Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

July 19, 2012

Major League Roundup: Dodgers outlast Phillies

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - The game began with an intense pitcher's duel between Cy Young Award-winning left-handers Clayton Kershaw and Cliff Lee. That lasted for eight innings. It ended four innings later with slugger Matt Kemp doing what he does best.

Kemp hit a two-run homer in the 12th, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

Rookie left-hander Jake Diekman (2-0) walked Mark Ellis with one out and Kemp drove a 1-0 pitch the other way into the pavilion seats in right-center for his 13th home run and sixth career walkoff homer, capping the 4-hour, 25-minute marathon.

"I was struggling all day, I had to do something, man," Kemp said. "I think we were all getting a little frustrated and a little tired, but we fought until the end. We got the 'W' and that's all that matters. It feels good to hit that home run. That's the hardest ball I've hit since I've been back (from the disabled list). I feel really good. My legs are getting under me."

Jamey Wright (4-2), the sixth Dodgers pitcher, worked one inning for the victory as the Dodgers ended a four-game losing streak.

Hunter Pence hit a two-run single in the 10th with the bases loaded to give Philadelphia a 3-1 lead. But the Dodgers responded with two runs in the bottom half against closer Jonathan Papelbon, whose blown save was his third in 24 opportunities.

NATIONALS 4, METS 3: Jordan Zimmermann pitched six shutout innings, Adam LaRoche hit a two-run homer and Washington won at home.

PADRES 8, ASTROS 4: Yonder Alonso went 2 for 4 with three RBI and San Diego used a five-run fourth inning to win at home.

BREWERS 4, CARDINALS 3: Milwaukee pounced on Adam Wainwright and a shaky St. Louis infield early, then held on to win at home.

Francisco Rodriguez walked in a run before getting Lance Berkman to fly out with the bases loaded, nailing down his second save since taking over as the team's closer Tuesday night.

PIRATES 9, ROCKIES 6: Garrett Jones had three hits, including one of Pittsburgh's four home runs, Pedro Alvarez also homered and the Pirates won at Denver.

DIAMONDBACKS 7, REDS 1: Jason Kubel returned from a sore hamstring and homered in his first two at-bats, powering Arizona at Cincinnati.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

YANKEES 6, BLUE JAYS 0: Hiroki Kuroda pitched four-hit ball, Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer in a four-run first inning and New York completed a thorough sweep of visiting Toronto with a rain-shortened victory.

The game was called after a 58-minute rain delay before the Yankees could come to bat in the seventh.

ATHLETICS 4, RANGERS 3: Brandon Hicks led off the bottom of the ninth with a towering home run to center for his first major league homer, lifting Oakland over visiting Texas.

TIGERS 7, ANGELS 2: Doug Fister gave up just two hits over eight innings and Prince Fielder capped a four-run second inning with a two-run single to help Detroit win at home.

ORIOLES 2, TWINS 1: Adam Jones hit a two-run homer in the first inning against Francisco Liriano and Baltimore hung on to win at Minneapolis.

INDIANS 10, RAYS 6: Carlos Santana hit a three-run homer during a five-run seventh inning as Cleveland won at St. Petersburg, Fla.

ROYALS 8, MARINERS 7: Billy Butler homered to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning to give Kansas City a win over visiting Seattle.

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