Cliff Lee allowed just four hits off eight innings and Jonathan Papelbon earned his first save at Fenway Park as a Red Sox opponent on Tuesday as the Philadelphia Phillies downed Boston 3-1 on a night of interleague games.
Michael Young and Domonic Brown homered for the Phillies, while Erik Kratz singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning to end Boston’s four-game winning streak.
Lee (6-2) allowed a first-inning run and then retired 22 of the next 23 batters to win his fourth consecutive decision. He struck out eight to match his season high and walked none.
Photo: Reuters
Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save. The Red Sox’s closer from 2005 to 2011 — including their 2007 World Series title — he entered to a chorus of boos and without the theme song “Shipping up to Boston” he used for much of his career at the team.
Tampa Bay’s Desmond Jennings drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Rays over the Florida Marlins 7-6.
The Rays came back from an early 4-0 deficit and won their third in a row. Miami lost their seventh straight game.
Photo: Reuters
Kelly Johnson opened the ninth with an infield single and took second on Evan Longoria’s single off Mike Dunn (1-1). With two outs, Jennings singled against Chad Qualls.
Jennings, Luke Scott and Yunel Escobar each had three of Tampa Bay’s 16 hits.
Xavier Paul singled home a pair of runs in the first inning at Cincinnati as the Reds completed a two-game home sweep of the Cleveland Indians with an 8-2 win.
Mat Latos (5-0) handled a slumping lineup, allowing one run in 6-1/3 innings. The Reds had 18 hits, one short of their season high.
In Toronto, Brian McCann hit two home runs, including a solo shot in the 10th inning that lifted the Atlanta Braves over the Blue Jays 7-6.
McCann and rookie Evan Gattis hit back-to-back homers off Ramon Ortiz in the sixth, giving the Braves a 6-5 lead. The Blue Jays leveled it with J.P. Arencibia’s RBI double in the seventh. Jordan Schafer also homered for the Braves.
Michael Cuddyer had three hits for Colorado, including an RBI single in the ninth inning that gave the Rockies a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros.
Troy Tulowitzki doubled off Houston closer Jose Veras (0-4) to start the ninth and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Cuddyer followed with his single, which sailed just out of reach of leaping third baseman Matt Dominguez.
The St Louis Cardinals beat Kansas City 4-1 for the Royals’ 10th consecutive home defeat.
Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals against his former team, while rookie Tyler Lyons made another dazzling start.
The Mets rallied past New York rivals the Yankees 2-1 to beat baseball’s career saves leader Mariano Rivera only hours after honoring him at Citi Field.
David Wright and Lucas Duda hit RBI singles off Rivera in the ninth inning, while Matt Harvey and Hiroki Kuroda locked up in an entertaining pitchers’ duel that went to the ninth with the Yankees leading 1-0 off Lyle Overbay’s run-scoring single
The Yankees have lost three in a row for the first time this year.
Adam LaRoche homered twice and drove in four runs as the Washington Nationals enjoyed a rare offensive outburst at the expense of the Baltimore Orioles with a 9-3 win.
In Detroit, Michigan, Neil Walker ended a lengthy pitching duel with a home run in the 11th inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Tigers 1-0, while the Los Angeles Dodgers blanked the Angeles 3-0 after Ryu Hyun-jin pitched a two-hitter for his first complete game in the major leagues.
In other games, the San Diego Padres downed the Seattle Mariners 6-1, the Oakland Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3 and the Minnesota Twins edged the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5.
The Chicago derby between the White Sox and the Cubs was postponed after being rained out in the third inning. The series was to be shifted to Wrigley Field for a pair of games scheduled for yesterday and today.
Additional reporting by staff WRITER
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