MAJOR LEAGUES
San Francisco pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning as the Giants won 3-1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday to regain the outright lead in the National League West division.
The Giants moved a game ahead of Colorado, who suffered a shutout loss against Texas.
Photo: AFP
Among other games, Miami moved clear atop the NL East by winning in 11 innings against Atlanta, while Seattle scored the sole run of the game to beat Kansas City.
San Francisco finally got the better of the Dodgers in the 10th when J.P. Howell (1-3) issued a one-out walk to Angel Pagan. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch by Jamey Wright before the Dodgers pitcher issued consecutive walks to load the bases.
Sanchez, who came into the game with a poor 1-for-10 record as a pinch-hitter with seven strikeouts, hit a long fly-ball to right field that gave Pagan time to scamper home.
Brandon Belt then followed up with a RBI single to complete the scoring.
Texas’ Matt Harrison earned his first win of the season as the Rangers beat Colorado 5-0 to take a measure of revenge after several one-sided defeats at the hands of the Rockies.
Harrison (1-0) guided the Rangers to a major league-best seventh shutout of the season, while the Rockies were held without a run for the first time this year.
Prince Fielder hit a home run for the Rangers.
Colorado’s Nolan Arenado extended his hitting streak to 28 games with a single in the third inning, breaking the team record.
Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning to give the surprise-packet Marlins a rare road win, beating Atlanta 3-1.
Stanton lined a pitch from Dale Thayer (2-1) over the right-center fence, after Derek Dietrich had reached base on a two-out error by Braves second baseman Jedd Gyorko. Stanton leads the NL with 11 home runs and tops the majors with 40 RBIs.
Miami took over sole possession of first place in the NL East for the first time in three years.
Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma pitched eight scoreless innings to guide the Mariners to a 1-0 win over Kansas City.
Iwakuma (2-0) was making only his second start after his season was delayed by a finger injury to his pitching hand. He struck out seven and walked none.
Corey Hart hit an RBI single for the only run of the game.
Baltimore’s Steve Pearce hit a two-run homer to help the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 3-1.
Pearce’s second homer in three days came off David Price, after J.J. Hardy’s double in the second inning. Pearce also made an outstanding stretch to take a throw which completed an inning-ending double play with bases loaded in the fifth inning.
Ubaldo Jimenez won his second straight start for the Orioes.
Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion hit two of the Blue Jays’ five home runs in a 12-6 win that extended their winning streak against the Phillies to eight games.
Houston’s Dallas Keuchel outpitched his college roommate Drew Smyly to lead the Astros to a 6-2 win over Detroit, ending the Tigers’ eight-game winning streak and also arresting their own five-game skid.
Cleveland won a third straight game for the first time this season, defeating Minnesota 9-4, with Asdrubal Cabrera having four hits and three RBIs.
The Chicago Cubs beat their crosstown rival White Sox 12-5, with Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and Mike Olt all hitting homers to help end a run of four straight defeats.
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