Friday National League Capsules.
MLB Baseball NewsFriday National League Capsules.
FLORIDA 14, PHILADELPHIA 8
MIAMI The Philadelphia Phillies found out the hard way that there was a team hotter than them in the National League.
Mike Jacobs drove in four runs and Cameron Maybin went 4-for-5 and scored three times as the Florida Marlins remained the hottest team in the major leagues with a 14-8 triumph over the Phillies, who had their seven-game winning streak snapped.
Dan Uggla, Alfredo Amezaga and Jorge Cantu homered and combined for eight RBI for the Marlins (81-72), who have won nine in a row and inched closer to a playoff spot. Florida is five games behind the New York Mets (86-67) for first place in the NL East Division and trails Philadelphia (86-68) by 4 1/2 in the race for the wild card.
The Mets jumped one-half game ahead of the Phillies for the division lead with a 9-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Cantu and John Baker scored three runs apiece for the Marlins, who rallied from a pair of deficits to improve to 10-6 against the Phillies this season.
Josh Johnson (6-1) benefited from Floridas offensive surge, picking up the win despite yielding six runs and seven hits in five innings.
Greg Dobbs, Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino belted homers for Philadelphia.
The Phillies took a lead in the top of the first inning for the third straight night as Chase Utley scored on an error by first baseman Jacobs and Jayson Werth trotted home on a wild pitch by Johnson. But the advantage did not last long as the Marlins scored five times in the bottom half before Brett Myers (10-12) was able to record an out.
Maybin led off the frame with an infield single, stole second and scored on Bakers single. Following a base hit by Cantu, Jacobs delivered a two-run double to give the Marlins a 3-2 edge.
Uggla then belted a 3-2 offering over the left field wall for his 31st homer of the season and a 5-2 advantage.
Philadelphia managed to come back and take the lead against Johnson, however. Dobbs opened the second with a blast to right field and Utley made it a one-run game later in the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Three frames later, Howard completed a nine-pitch at-bat with his major league-leading 46th homer, a two-run shot that gave the Phillies a 6-5 lead.
Again, it did not last long as the Marlins erupted for six runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to seize control.
Myers, who had retired the side in order each of the previous two innings, allowed a leadoff single by Maybin in the fifth. After another stolen base and a walk to Baker, the righthander yielded an RBI double by Cantu that evened the game.
Jacobs was walked intentionally to load the bases for Uggla, who delivered a run-scoring single. That spelled the end for Myers, whose only loss in his previous six decisions also came against Florida.
Rudy Seanez came on and allowed an RBI groundout by Luis Gonzalez and got Cody Ross to pop out before Amezaga deposited an 0-1 pitch into the seats in right field for a three-run homer and 11-6 bulge.
Jacobs increased the advantage with a two-run single in the sixth and Cantu launched a solo shot in the eighth, his 29th, to cap the scoring. With his next blast, third baseman Cantu would complete Floridas feat of having all four infielders reach the 30-homer plateau.
Second baseman Uggla, Jacobs (32) and shortstop Hanley Ramirez already have eclipsed the mark.
Myers lasted four-plus innings, surrendering 10 runs and nine hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
NY METS 9, ATLANTA 5
ATLANTA Rookie Daniel Murphys pinch two-run double sparked a four-run eighth inning as the New York Mets reclaimed first place in the National League East with a 9-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Jose Reyes hit his second leadoff homer in three games and David Wright drove in a pair of runs for New York (86-67), which moved one-half game ahead of Philadelphia (86-68). The Phillies dropped a 14-8 decision to the Florida Marlins on Friday.
With the game tied at 5-5, Carlos Delgado led off the eighth with a single. Argenis Reyes reached when second baseman Kelly Johnson dropped a throw at first on a sacrifice and, two batters later, Murphy plated both runners with a double to left-center field.
Jose Reyes and Wright each added RBI singles in the frame.
Omar Infante drove in a pair of runs for Atlanta, which had won its previous six home meetings with New York.
ST. LOUIS 12, CHI CUBS 6
CHICAGO A day after saying he wanted out of St. Louis, Adam Kennedy put his money where his mouth is, hitting a grand slam and driving in five runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 12-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Kennedy capped a five-run first inning with his second career slam and added an RBI single an inning later, helping the Cardinals snapped out of their recent funk with eight runs in the first two innings off Carlos Zambrano.
In his first start since no-hitting the Houston Astros last Sunday, Zambrano (14-6) failed to get out of the second inning. He gave up eight runs and six hits, walking three and striking out one.
Cardinals righthander Adam Wainwright (10-3) went five innings, giving up two runs and four hits while striking out five and walking three. Ryan Ludwick homered and scored three runs for the Cardinals, who have won two straight after dropping seven in a row.
CINCINNATI 11, MILWAUKEE 2
CINCINNATI Rookies Joey Votto and Jay Bruce both homered twice as the Cincinnati Reds matched a season-high with seven home runs en route to an 11-2 triumph over the slumping Milwaukee Brewers.
Jerry Hairston Jr. had a two-run shot and Jolbert Cabrera and Andy Phillips added solo homers for Cincinnati, which belted seven home runs on two previous occasions this season. The Reds accomplished the feat in a 9-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on May 7, and did so again against the Cubs in a 12-7 triumph on July 10.
The loss was the seventh in the last eight games for Milwaukee (84-70), which fell two games behind the New York Mets (85-67) in the race for the National League wild card. The Mets were still playing the Atlanta Braves on Friday.
Votto belted a three-run home run in the first and a solo shot in the third to stake the Reds to a 6-0 advantage. For his part, Bruce had a two-run homer to cap a five-run first inning and then added a solo shot in the seventh.
That was more than enough offense for rookie Ramon Ramirez (1-0), who allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings to pick up his first career victory.
Ramirez also fared well in a previous start against the Brewers, surrendering one run and one hit while walking and striking out four in six innings on September 9.
Jeff Suppan (5-7) allowed five runs and five hits in two innings before departing. The 33-year-old righthander has surrendered 29 home runs this season, including 19 in his last 14 starts.
SAN FRANCISCO 7, LA DODGERS 1
LOS ANGELES Barry Zito pitched 7 2/3 strong innings, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 7-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Zito (10-16) allowed one run and six hits while walking one and striking out six to avoid his major league-leading 17th loss of the season. The 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner surrendered his only run when Pablo Ozuna belted his first home run of the season with one out in the eighth inning.
The Giants provided Zito with plenty of support early, forging a 3-0 in the second inning before erupting for four runs in the fifth to seal the win.
Pablo Sandoval had a two-run double in the decisive frame and Bengie Molina followed with his 15th home run – a two-run blast.
COLORADO 3, ARIZONA 2
DENVER Jorge De La Rosa tossed six strong innings and Garrett Atkins collected three hits and an RBI as the Colorado Rockies hung on for a 3-2 triumph over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Chris Iannetta and Clint Barmes belted solo home runs for the Rockies, who have won three in a row and four of five.
De La Rosa (9-8) limited Arizona to one run and three hits in posting his third win in four decisions. The righthander walked two and struck out six.
Adam Dunn and Mark Reynolds homered for the Diamondbacks (76-77), who had their four-game winning streak snapped and remained 3 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
HOUSTON 5, PITTSBURGH 1
PITTSBURGH Hunter Pence had two hits and three RBI as the Houston Astros snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Astros (81-72), whose skid has made a once-promising, wild-card run seem highly unlikely, took the lead on Pences fourth-inning RBI single and never relinquished it. Pence added a two-run double in the eighth to give the Astros a bit of insurance.
Astros lefthander Randy Wolf (11-12) tossed seven strong innings, allowing one run and three hits while striking out seven and walking one.
Pittsburgh righty Ian Snell (6-12), gave up two runs – one earned – and three hits over six innings, but issued five walks while striking out three.
SAN DIEGO 11, WASHINGTON 6 (14 INNINGS)
WASHINGTON Chase Headley laced a go-ahead RBI triple in the top of the 14th inning to spark a five-run rally as the San Diego Padres recorded an 11-6 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Nationals reliever Levale Speigner (0-1) hit Kevin Kouzmanoff with a pitch to lead off the frame to set up Headleys decisive hit. Nick Hundley followed with an RBI single, Brian Giles later walked with the bases loaded and Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run single to cap the outburst.
Justin Hampson (2-1), who was one of eight relievers utilized by San Diego, tossed a scoreless 13th inning to earn the victory and Trevor Hoffman pitched a perfect 14th to end the game.
Will Venable, who went 3-for-7 with a homer and three RBI, smacked a run-scoring single in the eighth to give the Padres a 6-5 lead, but Cristian Guzmans sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame knotted the score.
Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 10:01 pm and is filed under MLB Baseball News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
