Lincecum in command as Giants win 2-1 at Braves in clash of division leaders
ATLANTA (AP) — San Francisco pitcher Tim Lincecum allowed only one run in six innings to set up the Giants' 2-1 win at Atlanta in Friday's clash of National League divisional leaders whose form lines are going in opposite directions.
The Giants made it seven wins from eight games to remain clear atop the NL West while the Braves have lost four straight and saw their NL East lead sliced to just half a game.
The other NL divisional leader, Milwaukee, is six games clear atop the Central after shutting out Cincinnati. Colorado remains on San Francisco's tail after reaching double figures in a win over the New York Mets, while Miami made it seven-straight home wins by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Francisco's Lincecum (2-1) kept Braves hitters off balance by keeping his pitches low in the strike zone and added a sharp curveball and slider.
His efforts meant the solo homers from Michael Morse and Angel Pagan — leading off the first inning — were enough for a Giants' victory.
Milwaukee pitcher Wily Peralta was the standout player in the 2-0 win at Cincinnati, pitching eight scoreless innings and hitting a double that drove in the game's only runs.
Peralta (4-1) held the Reds to three hits and a pair of walks and also doubled with two outs in the fifth.
The Brewers improved the best record in the majors to 21-9, including a 12-3 record on the road, and they are already 7-1/2 games clear of the Reds.
Colorado beat the Mets 10-3 to continue matching strides with San Francisco in the NL West, winning its sixth game in seven to remain one game behind the Giants.
Charlie Blackmon homered among his three hits for the Rockies while Nolan Arenado extending his hitting streak to 22 games; the third longest in franchise history.
Colorado starter Jorge De La Rosa (3-3) allowed three runs in six innings to win his third-straight decision after an 0-3 start.
Miami surprise packet Tom Koehler outpitched Josh Beckett to steer the Marlins to a 6-3 win over the Dodgers.
Koehler (3-2) pitched seven scoreless innings to improve his season ERA to 2.41, having entered the season with an underwhelming 5-11 career record.
Beckett (0-1) struck out eight but gave up four runs in 6 2-3 innings. He fell to 0-6 in his past 13 starts and remained winless since the end of the 2012 season, even though his ERA this year is 3.14.
Boston's Dustin Pedroia hit a grand slam for his 100th career home run to power the Red Sox to a 7-1 home win over Oakland.
Pedroia had yet to homer this season before connecting in the sixth inning to put Boston up 6-1. He joined Boston great Carl Yastrzemski as the only Red Sox players with 100 homers and 100 stolen bases.
The cushion was plenty for Boston starter Clay Buchholz (2-2), who shut down the team with the top record in the American League and earned his first home win of the season. He pitched 6 1-3 innings and worked out of several jams as the A's went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against him.
Washington's Adam LaRoche hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as the Nationals rallied from an early deficit and beat Philadelphia 5-3.
Cliff Lee outpitched Washington's Stephen Strasburg, but the Phillies' bullpen struggled again. Mike Adams (1-1) and Jake Diekman allowed three runs and five hits in an inning.
Benches and bullpens emptied in the fifth after Denard Span exchanged words with Lee following an inside fastball as he called time-out at the plate, but tempers calmed before any physical confrontation.
Texas ended a run of four-straight defeats by winning 5-2 at the Los Angeles Angels, with Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Rios both homering in the sixth inning against winless Hector Santiago.
Choo added an RBI single in the seventh just before leaving the game with an ankle injury.
Santiago (0-5) was charged with five runs in six-plus innings. He has a 5.01 ERA in six starts.
Tampa Bay broke loose in the 14th inning to win 10-5 in a game that lasted only 11 minutes short of six hours.
Wil Myers got three of the Rays' 20 hits including the one that put them up 6-5.
Yankees veteran Derek Jeter had the worst hitting performance of his storied career, going 0 for 7 for the first time, including ground out with the bases loaded in the 13th inning, ending a game-winning opportunity.
Detroit's Rick Porcello cruised through seven innings while opposing pitcher James Shields struggled, and the Tigers beat Kansas City 8-2.
Baltimore's Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a season-high 10 over 7 1-3 scoreless innings for his first win with the Orioles, steering the visitors to a 3-0 win at Minnesota.
Cleveland's Michael Brantley homered and drove in three runs while Carlos Santana also went deep as the Indians broke a six-game skid with a 12-5 win over the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox's city rivals, the Cubs, had a better day, edging St. Louis 6-5, with Anthony Rizzo hitting a two-run single in the first inning that ended Adam Wainwright's scoreless streak at 25 innings.
Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth inning and Starling Marte followed one out later with a winning shot over left-center to give the Pirates a 6-5 win over Toronto.
Arizona's Bronson Arroyo and two relievers held San Diego scoreless as the Diamondbacks won 2-0 in match of the bottom two teams in the NL West.
Houston's George Springer singled home the winning run in the 11th inning to give the Astros a 5-4 win over Seattle.
News Topics: Sports, MLB baseball, Men's sports, Baseball, Professional baseball
People, Places and Companies: Tim Lincecum, Michael Morse, Angel Pagan, Wily Peralta, Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, Jorge De La Rosa, Tom Koehler, Josh Beckett, Dustin Pedroia, Carl Yastrzemski, Clay Buchholz, Adam LaRoche, Cliff Lee, Stephen Strasburg, Mike Adams, Jake Diekman, Denard Span, Shin-Soo Choo, Alex Rios, Hector Santiago, Wil Myers, Derek Jeter, Rick Porcello, James Shields, Ubaldo Jimenez, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana, Anthony Rizzo, Adam Wainwright, Pedro Alvarez, Starling Marte, Bronson Arroyo, George Springer, San Francisco, Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York City, California, United States, North America, Georgia, Ohio, New York
The Giants made it seven wins from eight games to remain clear atop the NL West while the Braves have lost four straight and saw their NL East lead sliced to just half a game.
The other NL divisional leader, Milwaukee, is six games clear atop the Central after shutting out Cincinnati. Colorado remains on San Francisco's tail after reaching double figures in a win over the New York Mets, while Miami made it seven-straight home wins by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Francisco's Lincecum (2-1) kept Braves hitters off balance by keeping his pitches low in the strike zone and added a sharp curveball and slider.
His efforts meant the solo homers from Michael Morse and Angel Pagan — leading off the first inning — were enough for a Giants' victory.
Milwaukee pitcher Wily Peralta was the standout player in the 2-0 win at Cincinnati, pitching eight scoreless innings and hitting a double that drove in the game's only runs.
Peralta (4-1) held the Reds to three hits and a pair of walks and also doubled with two outs in the fifth.
The Brewers improved the best record in the majors to 21-9, including a 12-3 record on the road, and they are already 7-1/2 games clear of the Reds.
Colorado beat the Mets 10-3 to continue matching strides with San Francisco in the NL West, winning its sixth game in seven to remain one game behind the Giants.
Charlie Blackmon homered among his three hits for the Rockies while Nolan Arenado extending his hitting streak to 22 games; the third longest in franchise history.
Colorado starter Jorge De La Rosa (3-3) allowed three runs in six innings to win his third-straight decision after an 0-3 start.
Miami surprise packet Tom Koehler outpitched Josh Beckett to steer the Marlins to a 6-3 win over the Dodgers.
Koehler (3-2) pitched seven scoreless innings to improve his season ERA to 2.41, having entered the season with an underwhelming 5-11 career record.
Beckett (0-1) struck out eight but gave up four runs in 6 2-3 innings. He fell to 0-6 in his past 13 starts and remained winless since the end of the 2012 season, even though his ERA this year is 3.14.
Boston's Dustin Pedroia hit a grand slam for his 100th career home run to power the Red Sox to a 7-1 home win over Oakland.
Pedroia had yet to homer this season before connecting in the sixth inning to put Boston up 6-1. He joined Boston great Carl Yastrzemski as the only Red Sox players with 100 homers and 100 stolen bases.
The cushion was plenty for Boston starter Clay Buchholz (2-2), who shut down the team with the top record in the American League and earned his first home win of the season. He pitched 6 1-3 innings and worked out of several jams as the A's went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against him.
Washington's Adam LaRoche hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as the Nationals rallied from an early deficit and beat Philadelphia 5-3.
Cliff Lee outpitched Washington's Stephen Strasburg, but the Phillies' bullpen struggled again. Mike Adams (1-1) and Jake Diekman allowed three runs and five hits in an inning.
Benches and bullpens emptied in the fifth after Denard Span exchanged words with Lee following an inside fastball as he called time-out at the plate, but tempers calmed before any physical confrontation.
Texas ended a run of four-straight defeats by winning 5-2 at the Los Angeles Angels, with Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Rios both homering in the sixth inning against winless Hector Santiago.
Choo added an RBI single in the seventh just before leaving the game with an ankle injury.
Santiago (0-5) was charged with five runs in six-plus innings. He has a 5.01 ERA in six starts.
Tampa Bay broke loose in the 14th inning to win 10-5 in a game that lasted only 11 minutes short of six hours.
Wil Myers got three of the Rays' 20 hits including the one that put them up 6-5.
Yankees veteran Derek Jeter had the worst hitting performance of his storied career, going 0 for 7 for the first time, including ground out with the bases loaded in the 13th inning, ending a game-winning opportunity.
Detroit's Rick Porcello cruised through seven innings while opposing pitcher James Shields struggled, and the Tigers beat Kansas City 8-2.
Baltimore's Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a season-high 10 over 7 1-3 scoreless innings for his first win with the Orioles, steering the visitors to a 3-0 win at Minnesota.
Cleveland's Michael Brantley homered and drove in three runs while Carlos Santana also went deep as the Indians broke a six-game skid with a 12-5 win over the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox's city rivals, the Cubs, had a better day, edging St. Louis 6-5, with Anthony Rizzo hitting a two-run single in the first inning that ended Adam Wainwright's scoreless streak at 25 innings.
Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth inning and Starling Marte followed one out later with a winning shot over left-center to give the Pirates a 6-5 win over Toronto.
Arizona's Bronson Arroyo and two relievers held San Diego scoreless as the Diamondbacks won 2-0 in match of the bottom two teams in the NL West.
Houston's George Springer singled home the winning run in the 11th inning to give the Astros a 5-4 win over Seattle.
News Topics: Sports, MLB baseball, Men's sports, Baseball, Professional baseball
People, Places and Companies: Tim Lincecum, Michael Morse, Angel Pagan, Wily Peralta, Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, Jorge De La Rosa, Tom Koehler, Josh Beckett, Dustin Pedroia, Carl Yastrzemski, Clay Buchholz, Adam LaRoche, Cliff Lee, Stephen Strasburg, Mike Adams, Jake Diekman, Denard Span, Shin-Soo Choo, Alex Rios, Hector Santiago, Wil Myers, Derek Jeter, Rick Porcello, James Shields, Ubaldo Jimenez, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana, Anthony Rizzo, Adam Wainwright, Pedro Alvarez, Starling Marte, Bronson Arroyo, George Springer, San Francisco, Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York City, California, United States, North America, Georgia, Ohio, New York
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