Streaking Dodgers frustrate Sandberg, Phillies

PHILADELPHIA: Zack Greinke pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning and Hanley Ramirez homered to lead the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-0 victory over new manager Ryne Sandberg and the slumping Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.
The defeat capped a tumultuous and emotional day for Philadelphia. Charlie Manuel, the winningest manager in club history, was fired earlier in the day by general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., who broke down when delivering the news.
Sandberg, the Hall of Famer and former Cubs second baseman, was promoted from third base coach to interim manager. But the Phillies, who have lost 20 of 24, didn’t play any differently for Sandberg.
The Dodgers didn’t play any differently, either.
Ramirez’s two-run homer in the fourth was all the offense Greinke (11-3) needed to lead Los Angeles to its season-best ninth straight win and 18th victory in its last 19 road games. The Dodgers are 41-8 since June 22.
Greinke won his third straight start while outpitching Cliff Lee (10-6) in a matchup of former AL Cy Young Award winners.
Pirates 6 Diamondbacks 2: In Pittsburgh, Jose Tabata hit a two-run homer and rookie Gerrit Cole pitched six solid innings to send Pittsburgh past Arizona.
Tabata’s drive was his fourth of the season and came off J.J. Putz in the eighth inning, putting the NL Central leaders ahead by four runs. Tabata connected a day after he came off the bench and had three hits in a 12-inning loss at St. Louis.
Cole (6-5) was pitching on eight days of rest. He gave up two runs and five hits with five strikeouts. The first overall pick in the 2011 amateur draft won for the second time in seven decisions after winning the first four starts of his career.

Cubs 7 Cardinals 0: In Chicago, Jake Arrieta threw seven sharp innings and Nate Schierholtz drove in three runs as Chicago shut down St. Louis.
Arrieta (1-0) allowed two hits and struck out seven for his first win in two starts with the Cubs. The right-hander was acquired from Baltimore in a July 2 trade.
The Cubs snapped a four-game skid and are 7-7 this season against the Cardinals, who fell three games behind first-place Pittsburgh in the NL Central. St. Louis has dropped six of nine overall.
Chicago had been shut out in four of its past five home games.

Braves 3 Nationals 2, 10 innings: In Atlanta, Justin Upton homered in the 10th inning to lift Atlanta over Washington again.
Upton’s 23rd of the season to left-center came on a 2-2 pitch from Ian Krol (1-1).
Scott Downs (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the Braves, who stretched their NL East lead over the second-place Nationals to 15 1/2 games.
Washington’s Bryce Harper was hit by pitches in the fourth and eighth. Plate umpire Marty Foster warned both benches after Luis Avilan plunked Harper on his shoulder in the eighth.
Nationals players rose to the top of the dugout but didn’t come onto the field. Less than two weeks ago, both benches emptied when Harper was hit by a pitch from Atlanta right-hander Julio Teheran.
Giants 14 Marlins 10: In Miami, Hunter Pence hit two doubles, a triple and drove in five runs to power San Francisco past Miami.
Hector Sanchez hit a three-run homer, Pablo Sandoval had four hits and three RBIs, and Brandon Belt had four hits and scored four runs for the Giants, who set season highs for runs and hits (19).
Justin Ruggiano homered twice and drove in four runs for the Marlins. Christian Yelich and Placido Polanco each had three hits.
San Francisco’s offense broke loose after averaging 2.73 runs per game since the All-Star break, the second-fewest in the majors.
Chad Gaudin allowed eight runs and 11 hits in four innings for the Giants, while Marlins right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (2-3) gave up 11 runs — nine earned — in three innings.
Sandy Rosario (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.