Braves stretch win streak to seven games
Pirates past Reds 6-5
WASHINGTON, April 13, (AP): Ramiro Pena hit a two-run homer off Craig Stammen with two outs in the 10th inning as the Atlanta Braves came back to beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 Friday, stretching their winning streak to seven games.
Pena, who reached on a bunt as a pinch hitter in the eighth, helped Atlanta win a game it trailed 4-0 after two innings and 42 entering the ninth.
Bryce Harper hit a two-run, oppositefield shot in the first for his fifth homer, and Denard Span and Jayson Werth tacked on RBI singles in the second for the Nationals. Eric O’Flaherty (2-0) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the win, and Craig Kimbrel retired the heart of Washington’s order for his fifth save in five chances.
With one out in the 10th, Stammen (21) walked Dan Uggla. After a flyout, Pena hit his first homer of the season.
The Braves, a major league-leading 9-1, handed Washington its first loss in seven home games.
Cubs 4, Giants 3 In Chicago, Starlin Castro’s ninthinning double off the center-field wall gave Chicago a wild win over San Francisco.
The Cubs led 2-0 heading into the top of the ninth, but closer Kyuji Fujikawa (1-0) allowed a one-out RBI single to Pablo Sandoval and hit Buster Posey with a pitch before Brandon Belt’s two-run double with two outs put the Giants ahead.
Pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro tied the game with a leadoff homer in the bottom half against closer Sergio Romo (0-1). David DeJesus singled with two outs and scored the winning run on Castro’s double.
It was Romo’s first blown save in seven chances this season.
Giants ace Matt Cain made his first start since giving up nine earned runs in 3 2-3 innings during a 14-3 loss to St. Louis last Sunday. This time, Cain allowed only solo homers to DeJesus and Castro in seven solid innings.
Chicago starter Carlos Villanueva gave up three hits in 7 1-3 shutout innings.
Pirates 6, Reds 5 In Pittsburgh, Andrew McCutchen hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and drove in three runs to lead Pittsburgh past Cincinnati.
McCutchen’s leadoff shot to left field off J.J. Hoover (0-3) snapped a 5-all tie.
The Reds had just tied the score in the top of the seventh on Brandon Phillips’ second home run of the game, a two-run drive to center off Tony Watson (1-0).
Phillips struck out to end the game with runners on first and second as Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.
Cardinals 2, Brewers 0 In St Louis, Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller allowed one hit in seven innings, a single by Norichika Aoki to open the game, and St. Louis did just enough on offense against Milwaukee to spoil Kyle Lohse’s first start as a visitor since 2007.
David Freese had an RBI single and Yadier Molina hit his second homer for the Cardinals, who have allowed one run dur- ing a three-game winning streak.
Lohse (0-1), a 16-game winner last season whom the Cardinals did not attempt to re-sign, allowed two runs in seven innings while throwing 82 pitches — 31 fewer than Miller needed. Lohse received a nice ovation before his first at-bat.
Rockies 7, Padres 5 In San Diego, Dexter Fowler’s second home run of the game and sixth this season, a solo shot off Huston Street in the ninth inning, sent Colorado to a victory over San Diego.
Padres slugger Carlos Quentin was in the cleanup spot after appealing an eightgame suspension for his role in a wild fight with the Los Angeles Dodgers the previous night. Quentin, also fined $3,000, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Todd Helton had three hits for the Rockies, who stopped a three-game slide.
Yonder Alonso hit a two-run homer for the Padres (2-8), who have lost three straight.
Fowler, who hit a solo drive in the fifth, connected off Street (0-1) in the ninth. Josh Rutledge followed with his first home run, and the back-to-back shots made a winner of reliever Rex Brothers (10).
Rafael Betancourt worked the ninth for his fourth save in five opportunities.
Phillies 3, Marlins 1, 10 Innings
In Miami, Chase Utley hit a go-ahead triple in the 10th inning off Jon Rauch, and Philadelphia handed Miami its ninth loss in 10 games this season.
Miami is off to the poorest start by a big league team since Baltimore and Houston lost nine of their first 10 games in 2010, according to STATS. The Marlins, held to four singles by John Lannan and four relievers, are batting .209 with two home runs and 15 extra-base hits.
Ben Revere singled with one out in the 10th against Rauch (0-1), and Utley tripled into the right-field corner. Michael Young drove in another run with an infield single.
Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton was a late scratch with a sore left shoulder.
Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 0 In Phoenix , Patrick Corbin gave up three hits in six innings as Arizona beat Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kershaw (2-1) struck out nine, leaving him one shy of 1,000 for his career, but left trailing 1-0 after the Diamondbacks loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning. Shawn Tolleson walked both batters he faced to bring in two runs.
Corbin (2-0) struck out four, walked three and hit a batter with a pitch. Brad Ziegler and David Hernandez each pitched a scoreless inning before J.J. Putz finished for his second save.