Lee steers Phillies past Nationals

WASHINGTON: Philadelphia’s Cliff Lee showed his value to the team amidst swirling trade rumors, pitching seven scoreless innings to steer the Phillies to an 8-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.
On the same day the Phillies traded outfielders Shane Victorino to Los Angeles and Hunter Pence to San Francisco, one of the Phillies’ other former All-Stars heavily involved in trade rumors — Lee — excelled.
Lee (2-6) allowed just one walk and struck out seven for Philadelphia, which snapped a three-game losing streak.
He also performed with the bat, hitting a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning. Lee stole second, his second career steal, before scoring on Jimmy Rollins’ fourth career inside-the-park home run
Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg (11-5) allowed a season-worst six earned runs.
Reds 7 Padres 6: In Cincinnati, Ryan Ludwick drove in four runs with a homer and a single, helping Cincinnati edge San Diego.
The NL Central leaders blew a six-run lead before rallying for their 18th victory in 21 games. A loss to the Padres in the series opener on Monday snapped a 10-game winning streak.
Brandon Phillips hit a tiebreaking solo shot in the seventh inning, off the final pitch by Jason Marquis (4-6), who had won his previous three starts.
Reds reliever Sean Marshall (4-3) got the win with two perfect innings. Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th straight save.
Braves 7 Marlins 1: In Atlanta, Kris Medlen had a successful return to the rotation, guiding Atlanta past Miami and to its seventh straight win.
Medlen (2-1) allowed one run and one walk in five innings. He made his first start since 2010. Brian McCann homered for the Braves, who closed within 2-1/2 games of Washington atop the NL East. In his past 19 games, McCann has nine homers and 20 RBIs.
Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco (8-10) gave up four runs and struck out six in five innings. He has lost four straight starts and has a 7.48 ERA over that span.
Piares 5 Cubs 0: In Chicago, A.J. Burnett pitched a shutout, as Pittsburgh downed Chicago.
Burnett (13-3) just about stole the spotlight after the Cubs traded their ace pitcher Ryan Dempster to Texas just before the trade deadline. Burnett came close to a no-hitter, before allowing a single with two outs in the eighth.
His bid for a second career no-hitter and the sixth in the majors this season ended with two outs in the eighth.
Neil Walker drove in five runs for the Pirates. Chicago’s Casey Coleman (0-2) had a rough night after being recalled from the minors to fill in for Dempster, fiving up four runs in 4-2/3 innings.
Cardinals 11 Rockies 6: In Denver, Matt Holliday homered, doubled and drove in four runs to lead St. Louis over Colorado. Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse (11-2) worked through an erratic outing, giving up five runs in six innings, taking his fifth consecutive decision in unconvincing style.

Rockies starter Jeff Francis (3-3) went four innings, his second-shortest outing, allowing five runs. Colorado dropped to 0-4 on their homestand.