Now that there's no playoff pressure, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies with relative ease.
Chase Utley homered for the fifth straight game, Jason Werth hit an inside-the-park home run and Philadelphia rallied for a 9-5 win over Colorado on Monday night in the first meeting between the teams since the Rockies- first-round sweep last October.
Utley hit his major league-leading ninth home run - his sixth in five games.
PHOTO: AP
Garrett Atkins and Yorvit Torrealba homered for the Rockies, who blew an eighth-inning lead for the second straight day.
The Phillies mounted the winning rally off Taylor Buchholz (1-1) with two outs and no one on. Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell singled, and Pedro Feliz walked. Brian Fuentes came on in relief, and Carlos Ruiz doubled down the right-field line to drive in two runs.
Philadelphia added three runs in the top of the ninth off Micah Bowie on doubles by Werth and T.J. Bohn. Rudy Seanez (2-1) got the win in relief.
Braves 7, Nationals 3
At Atlanta, Tim Hudson pitched six scoreless innings before tiring and drove in two runs, leading the Braves past Washington for Atlanta's fifth straight win.
The Braves have allowed only six runs during their winning streak, which pushed them above .500 for the first time this season at 10-9.
Diamondbacks 4, Giants 2
At Phoenix, Eric Byrnes hit the go-ahead, two-run homer, and Micah Owings became the season's third four-game winner when Arizona beat San Francisco.
Arizona is 13-3 against NL West foes.
Cubs 7, Mets 1
At Chicago, Carlos Zambrano pitched seven strong innings, and Aramis Ramirez and Felix Pie homered as the surging Chicago beat New York for its 12th win in 15 games.
Cardinals 4, Brewers 3
At Milwaukee, Skip Schumaker doubled in the go-ahead run in the ninth and St. Louis overcame a fielding blunder in the eighth to beat Milwaukee in the opener of a two-game set.
Astros 10, Padres 3
At Houston, Roy Oswalt won consecutive starts for the first time since August, and Miguel Tejada and Lance Berkman drove in three runs each to lead Houston over San Diego.
Dodgers 9, Reds 3
At Cincinnati, Nomar Garciaparra hit his first home run since Sept. 14 and drove in three runs, Brad Penny stayed perfect at Great American Ball Park and Los Angeles beat Cincinnati.
Marlins 10, Pirates 4
At Pittsburgh, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Willingham and Dan Uggla homered and Mark Hendrickson, normally one of the majors- worst hitters, had two hits while pitching eight innings in Florida's win over slumping Pittsburgh.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, BOSTON
Clay Buchholz pitched six shutout innings, David Ortiz drove in three runs with a pair of doubles and the Boston Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with an 8-3 win on Monday.
Julio Lugo went 4-for-4 with a walk and an RBI as the Red Sox scored at least five runs for the ninth straight game. Boston has won nine of 10 overall.
Tigers 5, Blue Jays 1
In Toronto, Major League Baseball rookie Armando Galarraga won his second straight start, Edgar Renteria homered and the Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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