THE CANADIAN PRESS

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

The Philadelphia Phillies may have benefited from an instant replay in the seventh inning. Too bad the rule only is in effect for home run calls.

Enlarge Photo

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Paul Beaty

Philadelphia Phillies' Chase Utley falls after avoiding a pitch during the ninth inning.

Ryan Howard was called out on a close play at first, thwarting a rally that helped the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 for their seventh straight win. Since the new system put in place this week deals only with boundary calls on home runs, there was no way to review the pivotal play. TV replays showed that Howard beat the throw to the bag with two outs in a tie game in the seventh inning and Jimmy Rollins at third.

But Howard was called out, the game remained tied and Alfonso Soriano homered in the bottom half for the surging Cubs.

"I was pretty sure I was safe. ... It's definitely frustrating. It changes the outcome of the game," Howard said. "It changes the momentum. Instead of being down 3-2, they get out of the inning, Soriano comes up and hits a home run, now they're up 3-2."

Howard was not advocating that replay should be expanded.

"I don't really want to get into that stuff as far as taking instant replay to every aspect of the game," Howard said. 'But the safe or out calls are definitely important. Today, the one that we're focused on right now, it changed the outcome of the game."

Elsewhere in the NL it was: New York 5 Florida 4; Milwaukee 3 Pittsburgh 1; Houston 3 St. Louis 2; Cincinnati 11 San Francisco 7; Washington 7 Atlanta 3; Arizona 9 Los Angeles 3 and Colorado 9 San Diego 4.

At Chicago, Victoria's Rich Harden started for the Cubs but did not factor into the decision.

Soriano's first homer in 15 days and 23rd of the season came off Clay Condrey (3-4). Chicago made the most of four hits and improved its record to a major league-best 85-50, including 51-19 at Wrigley Field.

"We're playing good because we feel very confident at home and everybody is healthy," Soriano said.

Philadelphia had put runners at the corners with two outs in the top of the seventh before Howard's hard grounder went off Derrek Lee. The first baseman retrieved the ball, tossed to pitcher Jeff Samardzija and first base umpire Chris Guccione called Howard out. In the ensuing argument from Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and third base coach Steve Smith, Smith was ejected by plate umpire Bill Welke.

"As long as you get it right, I don't want to get into the replay thing," Manuel said. "The guy called him out and the ump wasn't going to change it."

Samardzija (1-0), a former Notre Dame receiver, got his first major league win. Carlos Marmol struck out two with two on in the eighth and pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in nine chances.

"I don't know. It happened so fast," Samardzija said of the play at first. "I didn't really feel him hit the bag. I just wanted to go over there and get the ball. And you know (Guccione) called him out, so he's out."

Lee wasn't sure.

"The ball kicked away from me. I was able to get it," Lee said. "A bang-bang play and I don't know. I didn't see a replay yet, but I heard it was pretty close."

Philadelphia, which lost its third in a row, dropped two games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.

Mets 5 Marlins 4

At Miami, Carlos Beltran hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning off Kevin Gregg, and the bullpen held on for New York in a win over Florida.

-

Brewers 3 Pirates 1

At Pittsburgh, Ryan Braun hit a three-run home run, and Milwaukee handed the Pirates their eighth straight loss.

-

Astros 3 Cardinals 2

At Houston, Lance Berkman hit a game-ending solo home run off former teammate Russ Springer to lift the Astros over St. Louis.

-

Reds 11 Giants 7

At Cinncinati, Edwin Encarnacion hit his second career grand slam off Barry Zito, and Chris Dickerson homered and drove in four runs to help the Reds to just their ninth win in the past 32 games.

-

Nationals 7 Braves 3

At Washington, Lastings Milledge and Ryan Zimmerman both drove in two runs and the Nationals beat Atlanta for a season-high fourth straight win.

-

Diamondbacks 9 Dodgers 3

At Phoenix, Stephen Drew, Adam Dunn and Conor Jackson each drove in two runs and Arizona defeated nose-diving Los Angeles.

-

Rockies 9 Padres 4

At San Diego, Garrett Atkins hit two home runs and had a season-high five RBIs to lead Colorado to its 10th win in 13 games and snap the Padres' three-game winning streak.

-

The Tampa Bay Rays slammed the door on their pathetic past by clinching the franchise's first winning season in a rout.

Ben Zobrist hit a grand slam, Cliff Floyd drove in five runs and the AL East-leading Rays hammered the Baltimore Orioles 14-3 on Friday night.

"Going into spring training I knew we were better," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We just didn't know how much better. Eighty-two wins is a big moment, and I want this to be the standard of what we do, to get that number on an annual basis.

"You've got to break through the barrier eventually. We've done it, now let's move on down the road."

Floyd had a two-run double, Zobrist hit his slam and Gabe Gross added a solo shot during a seven-run fourth that made it 10-0.

"It was contagious," Zobrist said.

Scott Kazmir (10-6) allowed three hits and three walks over 5 1-3 scoreless innings. The left-hander has won 10 games or more in four straight seasons. Tampa Bay joined the 1968 Oakland Athletics as the only teams to have five pitchers 26 years old or younger with 20 starts and 10 wins in the same season.

"It's been a great season and we're showing no signs of letting up," Kazmir said.

Tampa Bay (82-51) is 4 1/2 games ahead of second-place Boston, which beat the Chicago White Sox 8-0. The Rays, an AL-best 50-19 at home, had never won more than 70 games in a season before this year.

"They're on a roll right now. They're playing very well at home," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

Elsewhere in the AL it was: New York 2 Toronto 1; Boston 8 Chicago 0; Detorit 6 Kansas City 3; Seattle 3 Cleveland 2; Los Angeles 3 Texas 1 and Minnesota 12 Oakland 2.

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Carlos Pena and Floyd drew bases-load walks - the last two of four consecutive two-out walks by Jeremy Guthrie - to give the Rays a 3-0 lead in the second.

Floyd had put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0 on a first-inning RBI double, and added a sacrifice fly during a three-run sixth that extended the Rays advantage to 13-0. He had a homer and two RBIs in the Rays' 3-2 win over Toronto on Thursday.

Guthrie (10-11) lost his third consecutive start, giving up seven runs, seven hits and six walks in three-plus innings. It was shortest start of his career.

"I didn't feel great physically," Guthrie said. "At the same time it doesn't mean I can't pitch well."

Tampa Bay also got a solo homer from Shawn Riggans in the eighth.

Juan Castro and Aubrey Huff had RBI doubles for Baltimore, which has lost eight of 10.

Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora left the game in the third with a strained left hamstring. He was hurt trying to beat out a ground ball with two and two out in the third.

Mora is hitting .393 with 12 homers and 49 RBIs since the All-Star break. He's not expected to play in the final two games of the series Saturday and Sunday.

Baltimore catcher Ramon Hernandez was ejected by plate umpire Sam Holbrook in the fourth. After the Rays had gone up 10-0, Hernandez argued with Holbrook after a check-swing by Tampa Bay's Akinori Iwamura was called a ball.

Orioles reliever Fernando Cabrera, who allowed the homers to Zobrist and Gross, drew the ire of Trembley for flipping the ball into air when he left the mound.

Cabrera apologized after the game for his action.

"He was frustrated that he gave up the home runs," Trembley said. "I'll deal with it. When I say I'll deal with, it won't mean that I'll ignore it. I'll deal with, which means I'll do something about it."

Yankees 2 Blue Jays 1

At New York, Carl Pavano held down Toronto in his first start at Yankee Stadium since opening day last year, and New York managed just enough offence to beat A.J. Burnett.

-

Red Sox 8 White Sox 0

At Boston, Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed two hits in eight innings, Dustin Pedroia had four hits and Jason Bay of Trail, B.C., drove in three runs to lead the Red Sox past Chicago.

-

Tigers 6 Royals 3

At Detroit, Curtis Granderson and Jeff Larish both drove in two runs and the Tigers scored all their runs in the fifth inning to beat Kansas City.

-

Mariners 3 Indians 2

At Cleveland, Felix Hernandez stopped baseball's hottest team, Raul Ibanez homered and drove in three runs and lowly Seattle ended the Indians' 10-game winning streak.

-

Angels 3 Rangers 1

At Anaheim, Calif., Garret Anderson hit a go-ahead two-run homer, and centre-fielder Torii Hunter robbed Marlon Byrd of a two-run shot to help Los Angeles increase its AL West lead over Texas to 17 games.

-

Twins 12 Athletics 2

At Oakland, Calif., Joe Mauer matched his career high with five hits and had a season-best four RBIs, and Kevin Slowey won his fourth straight decision for Minnesota.