Monday, April 17, 2006
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Giants 2, Dodgers 0
LOS ANGELES -- Former Youngstown State pitcher Brad Hennessey worked 61/3 shutout innings as San Francisco beat Los Angeles. Hennessey (1-0) allowed three hits while walking three and striking out two before being relieved by Scott Munter with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. Munter worked out of trouble by striking out pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee and retiring Dioner Navarro on a fly to right. Hennessey was recalled from Triple-A Fresno to make the 29th start of his big league career. The 26-year-old right-hander was 7-10 with a 4.72 ERA for the Giants in parts of the last two seasons, and 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA in two starts for Fresno earlier this month.
Cardinals 8, Reds 7
ST. LOUIS -- Albert Pujols' third home run of the game, a go-ahead two-run shot in the ninth inning, gave St. Louis the victory. Pujols' eighth homer came on a 1-2 pitch from David Weathers (0-1) and traveled an estimated 441 feet to left. His second career three-homer game and sixth career game-ending homer topped off a 4-2 opening homestand at new Busch Stadium. He also matched career highs with five RBIs and four runs scored.
Padres 4, Braves 3
ATLANTA -- Brian Giles homered to help the Padres avoid a three-game sweep. Atlanta led 3-0 before Giles' solo homer in the seventh off Ken Ray, who had just entered. The drive ended San Diego's scoreless streak at 20 innings. Ryan Bowen and Adrian Gonzalez followed with doubles, and Oscar Villarreal relieved and gave up Josh Barfield's tying sacrifice fly. Dave Roberts tripled off Mike Remlinger (1-1) in the eighth and scored on pinch-hitter Eric Young's infield single. Trevor Hoffman got his first save. Andruw Jones hit his fourth homer for the Braves.
Mets 9, Brewers 3
NEW YORK -- Xavier Nady drove in three runs with a home run and a sacrifice fly and Carlos Delgado hit a three-run homer for the Mets. David Wright had a single and double and scored twice for New York. The Mets improved to 9-2, their best start in franchise history. They also set a franchise record by winning their first four series of the season. Geoff Jenkins had a two-run homer for the Brewers. Milwaukee pitcher Ben Sheets (0-1) allowed six hits and four runs in five innings. Sheets was activated from the disabled list before the game and had not pitched since last Aug. 26 because of a right shoulder strain. Rookie Brian Bannister (2-0) got the win, allowing six hits and one run in five innings. He struck out four and walked five.
Phillies 1, Rockies 0
DENVER -- Philadelphia's Brett Myers combined with two relievers on a seven-hit shutout and Ryan Howard homered in the first 1-0 win by a visiting team at Coors Field. In 888 regular season games at Coors Field, the only other 1-0 game was last July 9, when the Rockies beat San Diego.
Nationals 7, Marlins 5
MIAMI -- Ryan Church hit a pair of two-run homers, including a tie-breaking drive in a three-run ninth inning for the Nationals. Florida took a 5-4 lead in the eighth against Gary Majewski (1-0) when Miguel Olivo hit an RBI double and scored on a triple by pinch-hitter Wes Helms, a ball that landed just in front of Church in right and skidded past him. Matt Herges (0-1) allowed two hits and three unearned runs in the ninth to get the loss. Chad Cordero pitched the bottom half for his second save. Olivo also homered for Florida.
Astros 8, Diamondbacks 5
PHOENIX -- Lance Berkman had three hits and three RBIs and Morgan Ensberg hit a three-run homer to power Houston. Ensberg's second homer in as many games came off reliever Jason Grimsley and capped the Astros' seven-run sixth inning. Luis Gonzalez was 1-for-20 in the homestand -- a span of six games -- before hitting a home run just over the right-field fence leading off the fourth to put Arizona up 2-1. Orlando Hernandez (1-2) allowed six runs and six hits in 52/3 innings for Arizona. He struck out eight, walked four -- one intentionally -- and hit two batters.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Angels 9, Orioles 3
BALTIMORE -- Vladimir Guerrero homered twice and drove in three runs to back a fine pitching performance by John Lackey, and Los Angeles snapped a three-game skid. Chone Figgins also homered for the Angels, who got 13 hits. Lackey (2-1) allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings. He struck out five and walked none. Jeff Conine homered for the Orioles, whose three-game winning streak ended.
Red Sox 3, Mariners 2
BOSTON -- Josh Beckett won his third straight start and Alex Gonzalez had an RBI single for Boston. Beckett (3-0) has allowed one earned run in seven innings in each of his three starts for a 1.29 ERA. He gave up six hits and one walk with five strikeouts. Jarrod Washburn (1-2) gave up only three hits in six innings but issued four walks and threw two wild pitches as Seattle lost for just the second time in five games.
Devil Rays 9, Royals 5
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Carl Crawford hit a tie-breaking two-run triple and Jonny Gomes, Damon Hollins and Ty Wigginton homered for Tampa Bay. The Devil Rays scored three runs in the sixth to take the lead. Tomas Perez had an RBI single before Crawford drove in two with a triple off Steve Stemle (0-1) to make it 6-4. Wigginton hit a two-run drive in the seventh to extend the Tampa Bay lead to four. Shane Costa hit a two-run homer for the Royals, who have lost seven straight.
Yankees 9, Twins 3
MINNEAPOLIS -- Jason Giambi hit two long home runs and New York avoided what would have been Minnesota's first three-game sweep of the Yankees since 1991. Chien-Ming Wang (1-0) struck out a career-high eight in seven innings, and Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez also homered.
Rangers 5, Athletics 3
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Mark Teixeira hit a two-run home run in the ninth off Huston Street that tied the score 3-all, and Brad Wilkerson hit a go-ahead double off the Oakland closer. Street (1-1) had converted 21 consecutive save chances since last July 10 at the White Sox. He allowed four runs and five hits in two-third of an inning, both career highs. Francisco Cordero (1-1) allowed Oakland to load the bases in the ninth when Jason Kendall singled with two outs, and pinch-hitter Adam Melhuse and Mark Kotsay walked. Cordero retired Nick Swisher on a game-ending flyout.
White Sox 6, Blue Jays 4, 5 innings
CHICAGO -- Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye hit two-run homers, and Scott Podsednik broke out of his 3-for-38 slump with a triple and single. The game was stopped by rain after the top of the fifth inning. Freddy Garcia (2-1) took a shutout into the fifth before running into trouble. With rain pounding the field, he walked four batters -- two with the bases loaded -- during a four-run rally.
Associated Press