Peavy, Padres shut out Dodgers

Starter's return from DL boosted by 5-run 1st inning

Padres ace Jake Peavy was strong in his first start since May 15, allowing 3 hits over 6 innings. (SANDY HUFFAKER/Associated Press)

San Diego's Jake Peavy made it look so easy, almost as if he had never been away.

Peavy, pitching for the first time in nearly a month since injuring his elbow, threw six solid innings and combined with three relievers on a five-hitter yesterday to lift the host Padres to a 9-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Diego made life easier for Peavy by scoring five runs in the first inning.

"I've got a long way to go to be where I want to be," said Peavy. "But I was able to make some good pitches when I had to. I wasn't asked to grind it out because of the score. I was able to pitch to contact."

The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner looked as if he hadn't missed five starts.

"He gave us a great outing with shutout ball," said Adrian Gonzalez. "He's one of the big keys for us. Having him back out there was pretty awesome."

The Padres gave Peavy plenty of support, hitting consecutive home runs in the first - a three-run shot by Brian Giles and a solo blast by Gonzalez - off Hiroki Kuroda (3-6) en route to a 5-0 lead.

Justin Hampson, Brian Corey, and Mike Adams each pitched one inning to complete the shutout.

Peavy (5-3) had been sidelined with a strained right elbow since he lost his last outing May 14, an 8-5 decision to the Cubs in Chicago.

Peavy gave up a leadoff single to Juan Pierre in the first, then retired 12 straight batters. The righthander allowed three hits, struck out four, and did not walk a batter.

"Nothing was real sharp and electric, by any means," he said. "I think that comes with the rust. You lose a little bit of arm strength, you lose a little bit of that endurance and stamina and giddy-up."

Yankees 4, Athletics 1 - Hideki Matsui hit a grand slam on his 34th birthday to help Andy Pettitte move into a tie for fourth place on New York's career wins list with a victory in Oakland, Calif.

Pettitte (6-5) bounced back from giving up a career-high-tying 10 runs last Saturday against Kansas City to shut down the A's and tie Ron Guidry with his 170th victory for New York. Pettitte allowed one run and five hits in eight innings.

Phillies 3, Marlins 0 - Jamie Moyer (7-3) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and visiting Philadelphia scored two runs off a wild pitch on the way to beating Florida and avoiding a three-game sweep.

Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins, and Pedro Feliz all had two hits for the first-place Phillies, who moved three games ahead of the Marlins in the NL East.

Diamondbacks 5, Mets 4 - Billy Wagner coughed up his third consecutive save chance, this time wasting a splendid pitching performance by Johan Santana (10 strikeouts in seven shutout innings) and allowing Arizona to rally past host New York in 10 innings.

Justin Upton doubled leading off the 10th against Aaron Heilman (0-3) and scored on Miguel Montero's sacrifice fly to help the Diamondbacks take two of three in the series.

Cubs 3, Braves 2 - Jeff Ridgway hit pinch hitter Reed Johnson with the bases loaded in the 11th inning and host Chicago beat reeling Atlanta.

The Braves have lost six straight and can't seem to win away from Turner Field. They fell to 7-24 on the road this season and have lost their last 21 one-run games on the road since August, matching the longest such streak in major league history.

Reds 6, Cardinals 2 - Brandon Phillips hit a three-run triple in a four-run seventh inning and host Cincinnati beat St. Louis.

Giants 10, Rockies 7 - In Denver, Fred Lewis hit a three-run homer, Ray Durham picked up his 2,000th career hit, and San Francisco avoided being swept by Colorado.

Pirates 7, Nationals 5 - Ryan Doumit hit his fourth home run of the three-game series in Pittsburgh, powering the Pirates past Washington.

Brewers 9, Astros 6 - Ben Sheets (7-1) struck out a season-high nine, Mike Cameron and Corey Hart homered for the second straight game, and Milwaukee won in Houston.

Indians 12, Twins 2 - Ben Francisco and Jamey Carroll had four hits apiece to lead injury-depleted Cleveland over visiting Minnesota.

Kelly Shoppach, starting in place of Victor Martinez, had a pair of RBI singles. Carroll went 4 for 4 with an RBI and was 8 for 9 in the three-game series. Francisco went 4 for 5 with three RBIs.

Tigers 2, White Sox 1 - Miguel Cabrera hit a walkoff solo homer in the ninth inning and Detroit beat visiting Chicago to complete a three-game sweep.

Cabrera's ninth homer of the season came after a pitching duel between Detroit's Kenny Rogers and White Sox lefthander Mark Buehrle. Both starters allowed one run in eight innings, and the game lasted just 2 hours 4 minutes.

Royals 6, Rangers 5 - Alex Gordon and Mike Aviles hit two-run homers and host Kansas City avoided a three-game sweep by Texas.