MLB roundup: Wakefield outduels Braves

ATLANTA (AP) - Tim Wakefield pitched six scoreless innings to win a duel with Javier Vazquez, and the Boston Red Sox blanked the punchless Atlanta Braves 1-0 Saturday.

Mark Kotsay drove in the game's only run with a sixth-inning single.

Wakefield (10-3) came up with a performance worthy of the day he tied Roger Clemens' record for the most career starts by a Red Sox pitcher at 382. His knuckleball was really fluttering on a sweltering day at Turner Field - it was 95 degrees at first pitch - and the Braves managed just three singles off the 42-year-old right-hander.

Wakefield became the AL's third 10-game winner, joining Minnesota's Kevin Slowey and Toronto's Roy Halladay. Jonathan Papelbon worked around a shaky ninth for his 18th save.

Vazquez (5-7) certainly pitched good enough to win. He struck out eight to claim the NL strikeout lead from San Francisco's Tim Lincecum (125-124), but a brief spurt of wildness in the sixth was costly.

Phillies 10, Blue Jays 0

TORONTO (AP) - J.A. Happ pitched a five-hit shutout, Jayson Werth homered twice and the Philadelphia Phillies blanked the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the first complete game of his career, Happ (5-0) struck out four and didn't walk a batter to win for the first time in four starts, helping the Phillies snap a three-game losing streak. The victory was Philadelphia's third in 14 games.

Werth hit a towering two-run drive into the upper deck, his 14th, and Pedro Feliz added a two-out homer to left. Werth's upper-deck blast was the 14th in the 20-year history of Rogers Centre, formerly SkyDome, and the first since Toronto's Vernon Wells in 2004.

Toronto left-hander Brad Mills (0-1) allowed eight runs on eight hits in four-plus innings, striking out seven in his second career start.

Cardinals 5, Twins 3

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a pair of two-run homers, helping the St. Louis Cardinals pound 10-game winner Kevin Slowey in a victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Pujols leads the majors with 28 homers and 74 RBIs after his 29th career multihomer game, sixth this season and second in six days. Both homers came off Slowey (10-3), whose bid to take the major league lead in victories was a bust, and Pujols' second long ball put the Cardinals ahead 5-3 in the third.

Josh Kinney (1-0) allowed two hits in 1 2-3 innings of relief for his first career victory.

Slowey lasted only three innings, matching his shortest outing of the season, and gave up five runs on six hits.

Angels 2, Diamondbacks 1

PHOENIX (AP) - Mike Napoli hit a tiebreaking home run in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Los Angeles Angels over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Napoli hit an one-out, 0-1 pitch from Chad Qualls (1-1) 428 feet to center field to give the Angels their fourth straight win and 11th in the last 14.

Darren Oliver (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth and Brian Fuentes got the last three outs for his major league-leading 21st save.

Los Angeles also improved its major league-best record in interleague play this season to 13-4.

Arizona has lost four straight and seven of eight. The D-backs are 0-7-1 in their last eight home series, and haven't won a series at home since taking two of three from the Chicago Cubs on May 27-29.

White Sox 8, Cubs 7

CHICAGO (AP) - Gordon Beckham singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth, and Scott Podsednik homered while tying a career high with four hits to lift the Chicago White Sox over the Cubs.

With the game tied at 7, Paul Konerko lined a single to left with one out off Sean Marshall (3-6) to start the winning rally.

Josh Fields ran for him and moved to second on A.J. Pierzynski's grounder, and Jose Ascanio walked pinch-hitter Jayson Nix. Beckham ended it with a long drive to right and got mobbed near second base by his teammates.

Bobby Jenks (2-2) retired the Cubs in the ninth before the White Sox pulled it out in the bottom half.

Yankees 5, Mets 0

NEW YORK (AP) - A.J. Burnett combined with two relievers on a one-hitter, Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada made Citi Field seem small with opposite-field homers, and the New York Yankees rolled past the Mets again.

Alex Cora got the Mets' only hit, lining a clean single to center on a 0-1 pitch leading off the sixth.

The depleted Mets, playing with center fielder Carlos Beltran, shortstop Jose Reyes, first baseman Carlos Delgado on the disabled list, have been outscored 14-1 and outhit 22-4 in the first two games.

Burnett (6-4) struck out a season-high 10 in seven innings and walked three. Tim Redding (1-3) allowed five runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Astros 8, Tigers 1

HOUSTON (AP) - Rookie right-hander Felipe Paulino pitched seven solid innings and the Houston Astros used a five-run third to pull away from the Detroit Tigers.

It was Houston's third straight win and gave the Astros the series victory in this interleague matchup which ends Sunday.

The 25-year-old Paulino (2-4) came off the disabled list for the start. It's his first win as a starter after getting his other victory this season as a reliever.

Detroit starter Alfredo Figaro (1-1), didn't fare as well in his second major league start as he did in his first. He allowed 10 hits and eight runs in six innings after winning his first start by striking out seven and giving up just two runs.

Pirates 6, Royals 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Delwyn Young homered and drove in a career-high four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to their fourth straight win.

Paul Maholm (5-4) allowed only two runs in seven innings and Jack Wilson and Adam LaRoche each had two hits and an RBI for Pittsburgh, which clinched a winning record in interleague play for only the second season since the format was adopted 12 years ago.

Willie Bloomquist had two hits and scored twice, and Billy Butler had two RBI singles for the Royals, who got an effective start from Bruce Chen (0-1), making his first major league appearance in more than two years.

Kansas City (31-42) fell to a season-low 11 games under .500.

Orioles 6, Nationals 3

BALTIMORE (AP) - Nolan Reimold hit a three-run homer, Gregg Zaun and Aubrey Huff had solo shots, and the Baltimore Orioles received a strong performance from their bullpen in a victory over the Washington Nationals.

After Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie (6-7) allowed three runs in five shaky innings, four Baltimore relievers limited the Nationals to three hits the rest of the way. Matt Albers worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, Jim Johnson pitched two shutout innings and George Sherrill worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save.

The Orioles took a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning on Reimold's ninth home run, a towering fly off Shairon Martis (5-3) that dropped into the second row of the left-field seats.

Reds 7, Indians 3

CLEVELAND (AP) - Homer Bailey pitched five innings for his first major league win in nearly two years and Jay Bruce hit his 18th home run for Cincinnati to help the Reds beat the Cleveland Indians.

Bailey (1-0) was recalled from Triple-A earlier in the day to make his second start of the year and won for the first time since Sept. 20, 2007 against the Chicago Cubs. He labored through five innings, giving up three runs on three hits and seven walks.

Indians starter Tomo Ohka (0-2) needed 27 pitches to record an out in the second inning. By then, the Reds had a 4-0 lead on Bruce's solo homer, RBI doubles by Chris Dickerson and Jerry Hairston and a groundout from Joey Votto.

Rays 3, Marlins 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Carlos Pena hit his AL-leading 23rd home run and Willy Aybar broke a ninth-inning tie with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly, giving the Tampa Bay Rays a victory over the Florida Marlins.

Jason Bartlett singled off Burke Badenhop (5-3) with one out in the ninth, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored easily on Aybar's fly ball to center field, as the Rays won their fourth straight to climb a season-best six games over .500 at 41-35.

J.P. Howell (4-2) pitched the ninth to earn the victory. Left-hander Scott Kazmir made his first start in over a month for Tampa Bay, allowing two runs and four hits in five innings.

Brett Carroll homered for Florida, however the Marlins went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and are 1 for 16 in those situations while dropping the first two games of the series.

Padres 7, Rangers 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Rookie Kyle Blanks drove in three runs and the San Diego Padres had a season-high 16 hits while beating the Texas Rangers.

Blanks, called up last week from Triple-A Portland, had the first RBI of his career with a double in the second. He added a two-run double in the fifth that gave San Diego a 6-1 advantage.

The Rangers dropped out of the first place for the first time since May 5.

Kevin Correia (5-5) struck out a career-high nine in seven innings, his fifth straight start pitching at least six innings. Rookie Derek Holland (1-5) allowed 13 hits and seven runs in 5 2-3 innings as Texas had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Rockies 11, Athletics 9

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Brad Hawpe hit the 100th home run of his career, one of four hit by Colorado's surging offense, and Jorge De La Rosa pitched six strong innings to lead the Rockies past the Oakland Athletics.

Hawpe's two-run blast off Trevor Cahill in the first marked the ninth time in 10 games the Rockies have hit at least one home run. Colorado has 20 homers overall during that stretch, including solo shots by Ian Stewart, Clint Barmes and Seth Smith against Cahill (5-6).

De La Rosa (4-7) gave up two runs and five hits to earn his fourth win in his last five starts after going winless in his first 10 games.

Huston Street worked the ninth for his 18th save after Colorado's bullpen blew most of an 11-2 lead.

Mariners 5, Dodgers 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Felix Hernandez scattered four hits over eight innings, and Ken Griffey Jr. and Russell Branyan each hit home runs for Seattle.

Hernandez (8-3) allowed an unearned run, struck out nine and walked one. Ichiro Suzuki went 3 for 5 to raise his major league-leading average to .375 and record his seventh straight multihit game, matching his career best.

Eric Milton (2-1) gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings, striking out seven and walking none.

Before the game, Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre informed the club that he'll undergo shoulder surgery that will sideline him for six to eight weeks.

National League

Brewers 7, Giants 6

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer in the sixth and then knocked in the winning run as the Brewers rallied with three runs in the ninth for a wild win.

Brian Wilson (2-4) blew his fourth save of the season. After Corey Hart's RBI single, J.J. Hardy slapped a shot off the glove off second baseman Juan Uribe and Gamel raced from second to beat the throw home and tie the game. One out later, Fielder doubled into the right-field corner.

The Giants had snapped a 4-4 tie in the top of the inning on sacrifice flies by Bengie Molina and Edgar Renteria off Trevor Hoffman (1-1).

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