major league roundup

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Red Sox 3, Rays 1, 1st game

Rays 6, Red Sox 2, 2nd game

BOSTON

Rookie Desmond Jennings hit his fifth home run of the season and Jeff Niemann struck out 10 as the Tampa Bay Rays salvaged a split of a doubleheader with a second game victory over Boston. The Red Sox opened the day with a win, but couldn’t overcome two unearned runs in the second inning of the nightcap. Boston also couldn’t capitalize on its first triple play since 1994. Niemann (8-4) pitched his first complete game of the season and won his seventh straight decision.

Yankees 9, Royals 7

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Robinson Cano hit a three-run homer into the Kauffman Stadium fountains, Russell Martin and Derek Jeter each drove in a pair and New York beat Kansas City to give Ivan Nova his eighth consecutive victory. Nova (12-4) struggled almost as much as Royals starter Danny Duffy (3-7), allowing five runs and seven hits through three innings. But he settled down to retire the side in order the next two frames, and survived long enough to move past Alfredo Aceves for the longest winning streak by a Yankees rookie since 1980.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Diamondbacks 3, Phillies 2

PHILADELPHIA

Lyle Overbay lined a two-RBI double off Roy Halladay in the ninth inning to lift Arizona over Philadelphia. Halladay (15-5) had retired 12 straight batters into the ninth. Halladay, trying to become the NL’s first 16-game winner, allowed consecutive singles to open the inning.

Braves 2, Giants 1, 11 innings

ATLANTA

Rookie Randall Delgado allowed no hits through six innings in his second big-league start, and Atlanta pulled out another last at-bat win on Martin Prado’s two-out single in the 11th. Delgado was the star early on, allowing his lone hit on Cody Ross’ leadoff homer in the seventh. Prado came through at the end, driving in Brooks Conrad from third with an opposite-field single to right off Javier Lopez (5-2). Conrad had reached on a ground-rule double while pinch-hitting. Arodys Vizcaino (1-0) picked up his first big league win with two scoreless innings. The Braves won for the second straight night in their final at-bat and lead the NL with 22.

Brewers 2, Dodgers 1

MILWAUKEE

Mark Kotsay hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning and Milwaukee beat Los Angeles to take its biggest lead in the NL Central this late in a season. The Brewers have won 18 of 20 and are seven games ahead of second-place St. Louis. After a pitching duel between Yovani Gallardo and Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers bullpen imploded in the ninth. Hong-Chih Kuo (0-2) issued a leadoff walk to Prince Fielder, then left for Mike MacDougal. Casey McGehee singled on MacDougal’s first pitch to put men on first and second and Yuniesky Betancourt walked on four pitches. Kotsay followed with a single. Milwaukee is a major league-best 46-15 at home and has a bigger lead in the division than the 1982 Brewers did on their way to winning the AL East and the American League pennant.

Astros 6, Cubs 5

HOUSTON

Pinch hitter Brian Bogusevic hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to propel Houston over Chicago and snap a seven-game losing streak. J.B. Shuck singled with one out in the ninth off Cubs closer Carlos Marmol (2-4) before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Clint Barmes singled and Matt Downs drew a walk to load the bases and bring up Bogusevic. Houston reliever Aneury Rodriguez (1-4) struck out one in 2/3 innings for the win.

Nationals 6, Reds 4

WASHINGTON

Chien-Ming Wang won back-to-back starts for the first time in three years and Michael Morse and Ryan Zimmerman homered to lift Washington over Cincinnati. Wang (2-2) allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings, his longest outing since a stint of 7 1-3 innings on June 10, 2008, that began his previous consecutive wins run. Morse homered into the right-field seats in the third inning for his 21st shot this season. He also hit a run-scoring double in the first. Zimmerman led off the fifth with his seventh home run. Ian Desmond singled in two runs in Washington’s three-run first. Cincinnati’s Mike Leake (10-8) allowed six runs and five hits in six innings.

Associated Press