HOUSTON — Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th to lead the Houston Astros to an 8-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.
Pence’s home run to left field scored Lance Berkman and completed Houston’s comeback for its third straight win. The Astros trailed by as many as four.
Mitch Stetter (1-1) gave up Pence’s homer, his fourth of the season.
Berkman had four RBI and tied his career high with four hits, including a homer and a pair of doubles.
With two outs in the 12th, Houston’s Tim Byrdak (1-0) loaded the bases with walks but left fielder Darin Erstad caught J.J. Hardy’s pop fly for the final out.
Houston trailed by two entering the ninth and got singles from Erstad and Geoff Blum off closer Eric Gagne before Michael Bourn walked. Erstad scored on a groundout by Kaz Matsui to make it 6-5.
Miguel Tejada walked to load the bases before Gagne walked Berkman to tie it at 6. Carlos Lee grounded out to send it to the 10th.
Jose Valverde pitched a perfect 10th for Houston and Salomon Torres did the same for Milwaukee. Both allowed a single in the 11th, but neither gave up a run to send it to the 12th.
Marlins 10, Padres 3
MIAMI — Greg Maddux failed in his fourth bid to reach 350 victories, when he was outpitched by young Andrew Miller in a loss to Florida.
Maddux (2-3) twice failed to hold a lead, and he allowed 11 hits and five runs, four earned, in 5 2/3 innings.
Miller (2-2) earned his seventh career win with his best performance since joining the Marlins in the offseason trade that sent Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to Detroit. The left-hander allowed four hits and two runs in a season-high six innings.
Dan Uggla hit his seventh homer, doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored three times for the Marlins, who took two of three games in the series. Mike Jacobs also had three of Florida’s 16 hits and drove in a run, and Matt Treanor had two hits and two RBI.
Nationals 5, Pirates 2
WASHINGTON — Tim Redding allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings, Aaron Boone homered and the Nationals beat the Pirates.
Redding (4-2) closed out an 11-game homestand, Washington’s longest of the season, by helping the Nationals to their sixth victory in seven games. Washington finished the homestand 8-3.
The right-hander, who has twice as many wins as any other Nationals starting pitcher, allowed six hits, walked none and struck out five.
Redding departed after LaRoche’s one-out double in the seventh put runners at second and third. Reliever Saul Rivera induced comebackers to the mound from Jose Bautista and pinch-hitter Doug Mientkiewicz to escape the jam.
Pittsburgh starter Ian Snell (2-2) took the loss.
Phillies 6, Giants 5
PHILADELPHIA — Pat Burrell had two doubles and two RBIs to lead the Phillies past the Giants for manager Charlie Manuel’s 500th career victory.
Shane Victorino had two hits and Carlos Ruiz homered for the Phillies. Philadelphia won in the bottom of the ninth when second baseman Eugenio Velez couldn’t handle Geoff Jenkins’ sharp grounder, allowing Ryan Howard to score from second.
Brad Lidge (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.
Keiichi Yabu (2-2) took the loss for the Giants. Yabu walked Howard and Burrell with two outs, setting up Jenkins’ at-bat.
Burrell is second in the National League with 30 RBI and has reached base in 30 straight games. His two-run double in the third inning scored Victorino and Eric Bruntlett for a 2-0 advantage.
Braves 14, Reds 7
ATLANTA — Chipper Jones drove in five runs and the Atlanta Braves scored seven runs in the second inning and beat the Reds to complete a three-game sweep.
Jones hit his ninth homer — a three-run shot off Bronson Arroyo in the seven-run second. Kelly Johnson was 4-for-6 and Mark Kotsay was 3-for-4 with a homer.
Arroyo (1-4) lasted only 1 1/3 innings, the shortest of his 166 career starts. His ERA climbed to 8.63 as he gave up seven hits and seven runs with a walk.
Tom Glavine gave up seven hits with five walks and six runs in 4 2/3 innings. He was only one out away from qualifying for the win when he was pulled after walking Edwin Encarnacion on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases in the fifth. Royce Ring (1-0) threw only one pitch, ending the inning with a shallow fly ball to left from Adam Dunn.
Rockies 7, Dodgers 2
DENVER — Aaron Cook gave the Rockies the strong outing they needed, Matt Holliday had two hits and two RBI and the Rockies beat the Dodgers to end a four-game losing streak.
It was the fifth time Cook (5-1) stopped a Rockies’ losing streak, and for the third straight start he ended a four-game losing streak. The Rockies are 6-1 when Cook starts and 6-18 in other games.
Taylor Buchholz pitched a perfect final 1 2/3 innings to pick up his first save of the season.
Andre Ethier homered for the Dodgers, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped. Derek Lowe (2-2) took the loss.
Mets 5, Diamondbacks 2
PHOENIX — First baseman Conor Jackson’s ninth inning throwing error allowed Carlos Beltran to score the go-ahead run from second and the Mets went on to beat the Diamondbacks.
The Mets won at Arizona for the 15th time in 17 tries and handed the Diamondbacks’ just their second series loss of the season. The only other series Arizona lost was its season-opening three-game set at Cincinnati.
With the score tied at 2 in the ninth, Beltran and Moises Alou singled off reliever Chad Qualls. Carlos Delgado grounded to Jackson, who overthrew shortstop Augie Ojeda to allow Beltran to score.
New York went on to load the bases and get an RBI single by pinch hitter Marlon Anderson and an RBI sacrifice fly by Jose Reyes.
Qualls (0-2) gave up three runs, one earned, in one inning. Jorge Sosa (4-1) pitched 2-3 of an inning to get the victory. Billy Wagner threw a perfect ninth for his seventh save in eight tries.
Cardinals 5, Cubs 3
ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols reached base for the 32nd consecutive game, one shy of his personal best to start the year, and did it with a key two-run double in the fourth inning that was the go-ahead hit in the Cardinals’ victory over the Cubs.
Todd Wellemeyer (3-1) beat the team that drafted him in 2000 and gave him his first shot in the major leagues with five solid innings, helping the Cardinals take two of three from their Central Division rival. All three games were sold out, the first capacity crowds since opening day, including attendance of 44,969 in the finale.
Jason Isringhausen worked a perfect ninth against the top of the order for his 10th save in 13 chances, shaking off recent woes, to help the Cardinals finish 7-3 on a season-long 10-game homestand.
The Cardinals beat up on former teammate Jason Marquis (1-2), who surrendered five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Marquis was 3-1 last season against St. Louis, where he was a starter for three years before signing with the Cubs.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
