Indians keep tossing zeros

Byrd, bullpen throw 4th shutout in 7 games

The Indians' Grady Sizemore has no trouble beating the throw to A's first baseman Daric Barton during a sixth-inning pickoff attempt. (Mark Duncan/Associated Press)

Paul Byrd and two relievers combined for the Indians' fourth shutout in seven games with a 4-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics last night in Cleveland.

Byrd (2-3) allowed five hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out seven without a walk.

The righthander extended the Indians' scoreless streak to 34 innings by their starting staff. The last run allowed by a Cleveland starter came Friday night in the fifth inning against Toronto by C.C. Sabathia - the only run yielded by an Indians starter in the last 39 innings.

Travis Hafner singled home a first-inning run off Justin Duchscherer (3-2) and Ryan Garko hit a three-run homer off Andrew Brown in the eighth.

Rafael Perez retired the only batter he faced and Masahide Kobayashi worked the final 1 2/3 innings for his first save.

Reds 5, Marlins 3 - Edinson Volquez pitched six effective innings, Joey Votto homered, and host Cincinnati earned a costly victory over Florida.

Reds shortstop Jeff Keppinger fouled a pitch off his leg in the second and X-rays revealed a broken left kneecap. He drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0 and played defense in the third and fourth innings before departing. The team said Keppinger is scheduled for an MRI today.

Volquez (6-1) allowed one earned run and a season-high seven hits with two walks. His National League-leading ERA rose from 1.06 to 1.12 and he struck out five to increase his league-best total to 57.

Brewers 5, Dodgers 3 - Ryan Braun delivered a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth inning and Eric Gagné made a bid to reclaim his job as Milwaukee's closer in a win over visiting Los Angeles.

Gagné earned his 10th save, but he allowed a leadoff single to Russell Martin before getting Blake DeWitt to hit into a fielder's choice and Mark Sweeney to fly out. DeWitt advanced to second on a passed ball, and Gagné walked Andruw Jones before getting Juan Pierre to pop out to end the game.

Angels 2, White Sox 0 - Jered Weaver and two relievers combined to pitch a three-hitter and Mike Napoli hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly to lead host Los Angeles.

Giants 4, Astros 2 - Matt Cain (2-3) hit a solo home run and earned his first victory in three starts as host San Francisco snapped Houston's four-game winning streak.

Blue Jays 5, Twins 3 - Matt Stairs homered and scored twice, giving visiting Toronto's offense a needed lift in a win over Minnesota.

Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 4 - Backed by Stephen Drew's three-run homer, Randy Johnson went five shaky innings for his 287th career victory as host Arizona downed Colorado.

The Big Unit (3-1) gave up four runs and nine hits, striking out four and walking none.

Mets 6, Nationals 3 - Ryan Church homered, doubled, and drove in four runs against his former team and John Maine pitched six sharp innings to lead host New York over Washington.

Maine (5-2) allowed just two runs - one earned - and two hits and retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced after giving up Ryan Zimmerman's two-run homer to left in the third.

Pirates 8, Cardinals 4 - Ronny Paulino drove in the go-ahead run in a four-run 10th inning in visiting Pittsburgh's win over St. Louis.

Padres 4, Cubs 3 - Khalil Greene hit a three-run home run to help Shawn Estes earn his first victory since 2005 in visiting San Diego's triumph over Chicago.

Rangers 5, Mariners 2 - Ramon Vazquez drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning sacrifice fly for host Texas.

Phillies 5, Braves 4 - Jayson Werth drove in four runs and Kyle Kendrick (3-2) pitched six effective innings to lift host Philadelphia past Atlanta.

Royals 3, Tigers 2 - Jose Guillen drove in a pair of runs to help host Kansas City rally to beat Detroit.