Marlins beat Phillies again
Phillies starting pitcher Joe Blanton
Florida Marlins, Friday night in Philadelphia.
ASSOCIATED PRESS / MATT SLOCUM
PHILADELPHIA - Rick VandenHurk pitched six solid innings and Jorge Cantu drove in three runs as the Florida Marlins once again beat the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 Friday night.
Cameron Maybin had four hits, scored three times and drove in a run. The Marlins have won six of the last seven against the Phillies.
VandenHurk (3-2) gave up two runs on five hits. Three Florida relievers combined for three scoreless innings.
Ryan Howard's 44th homer accounted for the Phillies' only runs. He connected in the first inning and increased his RBI total to 140.
Joe Blanton (12-8) was shaky for the second straight outing, allowing five runs and nine hits in six-plus innings.
Philadelphia is racing the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in NL and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The loss meant the Dodgers would clinch it with a win late Friday night.
NATIONALS 6
BRAVES 3
ATLANTA -- Ian Desmond homered, tripled and drove in three runs and Washington kept up their strong finish to a dismal season by beating Atlanta.
The Nationals, who lead the majors with 103 losses, have a five-game winning streak, their second-longest string of the year.
The Braves have lost four straight. They were eliminated from the NL wild-card race on Thursday.
METS 7, ASTROS 1
NEW YORK -- Jeff Francoeur and Daniel Murphy each homered to help New York beat Houston in the opener of their final series of the season.
David Wright had an RBI double in the first and finished with three hits for New York, which had lost four of five -- including an embarrassing three-game sweep at Washington.
Phillies starting pitcher Joe Blanton pitches in the first inning against the Florida Marlins, Friday night in Philadelphia. ASSOCIATED PRESS / MATT SLOCUM
PHILADELPHIA - Rick VandenHurk pitched six solid innings and Jorge Cantu drove in three runs as the Florida Marlins once again beat the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 Friday night.
Cameron Maybin had four hits, scored three times and drove in a run. The Marlins have won six of the last seven against the Phillies.
VandenHurk (3-2) gave up two runs on five hits. Three Florida relievers combined for three scoreless innings.
Ryan Howard's 44th homer accounted for the Phillies' only runs. He connected in the first inning and increased his RBI total to 140.
Joe Blanton (12-8) was shaky for the second straight outing, allowing five runs and nine hits in six-plus innings.
Philadelphia is racing the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in NL and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The loss meant the Dodgers would clinch it with a win late Friday night.
NATIONALS 6
BRAVES 3
ATLANTA -- Ian Desmond homered, tripled and drove in three runs and Washington kept up their strong finish to a dismal season by beating Atlanta.
The Nationals, who lead the majors with 103 losses, have a five-game winning streak, their second-longest string of the year.
The Braves have lost four straight. They were eliminated from the NL wild-card race on Thursday.
METS 7, ASTROS 1
NEW YORK -- Jeff Francoeur and Daniel Murphy each homered to help New York beat Houston in the opener of their final series of the season.
David Wright had an RBI double in the first and finished with three hits for New York, which had lost four of five -- including an embarrassing three-game sweep at Washington.
John Maine (7-6) pitched seven innings and improved to 4-1 with a 3.28 ERA in five career starts against Houston. He allowed one run on five hits in his longest outing since he was activated Sept. 13 after being sidelined with a sore right shoulder.
Wandy Rodriguez (14-12) completed a breakout season with six effective innings for Houston, which has lost three of four. He allowed three runs on eight hits.
DIAMONDBACKS 12
CUBS 3
CHICAGO -- Eric Byrnes homered twice and drove in five runs, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Chicago Cubs 12-3 Friday in the opener of the final series of disappointing seasons for both teams.
Chris Young homered and had four hits, and Rusty Ryal drove in four runs for Arizona (69-91), which already is assured of finishing last in the NL West. The Diamondbacks have missed the playoffs two years in a row since sweeping the Cubs in the first round in 2007 and then losing in four games to Colorado.
Chicago was been expected to win a third consecutive NL Central title but instead is 82-77 and headed to a second-place finish behind St. Louis.
PIRATES 3, REDS 1
CINCINNATI -- Rookie Daniel McCutchen pitched into the seventh inning for his first major league win and Lastings Milledge homered, leading Pittsburgh past Cincinnati.
Andy LaRoche drove in two runs despite twice being thrown out trying to stretch singles into doubles.
McCutchen (1-2) made his major league debut with a no-decision at Cincinnati on Aug. 31, and had been winless in five starts for Pittsburgh. He held the Reds scoreless until Wladimir Balentien's 467-foot home run.
BREWERS 12
CARDINALS 6
ST. LOUIS -- Adam Wainwright's hope for a 20th victory unraveled along with the St. Louis bullpen and Milwaukee rallied for the win.
Ryan Braun doubled twice to leave him one hit short of 200 and drove in the tying run before scoring the go-ahead one in Milwaukee's six-run seventh inning.
Wainwright retired 15 in a row before consecutive one-out doubles by Craig Counsell and Braun cut the deficit to 6-1 in the sixth, and was pulled after allowing singles to Jody Gerut and Alcides Escobar to start the seventh.
Around the NL
Pitching coach Dick Pole has been fired by the Cincinnati Reds. Pole was finishing his third season with the team, which began Friday seventh in the National League with a 4.52 ERA. ... Lenny Dykstra's championship ring from the 1986 World Series has been auctioned off for more than $56,000. Heritage Auctions in Dallas said Friday that a collector from Queens, N.Y., won with a bid of $56,762.50.
