SAN FRANCISCO — Gregor Blanco had a pinch hit, two-run triple in the seventh inning, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. SAN FRANCISCO — Gregor Blanco had a pinch hit,
SAN FRANCISCO — Gregor Blanco had a pinch hit, two-run triple in the seventh inning, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.
Brandon Belt and Marco Scutaro also drove in runs and the Giants won their second straight following a three-game slide. Scutaro and Hunter Pence each had two hits.
Will Venable and Jesus Guzman each hit home runs for the Padres, who have lost two straight after a seven-game winning streak.
Madison Bumgarner (7-4) won his third straight start after allowing two runs and three hits over seven innings.
NATS 6, PHILLIES 2 (11)
PHILADELPHIA — Ian Desmond hit a grand slam in the 11th inning and Washington beat Philadelphia to avoid a three-game sweep.
Jayson Werth’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth tied it off Jonathan Papelbon, who blew a save for the second time in three nights after starting the season 13 for 13.
Starters Kyle Kendrick and Gio Gonzalez both were outstanding, but wound up with no-decisions.
Kendrick allowed one run and two hits, striking out six in 7 2-3 innings. Gonzalez gave up two runs and two hits, tying a career-high with 11 strikeouts in seven innings. He didn’t allow a hit after the second batter.
BRAVES 5, METS 3
ATLANTA — Chris Johnson homered for the first time in more than a month, Kris Medlen overcame a defensive blunder and Atlanta bounced back from a doubleheader sweep by beating New York.
Johnson hit a three-run homer in the fourth, his first time going deep since May 13. Jordan Schafer put the Braves ahead to stay with some gutsy baserunning in the fifth, scoring on a wild pitch that didn’t even roll off the dirt around home plate.
Medlen (4-7) pitched seven-plus innings for his third win in four starts this month, even though he cost himself two unearned runs with an errant throw.
Shawn Marcum (0-9) took another loss, becoming just the third pitcher in Mets history to start a season dropping nine straight decisions.
D-BACKS 3, MARLINS 1
PHOENIX — Cody Ross hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run for Arizona in the eighth inning to spoil an outstanding outing by young Miami starter Jose Fernandez.
Fernandez (4-4) retired 14 in a row before walking two of the three batters he faced in the eighth. He was relieved by left-hander Mike Dunn, who gave up the home run to Ross on a 1-2 pitch.
Arizona starter Trevor Cahill left after a line drive bruised his right hip in the first. Josh Collmenter allowed one hit in six innings of relief and David Hernandez (4-4) pitched a scoreless eighth to get the victory.
REDS 2, PIRATES 1 (13)
CINCINNATI — Jay Bruce ended Jason Grilli’s saves streak with a solo homer in the ninth, and Brandon Philips singled with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to rally Cincinnati past Pittsburgh.
Derrick Robinson and Shin-Soo Choo singled off Vin Mazzaro (3-2) with one out in the 13th and Joey Votto was walked intentionally. Phillips singled up the middle to end it.
The Pirates were two outs away from a second straight shutout.
Grilli started the ninth needing one save to tie a club record. He had converted all of his 25 chances this season, one shy of Joel Hanrahan’s 2011 club record to open a season.
Bruce connected on the first pitch he saw for his fourth homer in his last six games. It was the first homer Grilli had allowed this season. Cincinnati hadn’t scored in its last 17 innings since Bruce hit a solo homer during a 4-1 win on Monday night.
CARDINALS 4, CUBS 1
ST. LOUIS — Yadier Molina hit his fifth home run and Jake Westbrook pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in St. Louis’ victory over Chicago.
Westbrook (3-2) worked around trouble almost the entire night in his second start since coming off the disabled list with a sore elbow.
