PHILADELPHIA — Roy Halladay pitched eight innings and Chase Utley hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run in the eighth to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
It was the second consecutive outstanding outing for Halladay (6-6), who missed 42 games while on the disabled list with a strained lat. He returned July 17 and struggled in his first three starts back, going 0-1 with a 5.82 ERA. He threw seven innings in a 3-0 victory over Arizona last Saturday.
The right-hander matched a season low by allowing just two hits, while striking out eight and walking none. He didn’t allow a hit after Jon Jay’s two-out single in the third, retiring 16 of his final 17 batters. The only hitter to reach base was Yadier Molina, who got to first after being hit on the left elbow leading off the fifth.
The Cardinals threatened in the ninth off Jonathan Papelbon, who pitched a scoreless inning for his 25th save in 28 chances. Papelbon gave up a one-out double to Allen Craig and a two-out single to Carlos Beltran to put runners on first and third. But Papelbon got Beltran trying to steal second, throwing ahead of the runner to easily get Beltran after he left first base too early.
Beltran homered for the Cardinals, who have lost three of four.
Jimmy Rollins led off the eighth with a single to left off reliever Barret Browning (0-1), went to second on the left-hander’s balk and to third on Juan Pierre’s sacrifice bunt before scoring on Utley’s towering home run to right-center that gave Philadelphia a 3-1 lead.
Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse allowed 1 run and 4 hits while setting a season high with 7 strikeouts in 7 innings.
ASTROS 4, BREWERS 3 Brian Bogusevic’s RBI single in the ninth inning lifted host Houston to a victory over Milwaukee.
BRAVES 4, METS 0 Paul Maholm pitched a three-hitter in his second start for Atlanta and the Braves got two-run home runs from Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla to beat New York.
DODGERS 5, MARLINS 2 Hanley Ramirez drove in two runs playing for the first time against the team that traded him last month, and visiting Los Angeles beat Miami.
PADRES 9, PIRATES 8 Chase Headley homered from both sides of the plate for the first time in his career and drove in five runs to rally visiting San Diego to a victory over Pittsburgh. REDS 10, CUBS 8 Rookie Todd Frazier doubled twice and drove in four runs, Aroldis Chapman stopped an eighth-inning rally attempt and visiting Cincinnati beat Chicago.
American League ORIOLES 7, ROYALS 1 Manny Machado thrust himself into the Orioles’ record book in his second major league game, hitting two home runs and driving in four runs to carry Baltimore past visiting Kansas City. After going 2 for 4 in his debut Thursday, Machado hit a shot in the fifth inning and a three-run drive in the sixth.
RAYS 12, TWINS 6 Matt Joyce hit a tworun home run and a two-run double, Jose Molina drove in three runs and visiting Tampa Bay beat Minnesota.
RED SOX 3, INDIANS 2 Clay Buchholz pitched a two-hitter, Cody Ross hit a two-run home run, and Boston broke a three-game losing streak by beating host Cleveland.
TIGERS 6, RANGERS 2 Austin Jackson hit an inside-the-park home run and a triple and Detroit beat host Texas.
WHITE SOX 4, ATHLETICS 3 Jordan Danks hit his first major league home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and host Chicago overcame a three-run deficit to beat Oakland. YANKEES 10, BLUE JAYS 4 Ichiro Suzuki matched a career high with five RBI and Freddy Garcia won in Toronto for the first time in more than a decade, leading visiting New York to a victory over the Blue Jays.
Friday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati 10, Chicago Cubs 8 San Diego 9, Pittsburgh 8 Philadelphia 3, St. Louis 1 Atlanta 4, NY Mets 0 LA Dodgers 5, Miami 2 Houston 4, Milwaukee 3 Washington at Arizona, (n) Colorado at San Francisco, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Boston 3, Cleveland 2 Baltimore 7, Kansas City 1 NY Yankees 10, Toronto 4 Detroit 6, Texas 2 Chicago White Sox 4, Oakland 3 Tampa Bay 12, Minnesota 6 Seattle at LA Angels, (n)
Sports, Pages 22 on 08/11/2012