Manny Ramirez is greeted by several teammates after hitting a pinch grand slam - into Mannywood and on his bobblehead night - against the Reds.
(Chris Carlson/Associated Press)
Roundup
Ramírez does job in a pinch
His tie-breaking slam in 6th slays Cincinnati
Manny Ramirez is greeted by several teammates after hitting a pinch grand slam - into Mannywood and on his bobblehead night - against the Reds.
(Chris Carlson/Associated Press)
Manny Ramírez hit a tie-breaking pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth inning on his bobblehead night last night, sending the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-2 victory over Cincinnati, their 12th consecutive at home against the Reds.
Ramírez was kept out of the starting lineup for precautionary reasons with a sore left hand after being hit by a pitch a night earlier.
Fans at the sold-out game chanted “Manny! Manny!’’ as they saw him in the dugout putting on his batting helmet.
Ramírez sent the first pitch from reliever Nick Masset into the “Mannywood’’ section of lower left field seats for his 21st career grand slam, giving Los Angeles a 6-2 lead and exciting the crowd.
Teammates shoved Ramírez onto the top step of the dugout, where he waved his cap to acknowledge a standing ovation for his 11th homer of the season and his first career pinch-hit homer.
Cubs 10, Phillies 5 - Kevin Gregg got Ryan Howard to ground out with the bases loaded in the eighth and worked a perfect ninth to preserve Chicago’s victory, snapping host Philadelphia’s longest winning streak in 18 years at 10 games.
Aramis Ramirez and Jeff Baker each had a two-run double and Carlos Zambrano (7-4) won his third straight start for the Cubs, who avoided their first three-game sweep in Philadelphia since 1999.
The NL East-leading Phillies lost for only the second time in 16 games and fell to .500 at home (24-24), failing to extend their longest winning streak since they won 13 in a row in 1991.
Yankees 6, Orioles 4 - A.J. Burnett won his fourth straight decision and Nick Swisher had a big day with his bat and glove, leading host New York to its sixth consecutive victory.
Jorge Posada homered and drove in two runs, Alex Rodriguez had an RBI single, and Mariano Rivera earned his fifth save in six days. The AL East leaders scored four times in the first inning and sent rookie Jason Berken (1-8) to his eighth loss in a row.
Swisher capped the early outburst with a two-run single and made three fine plays in right field, making up for a third-inning error.
In the ninth, 39-year-old Rivera threw a called third strike past Aubrey Huff to convert his 24th consecutive save and 28th in 29 chances this season.
Astros 4, Cardinals 3 - Miguel Tejada singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth, helping host Houston complete a three-game sweep of St. Louis.
The win pulled the Astros within a game of the NL Central-leading Cardinals after trailing by six games a month ago.
Braves 4, Giants 2 - Jair Jurrjens (9-7) gave up three hits in 7 2/3 innings, Yunel Escobar hit a three-run homer, and surging Atlanta beat Tim Lincecum (10-3) and visiting San Francisco.
The Braves are 6-1 since the All-Star break and are 10-3 in their last 13 games overall. Jurrjens (9-7) earned his third straight win and set a season high with nine strikeouts while allowing one run.
White Sox 4, Rays 3 - Alexei Ramirez hit a two-run triple and Jermaine Dye added a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh as host Chicago rallied.
White Sox reliever D.J. Carrasco (3-0) pitched a perfect seventh and Matt Thornton pitched two scoreless innings for his first save of the season.
Blue Jays 10, Indians 6 - Marco Scutaro hit two of host Toronto’s season-high five home runs and matched a career-high with four RBIs in a rout of Cleveland.
Aaron Hill, Alex Rios, and Vernon Wells all hit solo home runs.
Pirates 8, Brewers 7 - Brandon Moss hit Pittsburgh’s season-high fifth homer of the game leading off the ninth inning and the host Pirates won a series against Milwaukee for the first time in two years.
Athletics 16, Twins 1 - Rajai Davis drove in four runs, Scott Hairston hit a three-run homer, and host Oakland jumped all over starter Glen Perkins.
Mariners 2, Tigers 1 - Russell Branyan hit a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning to give Felix Hernandez (11-3) and Seattle the victory in Detroit.
Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 3 - Todd Helton hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning and drove in a run with his 500th career double, lifting Colorado over visiting Arizona.
Marlins 5, Padres 0 - Ricky Nolasco fanned 10 and combined with three relievers on a three-hitter, helping Florida to a three-game sweep in San Diego.
Nationals 3, Mets 1 - Craig Stammen pitched into the eighth inning, Josh Willingham hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, and host Washington beat New York for the second straight night.
Angels 9, Royals 6 - Maicer Izturis had four RBIs and Los Angeles scored five runs in the eighth inning to complete a three-game sweep in Kansas City.
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