MLB ROUNDUP Thursday’s other games
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Twins 5, Orioles 2
BALTIMORE — Boof Bonser pitched seven innings of three-hit ball to earn his first win since June 10, and the Minnesota Twins took advantage of shoddy fielding by the Baltimore Orioles. One night after permitting a major league-record 39 runs in a doubleheader loss to Texas — including an AL-record 30 in the first game — the Orioles found a different way to lose. Steve Trachsel (6-8) took a three-hitter and a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning, but the Twins capitalized on three walks and two errors to score four runs.
Athletics 12, Devil Rays 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mike Piazza hit his 424th homer, had four hits and drove in a season-high five runs, powering the Oakland Athletics to victory. Piazza hit a two-run shot — his fifth of the year — off Brian Stokes to extended the A’s lead to 10-1 in the sixth. The designated hitter, who missed 68 games this season with a right shoulder injury, put Oakland ahead 1-0 on a run-scoring double in the first, had a fourth-inning RBI single and a run-scoring double in the eighth.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Dodgers 5, Phillies 2
PHILADELPHIA — Chad Billingsley struck out seven in seven innings to earn his first victory in a month. Billingsley (8-4) allowed one run and four hits, winning for the first time since he beat Houston on July 23. The 22-year-old right-hander was a hard-luck loser in that span. He lost consecutive games 1-0 and was 0-4 with a no-decision in five starts. Juan Pierre drove in the go-ahead run with a bloop single in the seventh inning, and the Dodgers scored three insurance runs off struggling reliever Tom Gordon in the eighth to win for the sixth time in eight games. Takashi Saito pitched a perfect ninth for his 34th save in 37 chances. Ramon Martinez singled leading off the seventh against J.C. Romero (0-2). He went to second on Billingsley’s sacrifice, advanced to third on Rafael Furcal’s groundout and scored on Pierre’s soft fly to center.
Giants 4, Cubs 1
SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Cain outpitched and even outslugged opposing starter Carlos Zambrano, shutting down the Cubs for seven innings and hitting his second career home run. Cain (6-13) has won three of his last four starts — including both starts he homered in — after winning just three of his first 22 this season. That the home run came off Zambrano (14-10) must have been especially sweet since the Cubs’ ace is second to Mike Hampton among active pitchers with 12 career longballs. Cain’s big day helped San Francisco avoid being swept by the Cubs in a three-game series for the first time since 1994 and snapped a six-game home losing streak.
Giants slugger Barry Bonds got the day off after starting Wednesday’s night game. Zambrano allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings of his first official start since signing a $91.5 million, five-year contract extension last Friday.
Reds 9, Braves 7
CINCINNATI — Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning for Cincinnati. Mark Teixeira homered and Chipper Jones matched a career high with five RBIs, but that wasn’t enough to keep the Braves from their second three-game losing streak in eight days.
Padres 9, Mets 8
NEW YORK — Adrian Gonzalez homered in the 10th inning and the San Diego Padres outlasted the New York Mets in a wild game that included blown saves by Billy Wagner and Trevor Hoffman. The Padres took two of three from the NL East leaders in a potential playoff preview. San Diego increased its lead in the wild-card race to two games over Philadelphia.
Wagner and Hoffman, two of baseball’s best closers, both struggled mightily all series. Wagner blew one save chance and gave up the go-ahead run in the ninth inning Tuesday before New York rallied to win. Hoffman blew two saves, sandwiched around a successful conversion Wednesday night.
Associated Press