Bench-clearing brawl as Phillies beat Giants
SAN FRANCISCO – A bench-clearing brawl marred Philadelphia’s 9-2 win over the San Franciso Giants on Friday as the Phillies made it eight straight wins in the National League.
Philadelphia’s Shane Victorino and San Francisco’s Ramon Ramirez and Eli Whiteside all were ejected after benches cleared in the top of the sixth inning. Tempers flared after Ramirez hit Victorino in the back with a pitch. Victorino began walking toward the mound and Whiteside, the catcher, stepped in front of him. Placido Polanco raced in from second base and was tackled by Whiteside.
John Mayberry Jr. hit a two-run homer for his second clout in two games, while Victorino and Hunter Pence also went long for the Phillies.
Philadelphia starter Vance Worley (8-1) won his sixth straight decision, allowing two runs in seven innings, striking out six and walking only one.
Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez (4-6) lasted 4 2-3 innings.
In New York, Dan Uggla extended his career-best hitting streak to 26 games with a two-run single in the eighth inning, as Atlanta beat New York.
Rookie Freddie Freeman doubled twice to run his own hitting streak to 19 games, a personal best, while Braves starter Tim Hudson (11-7) allowed three hits in seven innings.
Jose Constanza had an RBI triple and Michael Bourn a sacrifice fly for Atlanta off R.A. Dickey (5-10). Constanza also made two acrobatic catches to deny Jose Reyes and Jason Heyward also made a diving grab.
The Mets los their fifth straight and fell nine games behind the wild card-leading Braves.
In Miami, Lance Berkman’s second double of the game brought in the winning run in the eighth inning to lead St. Louis over Florida.
Albert Pujols doubled off Florida starter Anibal Sanchez (6-5) to lead off the inning, and Berkman drove Sanchez’s final pitch of the game into center field to put St. Louis on top.
Matt Holliday hit his 18th home run for St. Louis. Mitchell Boggs (1-3) threw a scoreless seventh for the win, and Lance Lynn struck out Mike Stanton with the bases loaded to end the game and seal his first major-league save.
In Phoenix, Rod Barajas homered and drove in three runs as Los Angeles prevented Arizona taking the NL West lead.
The Dodgers matched a season-high with six runs in the third inning off Josh Collmenter (6-7) and escaped a big jam in the seventh when shortstop Dee Gordon made a rally-killing diving catch, turning a bases-loaded line drive into an inning-ending double play.
Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley (10-9) pitched effectively before running into trouble late, while Casey Blake had three of his team’s 11 hits.
In Denver, Ian Desmond had four hits, including a liner that hit Colorado pitcher Juan Nicasio in the head, to lead Washington over the Rockies.
Nicasio was struck in the second inning. The ball slammed into the right side of his head and rebounded off past the first-base line. Nicasio (4-4) was taken to the hospital where he was undergoing tests, the Rockies announced.
Michael Morse homered, Rick Ankiel had three hits and Ryan Zimmerman and Danny Espinosa had two hits each for Washington.
Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann (7-9) allowed just two hits through the first five innings.
In Pittsburgh, Chase Headley’s grand slam highlighted San Diego’s first four-homer game of the season, as the Padres handed Pittsburgh its eighth straight loss.
Headley’s shot capped a six-run fourth inning and was the Padres’ first grand slam of the season. Kyle Blanks, Aaron Cunningham and Jesus Guzman also homered for San Diego, which has won seven consecutive games at PNC Park.
Will Venable had three hits, two runs and two RBIs, Cameron Maybin added three hits and scored two runs and Luis Martinez had three RBIs for San Diego.
Padrews starter Aaron Haring (10-3) won despite allowing 13 hits in five innings.
Pittsburgh’s Jeff Karstens (8-6) gave up nine earned runs in 3 1-3 innings.
In Chicago, Tony Campana drove in two runs with an inside-the-park homer to help Chicago edge Cincinnati and win its sixth straight.
It was the first major league homer for Campana, who also singled and doubled. He became the first Cub to hit an inside-the-park shot at Wrigley Field for his first homer.
Chicago starter Ryan Dempster (9-8) matched his season worst with six walks, but held the Reds to four hits in six innings. Carlos Marmol got three outs for his 24th save.
Reds starter Mike Leake (9-7) allowed three runs in six innings. He had an RBI single.
In Houston, Milwaukee got its ninth win in 10 games by downing Houston.
Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo (13-7) allowed one run over eight innings to take his seventh straight decision over the Astros.
Corey Hart homered in the sixth inning to stretch Milwaukee’s lead to 7-1.
The Brewers got a quick 3-0 lead off J.A. Happ (4-14) in the first inning on an RBI double by Ryan Braun, who had three hits, and a two-run single by Casey McGehee.
