Baseball

Adam LaRoche hit a go-ahead single in a three-run seventh inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 for a three-game sweep. Pittsburgh has won 13 of its last 15 games against San Francisco and swept three-game series from the Giants in three straight seasons, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. More »

Pinch-hitter Greg Norton broke a seventh-inning tie with a bases-loaded single and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight win. Tim Hudson (5-2) gave up six hits and two runs in seven innings. He walked three and struck out three. Manny Acosta recorded the final two outs for his third save. More »

John Maine became the first New York Mets starter this year to reach the eighth inning, taking a shutout into the ninth Wednesday during a 12-1 rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brad Penny. Maine (4-2) hit a two-run single and was two outs from his third shutout and complete game in the majors when Matt Kemp hit an RBI single, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. More »

Vicente Padilla allowed two hits over seven innings to outpitch Erik Bedard and Milton Bradley homered as the Texas Rangers beat the struggling Seattle Mariners 2-0 Wednesday night. Bradley hit his fourth home run in the sixth and scored both runs. Brandon Boggs had a run-scoring triple in the fourth. More »

Chase Utley singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth and Arizona twice blew late-inning leads Wednesday night when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Diamondbacks 5-4. Conor Jackson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including a run-scoring double that put Arizona up 4-3 in the seventh. More »

The Rocktober magic returned to Coors Field at least for a night. Chris Iannetta tripled home two runs off Jason Isringhausen to cap a four-run eighth-inning rally and carry the slumping Colorado Rockies past the stunned St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Wednesday night. After managing just four hits off Adam Wainwright in seven innings, the Rockies rallied against St. Louis' bullpen. More »

Carlos Gomez became the first Twins player since Kirby Puckett 22 years ago to hit for the cycle, Livan Hernandez took a shutout into the ninth and Minnesota beat the Chicago White Sox 13-1 on Wednesday night. One night after Chicago's Gavin Floyd lost a no-hitter in the ninth, Gomez homered off Mark Buehrle (1-4) on the game's third pitch. More »

Placido Polanco hit a broken-bat, tiebreaking single with two outs in the ninth off Jonathan Papelbon to lift the Detroit Tigers to a 10-9 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. Boston had everything set up for its sixth straight win, rallying from a four-run deficit with its star closer on the mound. More »

Carlos Lee drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Houston Astros to a 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. Lee's single, that flew just over the head of Lastings Milledge, scored Kaz Matsui and gave Houston its fifth straight victory. Matsui walked and stole second in the ninth before Joel Hanrahan (0-2) intentionally walked Lance Berkman. More »

David DeJesus and Alex Gordon both homered and the Kansas City Royals, the lowest-scoring team in the AL, banged out 14 hits in a 9-4 victory Wednesday night over Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels. Zack Greinke (4-1) went seven innings for the victory as the Royals snapped the Angels' four-game winning streak and won at home for just the fourth time in 13 games. More »

Jon Lieber became only the second pitcher in Chicago Cubs history to give up four homers in an inning, and Joey Votto connected three times in all as the Cincinnati Reds powered their way to a 9-0 victory on Wednesday. Votto started a four-homer second inning off Lieber (2-2), who was making his first start of the season. More »

Xavier Nady hit a two-run homer to spoil Barry Zito's mostly effective return to the Giants rotation and Pittsburgh's Phil Dumatrait pitched 5 2-3 scoreless innings for his first career win, leading the Pirates to a 3-1 victory Wednesday night. Zito's pitching line of five innings, three hits, two runs, two walks and five strikeouts was easily his best of the season. More »

Florida Marlins rookie Burke Badenhop pitched 5 2-3 innings Wednesday night for his first major league victory, a 6-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, who lost their fifth game in a row. The Brewers' longest losing streak this season sent their record below .500 for the first time. More »

Mark Ellis broke out of his offensive funk in a big way. Ellis hit the first game-ending home run of his career with two outs in the 10th inning, lifting the Oakland Athletics to a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday for a three-game sweep and their fourth straight victory. More »

Cliff Lee threw seven sharp innings Wednesday night to beat Chien-Ming Wang in a matchup of unbeaten starters, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees. Lee became the first Indians pitcher to win his first six starts since Greg Swindell in 1988 and lowered his major league-best ERA to a microscopic 0.81. More »

Shaun Marcum came within an out of a shutout, Scott Rolen hit a two-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 on Wednesday night. Marcum (4-2) walked one and struck out nine, allowing two runs in 8 2-3. He won back-to-back starts for the first time this season and lowered his ERA to 2.59. More »

Just 24 hours after hitting his first major league home run, Blake DeWitt got his first inside-the park homer _ a two-run shot off the top of the right-field fence _ that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a lead they would not relinquish in a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night. More »

Stephen Drew hit a three-run homer and Randy Johnson earned his 286th victory as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 on Tuesday night in a matchup of NL division leaders. Drew's homer capped a five-run outburst against Adam Eaton (0-1) in the fourth inning. Johnson (2-1) went six innings, matching his longest outing, and allowed four runs on six hits and struck out six. More »

Justin Duchscherer is showing he's healthy again. Duchscherer won his second straight start in his third outing since coming off the disabled list and the Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 on Tuesday night for their third straight victory. Emil Brown gave the A's a quick lead with a run-scoring single in the first. More »

Major league RBIs leader Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and David Murphy drove in three runs each to support stingy starter Sidney Ponson in the Texas Rangers' 10-1 victory over the sinking Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. Seattle lost for the sixth time in seven games before the smallest crowd in Safeco Field history to move back into a last-place tie in the AL West. More »