Rays/MLB

NL roundup

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 17, 2006

WHITE SOX 12 REDS 4: CINCINNATI - Joe Crede's first-inning grand slam helped lift Chicago. Crede also had a double and single and Scott Podsednik drove in three runs for the defending World Series champions, who have won 6 of 8 to move a season-high 17 games over .500.

Even right-hander Freddy Garcia had a single in Chicago's 16-hit attack, the latest blow to the sliding Reds. Cincinnati won eight in a row at the start of June only to lose 6 of 7 to all but wipe out the ground it gained.

Cincinnati hasn't had much success against the White Sox, losing their past seven games. Overall, the White Sox are 10-2 against the Reds in interleague play.

Chicago loaded the bases in the first on a single and two walks, and Crede pulled Brandon Claussen's 21st pitch of the game down the leftfield line for a 4-0 lead. Crede improved to 5-for-10 with three homers with the bases loaded.

The Reds got three back in the bottom half on Rich Aurilia's homer, which came after singles by Felipe Lopez and Ken Griffey.

But it didn't get any better for Claussen, who failed to get an out in the third before being replaced. The left-hander gave up a career-high nine runs for the second time this season, leaving him winless since May19.

Podsednik's single in the second made it 5-3, and his two-run single capped a four-run third.

Meanwhile, Garcia settled down after the homer, allowing only one hit until Austin Kearns led off the seventh with a homer.

NOTABLE: Garcia, now 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA in interleague play, hadn't won since beating the Cubs on May20. In four starts between then and Friday, he was 0-3 with an 8.10 ERA and 10 homers allowed.

QUOTABLE: "The AL's different. They've got nine hitters. The NL's only got eight. The pitcher is ninth. It's a different game." - Garcia

BREWERS 6 INDIANS 4: MILWAUKEE - Chris Capuano struck out a career-high 12 and Corey Koskie and Carlos Lee homered to help Milwaukee beat Cleveland.

Capuano allowed six hits in seven innings. Cleveland pitcher C.C. Sabathia hit a two-run double in the fifth but that was it for the Indians against Capuano.

Capuano, who is third in the NL with 93 strikeouts, has become the anchor of the Brewers' staff. With Ben Sheets, Tomo Ohka and Rick Helling all serving time on the disabled list, Capuano has turned in 14 quality starts in 15 outings. However, since the beginning of May, his record is just 3-2 with four no-decisions in a span of nine outings.

Protecting a 4-0 lead, Capuano only allowed one hit in the first four innings, but the Indians got to him in the fifth.

Jhonny Peralta's second hit in the game was a check-swing single to third with one out. Aaron Boone followed with a two-out double and both scored when Sabathia lined a shot off the wall in right, giving him six career RBIs.

Peralta, who went 3-for-4, hit a two-run homer off Matt Wise with one out in the ninth to cut it to 6-4 but Derrick Turnbow got the last two outs for his 20th save in 24 chances.

CARDINALS 8 ROCKIES 1: ST. LOUIS - The Cardinals broke it open with a six-run eighth to end Colorado's four-game road win streak.

Scoreless in the fourth, Jim Edmonds singled with one out. Still nursing an abdominal injury, he stopped at third on Juan Encarnacion's double into the rightfield corner but scored on Chris Duncan's sac fly to medium-shallow left when Matt Holliday's throw was off the mark.

Yadier Molina, a .218 hitter overall but .310 with runners in scoring position, followed with a single for a 2-0 lead.

Edmonds' run-scoring single off Ray King in the eighth followed an intentional walk to Scott Rolen. King then walked Juan Encarnacion and pinch-hitter Scott Spiezio on eight consecutive balls for another run. Hector Luna added a two-run single, and pinch-hitter Timo Perez had a run-scoring double in the inning.

NOTABLE: Colorado's Garrett Atkins went 0-for-4, snapping a 14-game hitting streak.

TWINS 4 PIRATES 2: PITTSBURGH - Francisco Liriano shook off an early two-run deficit to strike out a career-best 11 and Minnesota rallied for three runs in the seventh against Ian Snell to beat Pittsburgh.

In a matchup of two of the majors' most promising young pitchers, Snell missed a chance to become the first Pirates starter since Doug Drabek in 1990 to win six consecutive starts when he couldn't hold a 2-0 lead.

"It was kind of fun watching these two young guys go out there and fling the ball around," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But Liriano is pretty special for us."

Liriano fell behind when Jack Wilson hit a two-run homer into the leftfield seats on a 3-2 pitch in the third. Liriano couldn't retire Wilson during a 10-pitch at-bat.

Snell walked Nick Punto to start the seventh, and Joe Mauer singled. Michael Cuddyer then doubled down the leftfield line to score Punto. Justin Morneau's sacrifice fly tied it, and Torii Hunter's single up the middle made it 3-2.

NOTABLE: Wilson's homer was only the second off Liriano in 581/3 innings.

RED SOX 4 BRAVES 1: ATLANTA - Jon Lester earned his first major-league win and Jason Varitek hit a three-run double to lead Boston over Atlanta.

Lester, a 22-year-old left-hander and one of Boston's most touted prospects, pitched six strong innings in his second major-league start.

While Lester is looking up, the Braves are heading down. The team that has won a record 14 straight division titles lost for the 15th time in 18 games and fell to 30-38 with its fifth straight defeat.

Boston first scored in the second. Then, in the third, after Coco Crisp led off with a walk, right-hander Tim Hudson retired the next two hitters. But Manny Ramirez and Trot Nixon walked to load the bases.

Varitek then doubled off the centerfield wall to drive home all three runners, giving the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.

NOTABLE: The Braves have not been this far under .500 since the end of the 1990 season, when they wrapped up a last-place finish in the NL West at 65-97.

TIGERS 5 CUBS 3: CHICAGO - Curtis Granderson, who was born in Blue Island, Ill., and went to college at Illinois-Chicago, doubled and tripled for Detroit.

His double leading off the game ended an 0-for-9 slump. Placido Polanco then doubled to center, just beyond Juan Pierre. Granderson stopped at third but scored on Ivan Rodriguez's sac fly. Magglio Ordonez's single made it 2-0.

Marcus Thames homered to lead off the second, and Chris Shelton doubled off the rightfield wall. Two outs later, Granderson's triple to right-center chased Glendon Rusch.

NOTABLE: Aramis Ramirez homered in the eighth for the Cubs, ending Joel Zumaya's scoreless streak at 15 innings.

QUOTABLE: "I never played at this ballpark. It was definitely exciting to have the chance." - Granderson

YANKEES 7 NATIONALS 5: WASHINGTON - It sounded like a home game for the Yankees much of the night, and chants of "Ber-nie! Ber-nie!" rang throughout RFK Stadium in the ninth inning.

The Yankees tied the game with two runs in the eighth and added two more in the ninth off Nationals closer Chad Cordero to put New York over Washington. Bernie Williams hit the first pitch from Cordero for a solo homer in the ninth.

If Nationals leftfielder Alfonso Soriano was pumped to face his former - and, as the rumor mill would have it, possibly future - team, he delivered in the third. With Washington trailing 2-1, Soriano hit his 24th homer of the season.

NOTABLE: The visiting New Yorkers brought out 44,749 fans, the largest crowd to see a game at RFK Stadium since major league baseball returned to Washington, D.C.

[Last modified June 17, 2006, 00:50:09]