MAJOR LEAGUES
Atlanta moved joint top of the National League East division with Washington by beating the Nationals 6-3 on Saturday, thanks chiefly to Freddie Freeman’s three hits, including a homer.
Among other games, pace-setting Milwaukee made it eight straight wins by edging Pittsburgh, Colorado’s bullpen dominated to shut out San Francisco and Oakland leapfrogged Seattle to the top of the American League West.
Photo: AFP
Atlanta’s B.J. Upton had two hits, including his first homer, and Dan Uggla drove in two runs with two hits for the Braves, who have already beaten Washington four times out of five early this season.
Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is expected to miss four to six weeks after breaking his right thumb when he was picked off at second base in the fifth inning. Before the game, the Nationals placed outfielder Denard Span on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion.
Milwaukee extended their storming start to the season with a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh, set up by a leadoff homer by Carlos Gomez.
Gomez got the Brewers started with a 432-foot drive to center field and went up 2-0 in the second inning before the Pirates came back to square it in the third.
Jonathan Lucroy drove in the tiebreaking run with an eighth-inning single.
Colorado’s Tommy Kahnle and four relievers combined to limit San Francisco to two hits over the final six innings, delivering the Rockies a 1-0 win.
The Rockies relievers extended their scoreless streak to 9-2/3 innings in the series. They began early after starter Brett Anderson left the game after three innings with a bruised left index finger.
Giants starter Matt Cain (0-2) was an unlucky loser after allowing only one run over seven innings with eight strikeouts. He is winless in his last seven starts at home.
Oakland went top of the American League West with their fifth win in six games, with Sonny Gray overcoming a shaky start to allow just one run in seven innings.
Gray (2-0) gave up his only run in the first when Seattle failed to capitalize when they had runners at first and third and no outs. Gray stymied the Mariners from there, putting in another dominant performance. He has allowed only two earned runs in three starts this season, with both his wins coming against the Mariners.
Josh Donaldson’s two-run homer in the first inning blow was the only scoring Oakland needed.
Los Angeles’ Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer to help the Dodgers beat Arizona 8-5.
Gonzalez, who had a two-run homer and five RBIs in the series opener on Friday, followed that up with a shot to the left-field seats off Wade Miley (2-2) in the third inning.
Zack Greinke improved his record to 3-0, giving up one run in 5-1/3 innings, striking out eight with no walks.
Cleveland’s Ryan Raburn hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in the seventh inning to lift the Indians to a 12-6 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Nick Swisher, Jason Kipnis and David Murphy homered for Cleveland, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Murphy added a bases-loaded triple in a four-run ninth.
The Indians improved to 18-4 against the White Sox since the beginning of last season, overcoming another shaky start by Justin Masterson.
New York new catcher Brian McCann put an emphatic end to his season-opening slump, hitting his first two home runs as the Yankees beat Boston 7-4.
Carlos Beltran, Alfonso Soriano and Kelly Johnson also connected as the Yankees scored all their runs on homers.
Red Sox starter John Lackey (2-1) was tagged for a career-worst four home runs in 5-2/3 innings.
Baltimore’s Steve Lombardozzi hit a triple and then scored on a single by David Lough in the 12th inning to give the Orioles a 2-1 win over Toronto.
It was a reprieve for Baltimore, as Toronto had forced extra innings when Colby Rasmus hit a solo homer off Tommy Hunter with two outs in the ninth.
In the 12th, Lombardozzi hit a one-out drive to center field off Todd Redmond (0-1), before Lough sliced an opposite-field liner to left.
St Louis’ Matt Adams homered, Matt Carpenter drove in two runs and Adam Wainwright saved a tired bullpen by lasting seven innings as the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 10-4.
Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins homered with two outs in the 10th inning to give the Phillies a 5-4 win over Miami, who got two home runs from Giancarlo Stanton.
Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb went seven innings to extend the Rays’ run of solid starting pitching, and James Loney homered for the only run in a 1-0 victory over slumping Cincinnati.
Detroit’s Justin Verlander had the first two hits of his career and also pitched seven strong innings to lead the Tigers to a 6-2 win over San Diego.
New York’s Anthony Recker led off the 13th inning with a home run against rookie Matt Shoemaker and also had a two-run single, leading the Mets to a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
In other results on Saturday, Houston ended a run of 12 straight losses against state rival Texas, beating the Rangers 6-5 and the Minnesot Twins beat Kansas City 7-1.
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