Jurrjens sharp for 7 innings, Braves score 3-game sweep
ATLANTA: Jair Jurrjens pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, Mark Teixeira homered and the Atlanta Braves beat Los Angeles 6-1 in the National League on Sunday for its first sweep of the Dodgers in eight years.
The Braves gave up only three runs in defeating the Dodgers three times.
Jurrjens (2-2) struck out a career-high eight. Russell Martin homered in the fourth inning for the Dodgers' only run.
Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda (1-2) gave up seven hits with four walks in six innings, but allowed only two runs.
Atlanta's Chipper Jones extended his hitting streak to 12 games but he hurt his right quadricep sliding into second base and didn't return.
In Cincinnati, Edwin Encarnacion and Paul Bako hit consecutive homers off Eric Gagne in the 10th inning, and Ken Griffey Jr. followed with a run-scoring single that gave Cincinnati the 4-3 victory.
Encarnacion helped Milwaukee pull ahead 3-1 in the top of the 10th with his sixth fielding error.
Jared Burton (1-1) let in a run with a wild pitch, and J.J. Hardy singled home another.
Gagne (1-1) gave up Encarnacion's second solo homer of the game and Bako's first homer of the season to open the bottom half.
In Miami, Scott Olsen allowed only three hits in seven innings and Hanley Ramirez hit two home runs for Florida which defeated the Nationals 6-1.
Olsen (3-0) gave up one run, won his third start in a row and lowered his ERA to 2.60.
Washington's Odalis Perez pitched six innings but remained winless despite allowing only one run, which was unearned.
Ramirez homered near the 132m sign in center field on the first pitch from reliever Luis Ayala (0-1) to start the seventh, breaking a 1-1 tie.
In Toronto, David Eckstein hit a three-run homer, supplying some of the power Toronto might miss without Frank Thomas, and the Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 in the American League on Sunday.
A.J. Burnett (2-1) issued a season-high six walks in five innings but still managed to win for the first time in four starts. He allowed three runs and four hits.
Toronto released Thomas before the game, one day after the slumping designated hitter became angry for being taken out of the lineup. The move leaves the Blue Jays on the hook for the remainder of the $18 million, two-year contract the 39-year-old Thomas signed in November 2006.
Thomas' replacement, Rod Barajas, went 0-for-3.
In Boston, Sean Casey's bases-loaded walk capped a four-run eighth inning and Boston overcame a 5-0 deficit to beat the Texas Rangers 6-5.
Ian Kinsler led off the game with a home run for Texas. Milton Bradley had a three-run homer off Tim Wakefield (2-0) in the sixth, a shot that hit an advertising sign above the seats in left field and made it 5-0.
Boston closed to 5-2 in the seventh against starter Kevin Millwood on RBI singles by David Ortiz and J.D. Drew.
In Baltimore, Alex Rodriguez hit a RBI double and scored before leaving with a thigh injury, and New York ended a three-game losing streak with a 7-1 win.
Andy Pettitte (3-1) pitched seven scoreless innings, Johnny Damon homered and Derek Jeter had a three-run double as the Yankees avoided their first three-game sweep in Baltimore since 2005. New York dodged its first four-game skid since last July.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/22/2008 page24)
