National League roundup

[May 14, 2009]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Randy Wolf had the kind of performance that used to get the fans howling in Philadelphia. Wolf dominated his former team, James Loney homered and drove in four runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Phillies 9-2 on Wednesday night.

Wolf (2-1) allowed one run and three hits, striking out eight in six sharp innings in his second career start against the Phillies. Wolf spent his first eight years in Philadelphia, leaving after the 2006 season. His fan club called itself the Wolf Pack and used to sit in the bleachers wearing masks when he pitched.

"There's a lot of moments here, that's for sure," Wolf said.

The only sounds the fans were making as they watched Wolf mow down the Phillies were boos. The only down side for Wolf was his pitch count. He threw 113.

"I didn't think I was very efficient," Wolf said. "I ran some deep counts. That's a tough lineup. You've got to be careful out there. They're dangerous."

Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez hit solo homers for the Phillies, who got another poor outing from 46-year-old Jamie Moyer (3-3).

Moyer still needs one victory to become the oldest pitcher to reach 250. He allowed seven runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings, while his ERA rose to 8.15.

"I don't really feel frustrated," Moyer said. "I'm not making pitches I'd like to make. Every mistake I make has gotten hit hard. I guess I have to be mistake-free."

The Dodgers, who have the best record in the NL at 23-12, won for the second time in six games without suspended slugger Manny Ramirez.

Moyer breezed through the first three innings, allowing just one hit. But the Dodgers got five runs off him in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.

Rafael Furcal doubled to start the inning and Orlando Hudson lined an RBI double to left. After a one-out walk to Russell Martin, Loney hit a three-run drive to right for his first homer this season.

"It feels good," Loney said. "Sometimes we all struggle at the same time. But the guys swung the bats well. Hopefully we'll keep it up."

Nationals 6, Giants 3

At San Francisco, Ryan Zimmerman went 0 for 3 with two walks to end his hitting streak at 30 games, but Shairon Martis (5-0) allowed two hits over seven sharp innings to remain unbeaten this season for the Nationals.

Zimmerman fell just short of Vladimir Guerrero's franchise-record streak of 31 games for the Montreal Expos in 1999.

Braves 8, Mets 7, 12 innings

At New York, Martin Prado homered in the 12th inning off 40-year-old rookie Ken Takahashi (0-1) to lift the Braves after they wasted three leads.

Gary Sheffield tied it in the eighth with his second home run of the season and 501st of his career and Fernando Tatis hit a grand slam for the Mets.

Jeff Bennett (1-1) got six outs for the win and Mike Gonzalez earned his sixth save.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 2

At Pittsburgh, Adam LaRoche became the first player to have a home run taken away by video replay, but the last-place Pirates won behind Ross Ohlendorf (4-3), who allowed two hits over six innings.

The Pirates had lost eight in a row and 12 of 13 before outscoring the Cardinals 12-3 to win the first two games of the series. The Cardinals have lost five in a row in Pittsburgh.

Brewers 8, Marlins 6

At Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks homered for the third straight game and the Brewers rallied again, benefiting from an umpires' video replay reversal.

Marlins pinch-hitter Ross Gload apparently hit a two-run homer down the right-field line off Braden Looper in the sixth inning that would've cut Milwaukee's lead to 8-7.

But first base umpire Bruce Dreckman's call was reversed after a video replay, the first at Miller Park since baseball adopted the system late last August.

It was the second home run taken away by replay Wednesday night. Hours earlier, Pittsburgh's Adam LaRoche became the first player to lose one.

Cubs 6, Padres 4, 7 1/2 innings

At Chicago, Alfonso Soriano hit his 53rd career leadoff homer and the Cubs won a rain-shortened game.

Soriano moved into a tie for second place on the all-time list with Craig Biggio. Ryan Theriot added two homers and Geovany Soto went deep for the first time this season in a game that was stopped following a 58-minute delay before the bottom of the eighth.

Astros 15, Rockies 11

At Denver, Lance Berkman went 4 for 4 and the Astros finished with 24 hits.

Berkman drove in two runs and scored three times for the Astros, who were one hit shy of their franchise record for a nine-inning game set against Atlanta on May 30, 1976. Geoff Blum matched his career high with five RBIs.

Mike Hampton (2-3) was the beneficiary of all the run support.

Reds 10, Diamondbacks 3

At Phoenix, Brandon Phillips drove in four runs and the Reds completed a three-game sweep

Gerardo Parra homered in his first major league at-bat, but Arizona could muster little offense beyond that against Johnny Cueto.

Willy Taveras singled three times, scoring twice, to extend his hitting streak to 14 games and Jerry Hairston Jr. doubled and tripled as the Reds won for the sixth time in seven games to climb a season-best six games above .500.

[Associated Press; By ROB MAADDI]

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