NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cliff Lee threw a five-hitter for his sixth shutout of the season, helping the National League East-leading Philadelphia Phillies beat the second-place Atlanta Braves 9-0 on Monday.
Lee (16-7) struck out six, walked none and needed only 100 pitches to finish off the Braves after falling one out shy of a shutout in his previous start at Cincinnati. The left-hander has won his last seven starts and hasn’t allowed a run in five of those games.
Photo: Reuters
The Phillies increased their lead to 8.5 games over Atlanta and reduced their magic number for clinching their fifth straight NL East title to 16 with 25 games remaining.
Hunter Pence drove in three runs, Ryan Howard hit a solo homer and Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz had two-run singles for Philadelphia.
NATIONALS 7, DODGERS
In Washington, Michael Morse hit two of Washington’s four home runs and John Lannan pitched into the sixth inning to break a four-start losing streak in a win over Los Angeles.
Morse, Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth all went deep in the first inning as Washington grabbed a 4-1 lead. The Nationals had dropped 10 of 12, while the Dodgers came in winners of 11 of 13.
All four homers — Morse hit No. 26 in the sixth inning — came against Hiroki Kuroda (11-15), who entered with a career-high four-game winning streak. The right-hander had a season-high nine strikeouts, but gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings.
Lannan (9-11) allowed one run and five hits in 5-1/3 innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 10, ROCKIES 7
In Denver, Colorado, Geoff Blum homered and Wade Miley tossed seven strong innings as Arizona beat Colorado.
Justin Upton homered and Paul Goldschmidt had three RBIs for Arizona, which has won three straight and 12 of 13. Blum had three hits and three RBIs.
The Diamondbacks held a seven-game over San Francisco in the NL West.
Dexter Fowler homered from both sides of the plate, while Mark Ellis and Troy Tulowitzki also connected for Colorado.
Arizona scored five runs in the sixth to break open a close game.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Pirates 3, Astros 1
‧ Cubs 4, Reds 3
‧ Giants 7, Padres 2
‧ Marlins 9, Mets 3
‧ Brewers 4, Cardinals 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
Rookie Zach Stewart took a perfect game into the eighth inning and finished with a one-hitter as the Chicago White Sox completed a doubleheader sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 4-0 victory on Monday.
Danny Valencia’s leadoff double in the eighth spoiled the right-hander’s bid to become the 21st rookie in major league history to throw a no-hitter.
The White Sox won the afternoon game 2-1.
The 24-year-old Stewart (2-3), whose only previous major league win came at Target Field last month, struck out nine in the first complete game of his career.
Brent Morel drove in two runs with a seventh-inning single and Alex Rios had three hits for the White Sox. Twins starter Scott Diamond (1-3) gave up eight hits, two walks and two runs in five innings.
Philip Humber (9-8) set the tone in the matinee by pitching seven scoreless innings to snap a four-game losing streak.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Yankees 11, Orioles 10
‧ Blue Jays 1, Red Sox 0, 11 inns
‧ Rays 5, Rangers 1
‧ White Sox 2, Twins 1, 1st game
‧ White Sox 4, Twins 0, 2nd game
‧ Royals 11, Athletics 6
‧ Angels 7, Mariners 3
‧ Tigers 4, Indians 2
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