Murphy delivers in 8th inning as Mets top Yankees
NEW YORK: Daniel Murphy hit a goahead single in the eighth after being denied a homer two innings earlier, and the New York Mets rallied to beat the rival Yankees 2-1 Monday night for their second straight home win after losing eight in a row.
David Wright hit his first home run at Citi Field this year to tie it in the seventh. Murphy came through against David Robertson (3-1) to hand the Yankees their first loss in 23 games when leading after six innings.
Murphy’s drive to left-center in the sixth was caught above the wall by Brett Gardner to end the inning. The Yankees also threw out a runner at home plate in the eighth just before Murphy singled to center field.
Brandon Lyon (2-2) pitched a scoreless the eighth in relief of an impressive Jonathon Niese. Bobby Parnell worked the ninth for his eighth save.
In Los Angeles, Jerry Hairston Jr. singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and Adrian Gonzalez went 4 for 4 and scored four runs for the Dodgers in the Freeway Series opener.
The Angels’ season-high eightgame winning streak ended after they blew a five-run lead in the first of two games at Dodger Stadium before the series shifts to Anaheim for two more.
Hairston was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day. He was 0 for 2 with a strikeout before he singled off Robert Coello (1-1) with two outs. After Matt Kemp struck out for the third time, Gonzalez singled and Scott Van Slyke struck out before pinch hitter Andre Ethier walked to set up Hairston.
In Chicago, Jeff Samardzija threw a twohitter and Julio Borbon hit a two-run home run to help the Cubs get the victory.
Samardzija (3-6) pitched the Cubs’ first shutout since Randy Wells on Aug. 29, 2011, against the Giants. The last time Cubs shut out an opponent as a team came against the Rockies on Aug. 26, 2012.
The first White Sox hit came from Conor Gillaspie in the third inning. Samardzija then got Jeff Keppinger to hit into a double play as he faced the minimum through four innings. He struck out Alejandro De Aza to end the sixth. He then retired 12 straight before giving up a walk to Tyler Flowers in the ninth inning.
In Detroit, Justin Verlander struck out 13 in seven innings and Jhonny Peralta had four hits to lead Detroit to its sixth win in seven games.
It was Peralta’s first four-hit game since June 4, 2010, when he was playing for Cleveland.
Verlander (6-4) hadn’t pitched more than five innings in any of his previous three starts, struggling at times with his location. But he was sharp for the most part against Pittsburgh, allowing three runs and seven hits with two walks.
Joaquin Benoit allowed two runs — one earned — in the eighth. Jose Valverde finished for his sixth save in seven chances, striking out a swinging Andrew McCutchen with a runner on first to end it.
In Boston, Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli homered in the first inning as Boston jumped to an early lead and coasted to the victory.