Sunday National League Capsules.
PHILADELPHIA 5, CHI CUBS 3
CHICAGO Jayson Werth belted a solo homer and drove in three runs while Ryan Howard added three hits as the Philadelphia Phillies recorded a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs, who were without starter Carlos Zambrano.
Zambrano was scratched from his scheduled start due to arm fatigue, and the Phillies offense quickly jumped on his replacement, Sean Marshall (3-4) Howard smacked an RBI single in the first to open the scoring and Werth followed with a two-run double.
Werth belted a solo shot in the fifth – his third homer in two days – extending Philadelphias advantage to 4-2.
Phillies starter Jamie Moyer (12-7) tossed 5 1/3 effective frames, allowing two second-inning runs and eight hits to notch the win.
CINCINNATI 9, SAN FRANCISCO 3
CINCINNATI Bronson Arroyo gave the Cincinnati Reds a quality start, and provided his own offense as the Reds beat the San Francisco Giants 9-3 to complete a three-game sweep.
Arroyo (13-10), who is 9-3 with a 3.30 ERA in his last 12 starts, limited his damage to two runs despite surrendering 10 hits in seven innings.
Arroyo helped his own cause in the fifth inning, breaking open a 3-2 game with a bases loaded double to left field that scored two runs.
Arroyos double knocked San Francisco righthander Matt Cain (8-11) out of the game. Cain, who had a 2.13 ERA in his last nine starts, only lasted five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and five walks.
NY METS 6, FLORIDA 2
MIAMI Carlos Beltran homered and drove in two runs and Nick Evans added his first career home run as the New York posted a 6-2 victory over the Florida Marlins.
The win was a much-needed one for New York, which saw its bullpen cough up a two-run lead after seven innings in Saturdays 4-3 setback. It was the 24th blown save of the season for the Mets, placing them second in the National League.
Beltran connected on his 21st home run in the second inning to open the scoring for New York and Evans blast in the fourth tied the score at 2-2. David Wright followed with a home run directly after as the Mets went on to improve to 3-2 on an eight-game road trip.
Pedro Martinez (5-3) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings for the win.
HOUSTON 3, ST. LOUIS 0
HOUSTON Wandy Rodriguez pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings before exiting with an injury and the bullpen took over from there, leading the Houston Astros to a 3-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Rodriguez (8-6) struck out four and scattered seven hits before leaving with a right oblique strain. Chris Sampson and LaTroy Hawkins combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings before handing the ball to closer Jose Valverde, who set down the side in the ninth for his 37th save.
The Astros grabbed the lead on Hunter Pences RBI single in the second and provided some insurance in the eighth when Ty Wigginton tied the franchise record with his 12th homer in August – his 21st of the season.
Todd Wellemeyer (11-6) suffered the loss, allowing one run and four hits in seven frames.
MILWAUKEE 7, PITTSBURGH 0
PITTSBURGH C.C. Sabathia tossed a one-hitter for his sixth complete game since joining the Milwaukee Brewers, who blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-0, to complete a sweep of the three-game series.
Sabathia, undefeated in 11 starts with the Brewers, allowed only an infield single on a check swing to Andy LaRoche leading off the fifth to go with three walks and 11 strikeouts. The hard-throwing lefthander is 9-0 since Milwaukee acquired him from the Cleveland Indians on July 8.
The Brewers (80-56), who began the day 5 1/2 games behind Chicago (85-51) in the National League Central shaved one-half game off the deficit while improving to 11-1 against the Pirates this season.
Rickie Weeks gave the Brewers a quick lead with a solo home run in the first inning off Jeff Karstens (2-4), who yielded three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Milwaukee broke it open with two runs in the seventh and four in the eighth.
WASHINGTON 8, ATLANTA 4
WASHINGTON Aaron Boones go-ahead, three-run homer highlighted a five-run eighth inning as the Washington Nationals rallied for their sixth win in a row, 8-4 over the Atlanta Braves.
Garrett Mock (1-3) tossed one scoreless inning in relief to earn his first major-league victory as the Nationals extended their longest winning streak of the season.
Down 4-3 through seven innings, the Nationals tagged Braves reliever Elmer Dessens (0-1) for five runs in just one-third of an inning. After Ryan Zimmerman singled to lead off the frame, Dessens walked Elijah Dukes. Boone followed moments later with a deep drive into the left field seats, putting Washington on top, 6-4.
Wil Nieves and Cristian Guzman added RBI singles later in the inning for insurance.
SAN DIEGO 2, COLORADO 1
SAN DIEGO Luis Rodriguez singled to right field in the bottom of the ninth to plate Will Venable with the game-winning run as the San Diego Padres downed the Colorado Rockies, 2-1.
The Rockies battled back to tie in the top of the frame off all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, who allowed a hit to Brad Hawpe before walking Garrett Atkins and yielding and RBI single to pinch hitter Chris Iannetta.
The blown save obscured a strong start by Jake Peavy, who struck out 13 in eight scoreless frames while scattering five hits and issuing two walks. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner set down 15 straight between the third and the eighth innings.
LA DODGERS 8, ARIZONA 1
PHOENIX Andre Ethier and Casey Blake homered to highlight a four-run first inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers prevented Brandon Webb from becoming the majors first 20-game winner with an 8-1 triumph over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Ethier added a two-run double in the fourth and Derek Lowe (11-11) pitched six strong innings for Los Angeles (67-70), which moved to within 2 1/2 games of first-place Arizona (69-67) in the National League West.
The Dodgers have now won two in a row after snapping a season-high eight-game losing streak.
