career batting appearance — chopped a single over the third baseman and down the left-field line.
Renteria, the World Series MVP for the Giants last season, then lined a soft single down the right-field line to win the game and snap the Reds’ four-game losing streak.
Arredondo (2-3) pitched a perfect 13th.
In other NL games, it was:
‧ Dodgers 9, Diamondbacks 5
‧ Rockies 3, Padres 2
‧ Brewers 4, Astros 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, CHICAGO
The Chicago White Sox extended their recent domination of Boston, beating the Red Sox 3-1 on Friday in the American League.
Chicago’s seventh straight victory over Boston and 14th in the past 16 games between the teams denied the 44-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield his 200th career win.
Boston starter Wakefield (6-4) allowed just three hits in seven innings, but a wild pitch in the sixth helped set up the 1-1 tying run on Paul Konerko’s sacrifice fly. And he walked a batter to start the bottom of the seventh, before A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer to complete the scoring.
White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (9-9) won his third straight start, giving up one run in seven innings. His career record against the Red Sox is 6-0.
TIGERS 12, ANGELS 2
In Detroit, Michigan, Carlos Guillen hit a two-run triple in a four-run sixth inning which vaulted Detroit over Los Angeles.
Guillen and Victor Martinez had four RBIs apiece, while Ramon Santiago added three hits for Detroit. Martinez hit a one-out RBI single to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead in the sixth and Guillen followed with his first triple of the season.
Detroit starter Rick Porcello (11-6) allowed two runs in eight innings, striking out six.
Tyler Chatwood (6-7) gave up six runs in 5-1/3 innings for the Angels, who had won three straight.
ORIOLES 4, YANKEES 2
In New York, Baltimore pitcher Jeremy Guthrie shut down New York for seven innings, perhaps driving up his price in a trade.
Mark Reynolds and Derrek Lee each drove in two runs for the Orioles, lending some rare offensive support to the major league leader in losses. Guthrie (5-14) allowed just four hits in one of his best outings during a frustrating season.
Kevin Gregg held on in a shaky ninth, getting the final strikeout with runners at the corners.
In other AL games, it was:
‧ Blue Jays 3, Rangers 2
‧ Rays 8, Mariners 0
‧ Royals 12, Indians 0
‧ Twins 9, Athletics 5
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