NATIONAL LEAGUE
Tim Lincecum won for the first time in nearly two months to end the worst drought of his career as the San Francisco Giants held the Los Angeles Dodgers scoreless for the third straight game in a 3-0 victory on Wednesday.
Angel Pagan hit an RBI single and drew a bases-loaded walk to back Lincecum (3-8) as the Giants moved into a first-place tie in the NL West with the Dodgers by completing their second sweep of the season.
It was the first time in franchise history that they shut out the rival Dodgers in a three-game series, a stretch that spans 123 seasons.
Lincecum threw four-hit ball over seven innings for his first win since April 28. He struck out eight and walked two while outpitching Chad Billingsley (4-7). The two-time Cy Young pitching award winner ended a career-long 10-start winless stretch in which he went a career-worst 0-6.
BRAVES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4
In Atlanta, Georgia, Chipper Jones and Jason Heyward homered as Atlanta withstood Arizona’s comeback attempt.
Jones’ two-run shot off Trevor Cahill (6-6) in the sixth inning was his first homer since May 4.
Tommy Hanson (9-4) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6-1/3 innings. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth to earn his NL-leading 22nd save.
The Braves led 6-0 before Ryan Roberts’ three-run homer in the seventh knocked Hanson out of the game. Chris Young added a pinch-hit homer off Jonny Venters later in the inning.
PIRATES 11, PHILLIES 7
At Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chase Utley homered in his first at-bat of the season, but Pittsburgh spoiled his return by connecting three times to beat Philadelphia.
Michael McKenry hit a three-run homer and Andrew McCutchen and Casey McGehee also went deep for the Pirates in their highest-scoring game of the season.
Utley missed the first 76 games this year because of a chronic problem in both knees. He had three hits, but it was not enough on a night the Phillies got more encouraging news about their injured stars.
Former NL MVP Ryan Howard was to start a rehab stint last night and two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay is making progress and could throw off a bullpen mound next week.
In other NL action, it was:
‧ Brewers 8, Reds 4
‧ Marlins 5, Cardinals 3
‧ Nationals 11, Rockies 5
‧ Mets 17, Cubs 1
‧ Astros 1, Padres 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Andy Pettitte broke his ankle on the same day the Yankees put C.C. Sabathia on the disabled list, but Robinson Cano hit a go-ahead homer to help New York beat the Cleveland Indians 5-4 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.
The American League East leaders face at least two starts without Sabathia and at least six weeks without Pettitte, the 40-year-old veteran who came out of retirement and had filled in admirably for a pitching staff hit hard by injuries — including the loss of starter Michael Pineda and closer Mariano Rivera.
Pettitte fractured his fibula near his left ankle in the fifth inning when he was hit by Casey Kotchman’s line drive. Before the game, the Yankees announced Sabathia strained his groin against the Mets on Sunday night and still felt discomfort after throwing in the bullpen on Tuesday.
Rafael Soriano had an adventuresome ninth inning in which put the first two batters on base and walked in a run with two outs before getting Asdrubal Cabrera to fly out for his 17th save in 18 chances.
RANGERS 13, TIGERS 9
In Arlington, Texas, David Murphy went four-for-five with two home runs and matched his career high with five RBIs for Texas in the win over Detroit.
Every Ranger had a hit or scored except Josh Hamilton, who went 0-for-four and struck out four times.
Texas starter Roy Oswalt (2-0) made it two wins from two starts with his new team, despite giving up a career-worst 13 hits over six innings. He struck out six.
The Tigers twice fought back from big deficits, including scoring four runs in the eighth.
Detroit’s Doug Fister (1-5) has not won on the road in six starts this season.
ANGELS 13, ORIOLES 1
In Baltimore, Maryland, Torii Hunter homered and scored four runs as Los Angeles routed Baltimore.
One night after reaching season highs in homers and hits, the Angels set a season mark for runs in their most lopsided victory of the year. Los Angeles totaled 20 runs and 33 hits during the two-game series. They have won 13 of their past 14 road games.
Making his second start since three weeks out with a lower back strain, Los Angeles’ Jered Weaver (8-1) scattered six hits over 6-2/3 innings to lower his ERA to 2.31.
Orioles starter Jason Hammel (8-3) came into the game with a streak of 19 straight innings without allowing an earned run, but he gave up eight runs in just 3-1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. His ERA ballooned from 2.61 to 3.29.
RED SOX 10, BLUE JAYS 4
In Boston, Massachusetts, David Ortiz hit his 399th homer as Boston scored six runs in the first inning against a wild Ricky Romero to beat Toronto for their fifth straight series win.Adrian Gonzalez had three RBIs and Mike Aviles added two as the Red Sox improved to 9-2 in their last 11 games.
Jon Lester (5-5) allowed a run-scoring single to Colby Rasmus in the first, but the Red Sox scored all the runs they needed in the bottom half as Romero (8-2) threw 16 balls on his first 19 pitches.
Jose Bautista hit his MLB-leading 25th homer for the Blue Jays.
ROYALS 5, RAYS 4
In Kansas City, Missouri, Billy Butler greeted reliever Burke Badenhop with a solo home run in the eighth inning, powering Kansas City to a three-game sweep of Tampa Bay on a scorching afternoon.
Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar also homered for the Royals.
In other AL action, it was:
‧ White Sox 12, Twins 5
‧ Atheletics 2, Mariners 1
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