MLB Wrap: Halladay shutout lifts Phillies over Braves

ATLANTA — Roy Halladay threw his first National League shutout — getting a couple of big assists from his defense — as the Philadelphia Phillies blanked the Atlanta Braves 2-0 on Wednesday.

Halladay (4-0), acquired in the offseason from Toronto, has lived up to the hype in his first four NL starts. He has worked 33 innings, allowing only three earned runs for an 0.82 ERA.

Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth both hit RBI doubles against Braves starter Tim Hudson (1-1), but the win owed as much to a pair of brilliant defensive plays.

Center fielder Shane Victorino stole away a likely homer from Troy Glaus with a leaping catch in the second, and second baseman Chase Utley made a diving stop on a shot up the middle to start an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Halladay pitched his 16th career shutout. Last season, he led the majors with a career-high four.

Padres 5, Giants 2
In San Diego, the hosts won their sixth straight, downing San Francisco.

Jon Garland (1-2) held the slumping Giants to one run in seven strong innings.

Nick Hundley hit a two-run homer and Adrian Gonzalez added a solo homer for San Diego, which has won 10 of 12 against the Giants at Petco Park.

San Francisco's Todd Wellemeyer (0-3) had another rough start as he allowed two runs over four innings.

Cardinals 9, Diamondbacks 4
In Phoenix, Colby Rasmus homered twice, including a tiebreaking shot in the ninth, as St. Louis got a testy win over Arizona.

The benches emptied in the second inning when Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, after being hit by a pitch, tried to take out Arizona second baseman Kelly Johnson when running on a double-play ball. No punches were thrown.

It was 4-4 when Rasmus opened the ninth with a home run off Chad Qualls (0-1). The Cardinals wound up scoring five times in the inning, capped by Skip Schumaker's three-run homer.

Jason Motte (1-1) got the victory for the Cardinals, who have won all five of their series this season.

Nationals 6, Rockies 4
In Washington, the home team beat Colorado, staying undefeated when the starting pitcher goes at least five innings.

John Lannan lasted long enought to mean the Nationals are 8-0 when their starter goes at least five, 0-7 when he doesn't.

Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard (3-0) struck out three in two scoreless innings.

The game was tied entering the eighth, when Rockies reliever Rafael Betancourt (0-1) allowed a leadoff single. After an intentional walk, Nieves lined a double.

Ivan Rodriguez padded the lead with a sacrifice fly before an announced crowd of 11,191, the lowest in three seasons at Nationals Park.

Brewers 8, Pirates 0
In Pittsburgh, Yovani Gallardo struck out 10 in five shutout innings to steer Milwaukee over Pittsburgh.

Nine of the first 11 Pittsburgh batters that Gallardo (1-2) retired came by strikeout.

The Brewers' Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks and Jody Gerut hit home runs and Alcides Escobar tripled in consecutive innings for Milwaukee, which has won three straight.

Pirates starter Zach Duke (2-1) allowed each of the Milwaukee homers.

Dodgers 14, Reds 6
In Cincinnati, Rafael Furcal drove in four runs with a single, double and triple to highlight another big performance by the majors' best-hitting lineup, as Los Angeles thumped Cincinnati.

Hiroki Kuroda (2-0) gave up a pair of homers and had an overturned call go against him, but got the win.

The Reds have lost six of seven, with their rotation still lacking a victory. Top starter Aaron Harang (0-3) had another rough time, giving up 10 hits in only 5 2-3 innings.

The Dodgers got hits from top to bottom, piling up 18 overall and scoring in all but one inning while reaching a season high in runs.

Astros 5, Marlins 4
In Houston, Geoff Blum's first career pinch-hit triple drove in two runs in the seventh inning to propel Houston over Florida.

Blum's hit off Burke Badenhop (0-2) was chased almost to the wall in center field, and gave the Astros their fourth straight win.

Humberto Quintero had two hits including a homer for the Astros, while Wilton Lopez (1-0) got the win.

The Marlins suffered their first series defeat of the season.

Cubs 9, Mets 3
In New York, Chicago snapped a run of four straight defeats by beating New York.

Carlos Silva (2-0) added six crisp innings to his surprising comeback, using his heavy sinker to cede only one run.

Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer for the Cubs.

A record-low Citi Field crowd watched as the Mets' late rally petered out against Chicago's floundering bullpen.

Odalis Perez (0-2) took the loss.

Yankees 3, Athletics 1
In Oakland, California, New York Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes was on track for a no-hitter until the eight inning, but had to be satisfied with a 3-1 win over the Oakland Athletics in the American League on Wednesday.

Hughes (2-0) struck out a career-high 10 in the Yankees' sixth straight win. He was in complete control until Eric Chavez opened the eighth with a one-hopper that went back to the mound. The Yankees pitcher had little time to react and the ball struck his left hip. Hughes couldn't find the ball in front of the mound as Chavez hustled for a single.

This was the second near-miss for the defending World Series champions in a couple of weeks. C.C. Sabathia held Tampa Bay hitless for 7 2-3 innings.

Twins 6, Indians 0
In Minneapolish, Francisco Liriano struck out six in eight scoreless innings to guide Minnesota over Cleveland.

Liriano (2-1) walked just two in a return to the form that made him an All-Star in 2006.

Michael Cuddyer had a homer, a two-run triple in the eighth and three RBIs for the Twins.

Indians starter David Huff (1-2) walked six and allowed four runs in six innings.

Rays 12, White Sox 0
In Chicago, Tampa Bay rookie Wade Davis outpitched a very imperfect Mark Buehrle as the Rays smashed Chicago.

Davis (1-1) struck out six in six scoreless innings. After giving up a bunt single to start the game and walking three of the next five batters, he settled down, didn't walk anybody else and the only other hit he allowed was a single in the sixth.

Tampa Bay's Sean Rodriguez homered and drove in four runs.

Buehrle (2-2) was facing the Rays for the first time since his perfect game against them last season. He allowed six runs in 4 2-3 innings as the White Sox lost for the fifth time in six games to fall into last place in the AL Central.

Tigers 4, Angels 3
In Anaheim, California, Miguel Cabrera hit a tying homer leading off the ninth inning and Ramon Santiago drove in the winner as Detroit edged Los Angeles.

Angels reliever Brian Fuentes (0-1), just off the disabled list after missing 14 games with a back strain, went to a full count against Cabrera before the Tigers' cleanup hitter homered to left-center. It was his fourth home run of the season and team-high 18th RBI.

Fuentes then walked Carlos Guillen and struck out Dan Kelly. Guillen stole second before a walk to Gerald Laird. Guillen was picked off on the basepath for the second out, but Santiago got a single to left field to score Laird.

Detroit's Phil Coke (2-0) got the win with a scoreless eighth inning.

Royals 4, Blue Jays 3 (10 innings)
In Toronto, Alex Gordon picked a good time for his first homer of the season, going long with two outs in the tenth to give Kansas City victory over Toronto.

Gordon drove a pitch from Scott Downs (0-1) to centerfield. It was just the second hit of the season for Gordon, who missed the first 10 games with a broken thumb.

Jose Guillen hit a three-run homer for Kansas City and Alex Gonzalez had a two-run shot for Toronto, before the Blue Jays scored a run in the eighth to tie the game.

Robinson Tejeda (1-1) worked one inning for the win as the Royals avoided a series sweep.

Red Sox 8, Rangers 7 (12 innings)
In Boston, Kevin Youkilis hit an RBI double with two outs in the 12th as Boston sneaked a victory that extended Texas' losing skid to six games.

Youkilis' shot rebounded off the base of the left-center field wall. It was Boston's second straight last at-bat win.

J.D. Drew hit a grand slam for the Red Sox, and Darnell McDonald homered in his second straight game.

Texas' Josh Hamilton hit a three-run homer in the seventh that made it 7-7.

Neither team did much in the extra innings until Marco Scutaro singled with one out in the 12th. After an intentional walk, Youkilis delivered against Dustin Nippert (0-2).

Mariners 4, Orioles 1
In Seattle, Felix Hernandez pitched the eighth complete-game of his career to steer Seattle past Baltimore.

Hernandez (2-0) wasn't at his sharpest, but didn't issue a walk and limited Baltimore to a lone unearned run.

Jack Wilson provided a decisive three-run double as the Mariners completed the three-game sweep of the Orioles, who dropped to 2-14 and continued the worst start for the franchise since 1988.

Kevin Millwood (0-3) threw a complete-game for Baltimore.