National League
Marlins 7, Nationals 6
MIAMI -- The Miami Marlins mounted an improbable rally Monday against first-place Washington, and they're thinking they can come from behind in the National League East standings, too.
Jeff Baker hit a two-out RBI single to cap a four-run ninth inning for the Marlins, who extended their winning streak to five games by beating the Nationals 7-6.
Miami won after trailing 6-0 with two out in the seventh. Washington's Rafael Soriano (2-1), who earned his 200th career save Sunday, took the mound in the ninth with a 6-3 lead and blew a save for the fourth time this season.
The Marlins were coming off the best seven-game trip in franchise history, a six-victory swing that put them back into the playoff picture. They now trail Washington by six games.
"At this stage, that's got to be the biggest game of the year, right? -- with where we are in the standings, and where we've got to go," Marlins Manager Mike Redmond said. "These guys understand that."
The one-run victory was the 25th for Miami, most in the majors this season.
Casey McGehee led off the ninth with a four-pitch walk, Garrett Jones doubled and Marcell Ozuna hit an RBI single. Jarrod Saltalamacchia's sacrifice fly made it 6-5, and Adeiny Hechavarria ended an 11-pitch at-bat with an RBI triple to tie the game.
Left-hander Jerry Blevins replaced Soriano, and after a strikeout, Baker lined a hit over left fielder Bryce Harper that struck the base of the fence. Baker applauded the group effort in the comeback.
"We're not going to be able to rely on just one or two guys all year, and we know that," Baker said. "Guys collectively are trying to pull their end of the rope. Tonight was a case where everyone contributed."
Baker drove in two runs after entering the game in the eighth inning and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Soriano's ERA rose from 1.10 to 1.96.
"Bad day for me," Soriano said. "Every pitch that I threw, I had no command. Everything that I tried to throw didn't work."
Braves 2, Padres 0 Ervin Santana threw eight scoreless innings, Evan Gattis homered for the first time in more than a month and host Atlanta beat San Diego. Santana (10-6) allowed just five hits and matched his career high with 11 strikeouts. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his 32nd save. Gattis led off the seventh with a drive into the left-field seats off Jason Lane (0-1), a 37-year-old former outfielder making his first big league start as a pitcher.
Diamondbacks 2, Reds 1 (15) Nick Ahmed's RBI single with two outs in the 15th inning sent visiting Arizona to a victory over Cincinnati and kept their franchise perfect when games go really long. Arizona is 13-0 all-time in games of at least 15 innings.
Mets 7, Phillies 1 Travis d'Arnaud went 3 for 4 with a three-run home run, Bartolo Colon (10-8) made his second consecutive strong start, and host New York crushed Philadelphia. D'Arnaud hit one of three doubles for the Mets as they took a 4-0 lead in the first. Then the catcher's seventh home run of the season broke the game open in the fifth.
Cubs 4, Rockies 1 Tsuyoshi Wada earned his first big league victory, pitching seven strong innings as host Chicago defeated Colorado. Anthony Rizzo drove in two runs to back Wada (1-1). In only his third career start in the majors, Wada cut through the Colorado lineup, allowing one run and five hits.
Interleague
Rays 2, Brewers 1 Jake Odorizzi won his third consecutive start, James Loney had two RBI and host Tampa Bay beat Milwaukee. Odorizzi (7-8) allowed 1 run and 3 hits in 7 innings to beat the team that took him 32nd overall in the 2008 draft.
American League
Blue Jays 14, Red Sox 1 Melky Cabrera homered from both sides of the plate and drove in five runs, R.A. Dickey (9-10) pitched three-hit ball for seven innings and visiting Toronto romped past Boston. The Blue Jays won for the sixth time in seven games, while the Red Sox lost one day after stopping a five-game slide that began in Toronto with three losses.
Rangers 4, Yankees 2 Yu Darvish struck out eight in seven innings for his 10th victory and J.P. Arencibia had a tiebreaking two-run single for host Texas in a victory over New York. Darvish (10-6) shouted out and pumped his fist after his final strikeout, when Brian McCann swung and missed to end the seventh with two runners on base. Brett Gardner homered twice and Derek Jeter had three hits -- to pass Carl Yastrzemski on the all-time hits list -- off the All-Star right-hander, who threw 80 of his 108 pitches for strikes five days after losing a rain-shortened game in New York.
Houston 7, Oakland 3 Chris Carter, Jason Castro, Marc Krauss and Matt Dominguez each hit a home run as host Houston snapped a five-game skid by defeating Oakland. Carter hit a three-run shot to center field in the third to give the Astros a lead, and Castro and Krauss went back-to-back in the sixth, with Castro's home run a two-run shot.
Sports on 07/29/2014