ATLANTA — Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a five-run rally that sent the Atlanta Braves over the Philadelphia Phillies 8-7 on Sunday. ATLANTA — Chipper Jones hit a
ATLANTA — Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a five-run rally that sent the Atlanta Braves over the Philadelphia Phillies 8-7 on Sunday.
The Phillies led 7-3 entering the ninth and seemed set to complete a three-game sweep.
Instead, the Braves boosted their wild-card position, coming back against Jeremy Horst and Papelbon (3-6).
Reed Johnson singled off Horst with one out for his third hit, and Paul Janish walked. Papelbon struck out pinch hitter Lyle Overbay before walking Michael Bourn to load the bases.
Martin Prado’s grounder skipped past third baseman Kevin Frandsen for a two-run double before Jones hit his 14th home run deep into the right-field seats.
The blown save was the fourth in 35 chances for Papelbon.
Peter Moylan (1-0) got one out for the win.
The Phillies scored five times in the first, and pitcher Cole Hamels added a two-run double in the third as the Phillies made it 7-1.
NATIONALS 4, CARDS 3
WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg allowed two hits over six scoreless innings, striking out nine before being pulled as the Washington Nationals beat St. Louis.
The NL East-leading Nationals took three of four from St. Louis and passed their 80-win total from last season.
Strasburg, rocked for seven runs last Tuesday at Miami, left with a 2-0 lead and a 2.94 ERA. He threw 97 pitches and wound up with a no-decision.
REDS 5, ASTROS 3
HOUSTON — Jay Bruce’s three-run homer keyed Cincinnati’s five-run eighth inning, and the NL Central-leading Reds rallied past Houston.
Bruce’s 29th homer came against Xavier Cedeno (0-1).
Bruce, who is from nearby Beaumont, Texas, has three homers and 10 RBIs in nine games at Houston this season.
GIANTS 7, CUBS 5
CHICAGO — Angel Pagan hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning, and the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants closed out a successful road trip by beating the Cubs.
Santiago Casilla (6-5) pitched an inning to get the victory, and Javier Lopez got the final two outs for his sixth save in eight chances. The Giants went 5-1 on a swing through Houston and Chicago — the two worst teams in the NL Central.
The Giants took advantage of a bout of wildness by Carlos Marmol (2-3) to grab the lead in the ninth.
DODGERS 5, D’BACKS 4
LOS ANGELES — Adrian Gonzalez doubled in the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers over Arizona.
Gonzalez lined an 0-2 pitch into the right-field corner off J.J. Putz (1-5) after Mark Ellis singled with one out and Shane Victorino walked.
Ronald Belisario (4-1) pitched a scoreless ninth and struck out three while allowing a double to Chris Johnson.
BREWERS 12, PIRATES 8
MILWAUKEE — Ryan Braun hit his NL-leading 37th home run, pitcher Yovani Gallardo also connected, and the Milwaukee Brewers sent Pittsburgh to its 10th loss in 13 games.
Jeff Bianchi, Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez also connected as Milwaukee tied a season high with five home runs.
Garrett Jones, Michael McKenry and Gaby Sanchez homered for the wild card-contending Pirates, who got swept in the three-game series.
Pirates starter James McDonald (12-7) was tagged for eight runs and six hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out six but was tagged for four home runs.
Milwaukee has won six in a row at home and 14 of its last 16 at Miller Park. Kameron Loe (5-4) picked up the victory in relief of Gallardo, who failed to complete the fifth inning.
John Axford closed out the game to earn his 23rd save.
METS 5, MARLINS 1
MIAMI — Jason Bay hit his fifth career grand slam in the Mets’ five-run first inning, and New York earned a three-game sweep over Miami.
Chris Young (4-7) allowed one run and five hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out three as the Mets won for the seventh time in eight games.
The Mets wasted little time in getting to Mark Buehrle (12-12).
ROCKIES 11, PADRES 10
DENVER — Chris Nelson had a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning, and the Colorado Rockies overcame a career-best six RBIs by Chase Headley to beat San Diego Padres.
Tyler Colvin and Ramon Hernandez also homered, and Dexter Fowler had three hits and two RBIs for the Rockies.
Headley drove in at least one run with each of his four hits, including his 23rd homer of the season, a two-run shot in the first inning. Alexi Amarista had a career-best five hits for the Padres, who had a season-high 20 on the day.
Guillermo Moscoso (1-1) retired the only batter he faced to close the seventh, and Rafael Betancourt gave up three consecutive two-out hits in the ninth — including an RBI single by Amarista — before getting Chris Denorfia to ground out for his 27th save.
Nelson homered off Brad Brach (1-4).
