Saturday National League Capsules.
MILWAUKEE 1, SAN DIEGO 0
MILWAUKEE Ben Sheets pitched a five-hitter to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 1-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Sheets (13-7) and Jake Peavy locked up in a pitchers duel with the Brewers righthander prevailing after allowing one walk and striking out seven.
Prince Fielder drove in the games only run with a double in the third inning to plate Ryan Braun.
Peavy (9-10) went seven innings and allowed a run and five hits. He walked four and struck out five.
The win gave Sheets his fourth career shutout, three of which have come this season, and the 18th complete game of his career.
Sheets has not allowed a run in his last three starts. He had given up a total of seven hits against the Cardinals and the Mets in his two starts but he left his start against New York after five innings with tightness in his groin. He was cleared to go against the Padres, but no one could have been sure how effective he would be.
It turns out, he was as good as he had been at any point this season.
Sheets retired nine of the first 10 batters and beat the Padres for the first time in five starts. After allowing a leadoff single to start the fourth, Sheets set down seven straight.
Luis Rodriguez had three hits and Chase Headley had two for the Padres, who have lost five of their last six.
ST. LOUIS 5, FLORIDA 3
ST. LOUIS Todd Wellemeyer tossed eight solid innings and Albert Pujols homered as the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a modest two-game skid with a 5-3 victory over the Florida Marlins.
Wellemeyer (12-6) allowed three runs and five hits with seven strikeouts en route to his first win in three starts.
Pujols hit his 31st home run – a two-run shot – in the first inning to give the Cardinals the early lead.
Felipe Lopez tied the game at 3-3 with a run-scoring single in the fourth and Yadier Molina hit a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth. Lopez added a sacrifice fly in the eighth to cap the scoring.
Josh Willingham and Dan Uggla homered for Florida, which was denied a third straight win.
LA DODGERS 7, ARIZONA 2
LOS ANGELES Manny Ramirez hit a three-run home run and drove in five and Chad Billingsley tossed 6 1/3 strong innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-2, and into first place in the National League West.
Ramirezs blast snapped a scoreless draw and moved him into a tie for 17th on the all-time home run list with 521. It was his 31st homer of the season – 11th for the Dodgers (72-70), who now own a one-half game lead over the Diamondbacks (71-70) in the division.
Ramirez added a pair of RBI in a four-run sixth that chased Arizona Cy Young hopeful Brandon Webb (19-7) from the game.
Billingsley (14-10) allowed four hits and walked one while striking out nine to earn his second straight win over the Diamondbacks. The righthander left after loading the bases with one out in the seventh, but rookie Cory Wade came on in relief and got Justin Upton to hit into a double play to end the threat.
Arizona has managed eight hits while being outscored 14-2 in the first two games of the series.
HOUSTON 2, COLORADO 0
DENVER Roy Oswalt hurled a sparkling a one-hitter as the Houston Astros posted a 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Oswalt (14-9) extended his scoreless-innings streak to 23 1/3 frames for the Astros, who banged out 10 hits.
The hard-throwing righthander, who has won 11 of his last 15 starts, tossed 8 1/3 scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday and six clean frames after yielding a first-inning run in a 4-1 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds on August 27.
In this one, Oswalt struck out six and walked two to stymie the Rockies, who had snapped the Astros eight-game winning streak with a 5-3 victory on Friday night.
Hunter Pence hit a two-run home run, his 21st, in the sixth inning to provide the offense for Oswalt and Houston.
CHI CUBS 14, CINCINNATI 9
CINCINNATI Alfonso Soriano belted three home runs and helped the Chicago Cubs snap a six-game losing skid with a 14-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Soriano connected on solo shots in the third and fifth innings against Red starter Johnny Cueto (8-13) before putting the game out of reach with a three-run blast in the sixth, giving the Cubs a 6-1 advantage.
Chicago, which won seven straight prior to the recent slide, received 7 1/3 stellar innings from starter Jason Marquis (10-8).
The Reds scored four runs in each of the final two frames, but the Cubs (86-56) were able to escape with a victory, which kept them four games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers (82-60) in the National League Central.
Mark DeRosa hit a three-run homer in the seventh and Derrek Lee finished with four hits and three RBI.
WASHINGTON 8, ATLANTA 5 (10 INNINGS)
ATLANTA Ryan Langerhans belted a go-ahead solo homer to spark a three-run 10th inning, lifting the Washington Nationals to an 8-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Elijah Dukes slammed two homers, while Ryan Zimmerman and Willie Harris each added a blast for the Nationals, who will aim for a split of the four-game series on Sunday.
Langerhans delivered the fifth solo shot of the game for Washington, a towering blast off Braves closer Mike Gonzalez (0-2).
The Nationals had seen closer Joel Hanrahan (6-3) blow a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. Hanrahan allowed a game-tying, two-run double to Kelly Johnson.
Mike Hampton allowed five runs – four earned – and eight hits in seven innings. The lefthander struck out five and walked one for the Braves, who had won the first two games of the set to post their first back-to-back wins since July.
SAN FRANCISCO 7, PITTSBURGH 6
SAN FRANCISCO Scott McClain, a 36-year-old rookie, capped a five-run rally in the seventh inning with his second career home run to lift the San Francisco Giants to a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rookie Nate Schierholtz hit his first career blast and Rich Aurilia also homered for the Giants, who ended a seven-game home losing streak to the Pirates.
Freddy Sanchez and Nate McLouth each drove in a pair of runs for Pittsburgh, which had won 14 of its previous 16 contests at AT&T Park.
McClain, who made his major league debut in 1998 and has played in parts of four seasons with three different teams, blasted a two-run shot over the left-center field wall to snap a 4-4 tie.
*NY Mets, Philadelphia (POSTPONED, RAIN)
FLUSHING, New York The New York Mets took no chances with an expected dreary forecast as they postponed the game against the National League East rival Philadelphia Phillies.
Heavy rain and wind from Tropical Storm Hanna is predicted for the New York area later Saturday.
The game has been rescheduled as a part of a day-night doubleheader on Sunday. The first game will start at 2:15 p.m. before the normally scheduled contest at 8:05 p.m.
Pitchers for Sundays games have yet to be announced.
Brett Myers struck out 10 in eight dominant innings in Fridays series opener as the Phillies picked up a crucial 3-0 victory. The win moved Philadelphia (77-64) within two games of the first-place Mets (79-62).
Last season, the Mets endured a historic collapse, squandering a seven-game lead with 17 games remaining as the Phillies won their first division title since 1993.
