Peña's homer lifts Rays over A's

Ziegler's scoreless streak comes to end

Rays closer Troy Percival hurt his knee on this play as he reaches to tag out Oakland's Mark Ellis after a bunt in the ninth inning. (Maarcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press)

Reliever Brad Ziegler's record scoreless streak was ended by B.J. Upton, and Carlos Peña homered leading off the 12th to give the Tampa Bay Rays a 7-6 win over the Athletics yesterday in Oakland, Calif.

Ziegler started his career by not allowing a run in 39 consecutive innings - including the eighth yesterday - to tie a 59-year-old major league record for relievers. Upton hit an RBI double to give the Rays a 5-4 lead in the ninth.

Peña hit his 23d homer of the season off Santiago Casilla (2-1) and Dioner Navarro added an RBI single as Tampa Bay moved to 26 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history. Jason Hammel (4-3) pitched 2 2/3 innings to earn the win for Tampa Bay, which lost closer Troy Percival to a sprained right knee in the ninth. Percival hurt himself while fielding a sacrifice by Mark Ellis and had to leave the game after limping back to the mound.

"I made the play and I never felt anything pop," said Percival, who wore a thick brace on his right leg and had to use crutches to get around the Rays' clubhouse after the game.

"I took two steps back toward the mound and I was like, 'What the heck just happened?' It got worse and worse and I came in here and it got worse. Now I've got this brace on and I'm good."

Manager Joe Maddon said Percival will remain with the team and be reevaluated today, when the Rays begin a three-game series in Texas.

Dodgers 3, Phillies 1 - Hiroki Kuroda allowed only two base runners in seven brilliant innings, Matt Kemp homered, and host Los Angeles beat Philadelphia to complete its first four-game sweep of the Phillies in 46 years.

The Dodgers' sixth straight win over the Phillies dating to last season kept them tied with Arizona atop the NL West, and dropped Philadelphia one game behind first-place New York in the NL East.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second when James Loney hit a leadoff triple and scored on Nomar Garciaparra's one-out grounder to second. An apparent single by Loney turned into a triple when right fielder Geoff Jenkins failed to make a diving catch and the ball rolled past him to the bullpen gate. Kemp opened the sixth with his 14th homer to make it 2-0.

Mets 9, Nationals 3 - Brian Schneider homered against his former team and Carlos Delgado also went deep to help visiting New York beat Washington, finishing a three-game sweep.

Oliver Perez (9-7) handed a 5-3 lead over to the Mets' beleaguered bullpen in the seventh, and Joe Smith, Duaner Sanchez, and Aaron Heilman combined to throw 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 2 - Chris Snyder and Chris Burke hit consecutive homers in a five-run fifth inning, leading Dan Haren and visiting Arizona past Colorado.

Haren (13-6) pitched eight sharp innings, giving up one run while striking out nine. He also had two hits and scored a run to win for the sixth time in seven starts.

White Sox 9, Royals 2 - Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez, and Juan Uribe hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning to tie a major league record, and host Chicago beat Kansas City to complete a three-game sweep.

Thome's two-out, three-run shot, his 25th this season and 532d of his career, scored Ken Griffey Jr. and Carlos Quentin, who had drawn one-out walks off reliever Joel Peralta.

Chicago set a club record with the four straight homers, and it was the sixth time it had occurred in major league history. The Red Sox were the last team to accomplish the feat, doing it against the Yankees on April 22, 2007.

Cubs 11, Braves 7 - A brief benches-clearing skirmish and only the second cycle in Braves history couldn't stop visiting Chicago from completing its first season sweep of Atlanta.

The Cubs won the season series, 6-0, for their first sweep since the rivalry between the franchises began in 1876.

Mark Kotsay's seventh-inning double off reliever Bob Howry was his 1,500th career hit as he joined Albert Hall as the only Atlanta players to single, double, triple, and homer in the same game. Atlanta lefthander Tom Glavine, returning from a strained elbow, made his first start since June 10.

Padres 3, Brewers 2 - Jake Peavy outpitched Ben Sheets with seven strong innings and host San Diego snapped Milwaukee's eight-game winning streak.

Tigers 5, Blue Jays 1 - Edgar Renteria hit a tiebreaking two-run double in Detroit's five-run eighth inning and the host Tigers avoided a four-game sweep.

Astros 7, Giants 4 - Lance Berkman hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to help lift host Houston to its eighth straight win, giving the Astros, who have won 16 of 20, a four-game sweep of the Giants.

Cardinals 3, Marlins 0 - Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run homer and a run-scoring double, Todd Wellemeyer pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning, and St. Louis beat Florida in Miami.

Reds 3, Pirates 1 - Rookie Chris Dickerson had three hits and broke a sixth-inning tie with a two-out, RBI double to lift visiting Cincinnati.

Orioles 11, Indians 6 - Lou Montanez hit a tiebreaking double during an eight-run eighth inning, and visiting Baltimore went on to beat Cleveland and split their four-game series.