PITTSBURGH – A.J. Burnett took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Wednesday night, nearly 12 years after throwing the only one of his career, pitching the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-0 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Burnett (1-2) lost his bid with two outs in the seventh on Carlos Beltran’s double to right-center. That was the lone hit given up in seven dominant innings.

The only other runner he allowed came when he hit Daniel Descalso with a 2-2 pitch with one out in the sixth to end his shot at a perfect game. Burnett struck out eight to raise his season total to 35 in 24 innings.

His bid for a no-hitter came on a night when he recorded the 2,000th strikeout of his 15-year career. Burnett reached the milestone when he caught Beltran looking to lead off the second.

REDS SWEEP PHILLIES: Jay Bruce’s pair of bases-loaded singles led Cincinnati to a couple of wins at home, 1-0 over Philadelphia in the conclusion of a suspended game and 11-2 in the later one.

The Reds completed their first sweep of the Phillies since 1996.

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First they finished their game suspended overnight by rain. Phillippe Aumont (1-2) picked the game up in the bottom of the ninth and gave up Bruce’s bases-loaded single only four batters later.

NATIONALS 6, MARLINS 1: Ross Detwiler departed with a lead for the third straight start, and this time the bullpen held on as Washington won at Miami.

Bryce Harper, back in the Nationals’ lineup after missing one game with the flu, hiked his average to .364 with four hits and improved to 8 for 12 against Ricky Nolasco (0-2). Harper hit two solo homers off Nolasco on opening day.

BREWERS 4, GIANTS 3: Pinch-hitter Blake Lalli lifted a long single in the bottom of the ninth inning as Milwaukee won at home.

With the score tied, one out and the outfielders playing in, Lalli lofted a deep fly ball well over left fielder Gregor Blanco.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

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ATHLETICS 7, ASTROS 5: Bartolo Colon pitched six crisp innings, Josh Reddick doubled in two runs during a six-run first and Oakland won at home to complete another three-game sweep.

The Athletics swept a three-game series at Houston during the first week of the season.

WHITE SOX 7, BLUE JAYS 0: Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer and Jose Quintana pitched 62/3 innings to lead Chicago at Toronto.

Alex Rios also homered to back Quintana (1-0), who held the Blue Jays to five hits with two walks, striking out seven.

RAYS 6, ORIOLES 2: Kelly Johnson and Shelley Duncan homered, James Loney had three RBI and Tampa Bay won at Baltimore to snap a four-game skid.

INTERLEAGUE

ROYALS 1, BRAVES 0: Wade Davis pitched five-hit ball for seven innings, Jeff Francoeur had a fourth-inning RBI single, and visiting Kansas City stopped Atlanta’s 10-game winning streak.

YANKEES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3: Travis Hafner had a pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning to make a winner of CC Sabathia, who settled down after a shaky start for New York at home.


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