NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chris Heisey hit two of Cincinnati’s four late homers, including a tying shot in the seventh inning, to rally the Reds to a 6-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Dioner Navarro’s solo shot two batters after Heisey’s two-run drive put Cincinnati ahead. Brandon Phillips added a two-run homer in the eighth and Heisey capped the scoring with a solo homer two outs later.
The NL Central leaders swept the three-game series and sent the reeling Diamondbacks to their sixth straight home loss.
Mat Latos (11-4) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits with seven strikeouts.
He also had two hits in his first win since Aug. 3 against Pittsburgh and his first at Arizona since August 2010.
Cincinnati trailed 2-0 until the seventh, shut out on two hits by Patrick Corbin (5-6). Todd Frazier doubled with one out and scored on Heisey’s fifth home run.
The Diamondbacks lost eight of 10 on their homestand.
DODGERS 10, ROCKIES 8
In Denver, Colorado, Joe Blanton pitched effectively into the eighth inning for his first win with Los Angeles and A.J. Ellis hit his first career grand slam in a victory over Colorado.
Hanley Ramirez, another mid-season acquisition by the Dodgers, homered in his second straight game to help Los Angeles overcome Matt Kemp’s absence and withstand Colorado’s seven-run eighth.
Kemp sat out because of a bone bruise on his left knee and a sore jaw after he crashed into the outfield wall the night before. He is day-to-day.
Blanton (9-12), who was 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA in four previous starts since joining the Dodgers in an Aug. 3 trade with Philadelphia, struck out five in 7-1/3 innings. It was his first win since July 16, when he beat the Dodgers for the Phillies.
In other NL action, it was:
‧ Pirates 5, Cardinals 0
‧ Nationals 8, Marlins 4
‧ Padres 8, Braves 2
‧ Mets 3, Phillies 2
‧ Brewers 3, Cubs 1
‧ Giants 6, Astros 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Yunel Esccobar hit a two-run homer, three doubles and drove in five runs as Toronto beat the New York Yankees 8-5 on Wednesday, ending C.C. Sabathia’s five years of dominance over the Blue Jays.
Escobar had a go-ahead RBI double in the third. His homer against Sabathia in the sixth gave the Blue Jays the lead again and his two-run double off Joba Chamberlain in the ninth helped secure Toronto’s first series win since July 27-29.
J.A. Happ (3-1) overcame a season-high five walks for the win and Casey Janssen pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save.
WHITE SOX 8, ORIOLES 1
In Baltimore, Maryland, White Sox rookie Dylan Axelrod took a three-hitter into the eighth inning and Chicago spoiled the Baltimore debut of Joe Saunders, scoring seven runs off the left-hander.
Gordon Beckham had three hits and three RBIs to help Chicago snap a five-game road losing streak. Alexei Ramirez went three-for-four with two RBIs and scored twice for the White Sox, who were to seek a split of the four-game series yesterday. Omar Quintanilla drove in the lone run for the Orioles, whose four-game winning streak ended. Baltimore remained 3.5 games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.
RAYS 8, RANGERS
In Arlington, Texas, Evan Longoria homered twice, Tampa Bay roughed up Matt Harrison and the Rays beat the Rangers to snap a four-game losing streak.
After dropping the last two against the AL-West leading Rangers by one run, the Rays avoided a three-game sweep.
Harrison (15-8) allowed seven runs and 12 hits in 5-1/3 innings. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and permitted two hits in eight shutout innings in his last outing, last Friday night against Minnesota.
Tampa Bay had scored only 11 runs during their losing skid before breaking out for 16 hits against Texas.
Josh Hamilton hit his 36th home run for Texas.
In other AL action, it was:
‧ Athletics 8, Indians 4
‧ Royals 1, Tigers 0
‧ Twins 10, Mariners 0
‧ Angels 10, Red Sox 3
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