The Phillies, who won the opener
3-1, reduced their magic number for clinching a fifth straight NL East title to
two.
Jose Lopez spoiled Lee’s
shutout bid when he hit a tying home run on an 0-2 pitch in the ninth.
Lee struck out 12 and allowed
five hits in nine innings.
John Mayberry Jr. gave the
Phillies a 1-0 lead with a homer in the sixth inning.
Michael Schwimer (1-0) tossed
a scoreless 10th for his first career win.
Michael Martinez walked to
lead off the 10th against Burke Badenhop (2-2). Howard then lined a 3-1 pitch
deep to left-center and Martinez scored easily.
In the opener, Kyle Kendrick
threw five sharp innings for the Phillies.
Kendrick (8-6) didn’t allow a
hit until Logan Morrison homered to lead off the fifth. He gave up one run and
one hit, striking out six.
The major league-leading
Phillies (97-51) moved within five wins of setting a season franchise record.
Alex Sanabia allowed one run
and six hits in six innings in Game 2. Anibal Sanchez (8-8) pitched six strong
innings, but was the hard-luck loser in the opener. He gave up two runs and
four hits, striking out seven.
In Denver, Pablo Sandoval tripled in the sixth inning
to complete the first cycle of his career and San Francisco kept its slim
postseason hopes alive.
Ryan Vogelsong (11-7) pitched
effectively into the sixth inning and had two hits, and Brandon Belt homered
for the Giants, who have won five straight and prevented Arizona from moving
closer to clinching the NL West. The Diamondbacks lead the Giants by seven
games with 12 to play.
Sandoval homered in the
first, doubled in the second and singled in the fifth. In the sixth he hit a
fly ball to the base of the wall in right-center field and beat the throw to
third for the triple to complete the cycle.
The four hits all came
against starter Jhoulys Chacin (11-12).
In New York, Ian Desmond had a career-high five hits
and Tommy Milone earned his first major league win, leading Washington to a
four-game sweep.
Desmond drove in three runs and Ryan Zimmerman had two
RBIs for the Nationals, who won their fifth straight overall and moved past the
Mets into third place in the NL East. The franchise has not finished third or
higher since 2002, when it played in Montreal and ended the season in second
place.
Making his third major league
start, Milone (1-0) allowed one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Wilson Ramos added three hits
for Washington.
In Cincinnati, Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer in the
11th inning for Cincinnati.
Joey Votto led off the 11th
against James Russell (1-6) with a double. Bruce connected on the next pitch
for his 31st homer, giving the Reds their third straight win over Chicago after
losing the opener of the four-game series.
Nick Masset (3-5) pitched the
11th for the win.
The Cubs handed Francisco
Cordero his first blown save since July 10 — a stretch if 16 straight — by
scoring twice in the ninth to make it 6-all.
In Los Angeles, Ross Ohlendorf got his first win of
the season in seven starts and hit a three-run homer to help the Pirates beat
the Dodgers, a loss that mathematically eliminated the bankrupt franchise from
the NL West race.
Ohlendorf (1-2) allowed two
runs and four hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked none. It was the
right-hander’s fifth start since rejoining the team on Aug. 23 after a stint on
the disabled list with right shoulder discomfort.
Ohlendorf won for the first
time on the road since Aug. 11, 2009, at Colorado.
