Sports

Baseball

Ace keeps pitching, helps Nats end skid

Associated Press
Published August 1, 2005

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MIAMI - Livan Hernandez allowed two runs in eight innings and had a run-scoring single, helping the Nationals beat the Marlins 4-2 on Sunday and end a season-high six-game losing streak.

"Maybe now the team will come back and play better," Hernandez said.

Hernandez, who won for the first time in five starts, allowed a season-high 11 hits and threw 145 pitches. He went at least seven innings for the eighth consecutive start and was five pitches from his season high set June3 against the Marlins.

Tied at 1 in the fifth, Jose Guillen led off with a double for Washington and went to third on a groundout. After Preston Wilson struck out, Carlos Baerga's single to right made it 2-1. Gary Bennett doubled, and Cristian Guzman was intentionally walked. Hernandez then singled to right to make it 3-1.

METS 9, ASTROS 4: Ramon Castro's bloop single in the eighth lifted visiting New York. Houston's seven-game win streak ended, but it has won 13 of 15 and went 22-7 in July.

Mike Cameron doubled to lead off the Mets' eighth and went to third on Doug Mientkiewicz's single. Castro followed with his single for a 5-4 lead. The Mets opened a four-run ninth with Carlos Beltran's double, Cliff Floyd's walk, David Wright's single and Cameron's single.

BRAVES 5, PIRATES 4: Rafael Furcal homered from both sides of the plate for host Atlanta. John Smoltz allowed three runs in eight innings for the win. Since losing June6, he is 8-0 with a 2.05 ERA in 10 starts.

Furcal homered left-handed leading off the fifth, tying it at 3. He homered right-handed leading off the seventh for a 4-3 lead. It was the second time Furcal homered from both sides, also doing it April15.

REDS 7, PADRES 1: Adam Dunn hit a grand slam as visiting Cincinnati knocked San Diego out of first in the West. The Reds have won a season-high five in a row, and the Padres have lost 12 of 13 and 35 of 53 since June1.

Woody Williams walked Reds pitcher Eric Milton leading off the fifth. He then allowed Felipe Lopez's single with one out and walked Sean Casey to load the bases. Dunn then drove a 2-and-2 pitch deep into the seats in rightfield to make it 7-0.

BREWERS 5, GIANTS 1: Chris Capuano took a no-hitter into the sixth and won his seventh consecutive decision for host Milwaukee, which at 16-12 had its first winning month since July 2004. Capuano has not lost since June13 against the Rays, the longest win streak by a Brewer since reliever Curtis Leskanic's seven in 2000.

Scoreless after five, the Brewers scored four in the sixth on one hit. With one out, Noah Lowry walked Lyle Overbay and Carlos Lee and hit Ricky Weeks to load the bases.

Geoff Jenkins was hit for a run, and Bill Hall's single made it 2-0 and kept the bases loaded. Kevin Correia relieved and walked Damian Miller for one run then hit J.J. Hardy for another.

D'BACKS 13, CUBS 6: Chris Snyder hit two of visiting Arizona's season-high five homers, including his first grand slam.

Greg Maddux allowed two baserunners before running into trouble in the fourth. Luis Gonzalez led off with a homer. Tony Clark and Troy Glaus singled and scored on Shawn Green's double. Pitcher Brandon Webb's two-out single made it 4-0.

Maddux left after consecutive doubles by Chad Tracy and Gonzalez to start the fifth. Mike Remlinger struck out two. But he walked two to load the bases before Snyder's homer to left made it 9-1.

ROCKIES 9, PHILLIES 2: Dustan Mohr had a double and homer during Colorado's nine-run fifth. Jeff Francis became this year's first NL rookie with 10 wins and improved to 8-2 at home. Mohr doubled to make it second and third with no outs. After Luis Gonzalez struck out, J.D. Closser and Francis singled to make it 2-0. Garrett Atkins' bases-loaded double scored three to make it 6-0. And after Ryan Shealy's single scored Atkins, Mohr homered to left-center to make it 9-0. CARDINALS 7, DODGERS 5 (11): Jim Edmonds drove in three runs with a pinch-hit double in the seventh and two-run homer in the 11th for visiting St. Louis. L.A.'s Ricky Ledee, who struck out with the bases loaded as a pinch-hitter in the sixth, tied it at 5 in the eighth with his second three-run homer of the series. But Wilson Alvarez walked Abraham Nunez with one out in the 11th. And Edmonds, who was scheduled for a day off, homered on a 3-and-2 pitch.

[Last modified August 1, 2005, 00:59:12]

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