ATLANTA - Offense has been the Braves’ primary weakness for the early part of the season, but it was shaky pitching and defense that threatened to do them in Friday night when they blew two leads against the Nationals.
Fortunately for the Braves, Justin Upton’s bat has heated quickly. Upton’s third home run in two nights was a tying solo shot to straightaway center in the eighth inning, and the Braves pulled out a 7-6 victory in the 10th inning on Upton’s two-out RBI single to shallow right field, which scored pinch-runner Jordan Schafer from first base.
Schafer was running for Chris Johnson after his two-out single, the third hit of the night for Johnson.
The Braves snapped the Nationals’ four-game winning streak and pulled within one game of the National League East leaders with their third victory in four games against them this season.
After Upton’s home run, Craig Kimbrel struck out the side against the heart of the Nationals’ order in the ninth inning - Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman, all blown away.
Luis Avilan worked around a one-out walk and a two-out intentional walk in the 10th by inducing an inning-ending ground out from Denard Span, setting the stage for the walk-off victory - the 20th for the Braves in their past 27 games against the Nationals.
CUBS 6, CARDINALS 3 (11) Welington Castillo hit a three-run home run in the 11th inning off closer Trevor Rosenthal, who struck out with an unusual chance to win it, and visiting Chicago beat St. Louis. Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija worked seven economic innings for the third consecutive start, exiting with a 1.29 ERA.
PHILLIES 6, MARLINS 3 Marlon Byrd drove in two runs and host Philadelphia knocked around Jose Fernandez in one of his worst major league starts, beating Miami to snap a four-game skid. Phillies starter A.J. Burnett (Central Arkansas Christian, North Little Rock) left in the fifth inning because of a sore groin, but Philadelphia chased Fernandez (2-1) with three runs in the fifth en route to its first home victory of the season.
BREWERS 4, PIRATES 2 Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer that backed Wily Peralta, and host Milwaukee extended its winning streak to seven with a victory over Pittsburgh.
DODGERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 0 Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up two hits in seven dominant innings, Adrian Gonzalez drove in five runs and visiting Los Angeles beat Arizona. Ryu (2-1) struck out 8 and walked 1, retiring 18 of his last 19 batters.
AMERICAN LEAGUE RANGERS 1, ASTROS 0 (12) Yu Darvish took a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning, and host Texas finally finished off Houston on Robinson Chirinos’ RBI single in the 12th inning. Darvish allowed 1 hit and 1 walk in 8 innings with 9 strikeouts.
TWINS 10, ROYALS 1 Chris Colabello drove in three runs, Kyle Gibson pitched into the seventh inning and Minnesota beat visiting Kansas City to end a nine-game home losing streak that dated to last season.
WHITE SOX 9, INDIANS 6 Conor Gillaspie had a career-high four RBI, leading Chris Sale and Chicago to a victory over Cleveland. Sale (3-0) pitched five innings in his first victory against Cleveland since May 1, 2012. The left-hander allowed three runs and six hits while throwing 105 pitches.
BLUE JAYS 2, ORIOLES 0 Dustin McGowan allowed five hits over 6 1/3 innings to earn his first victory since 2008, and visiting Toronto used two unearned runs to beat Chris Tillman and Baltimore.
RED SOX 4, YANKEES 2 Grady Sizemore hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and Boston finally gave Jon Lester enough run support for his first victory of the year over host New York. Jonny Gomes led off the sixth with another long ball off CC Sabathia, and the four-run inning was more runs than Boston had scored for Lester in his first two starts combined.
INTERLEAGUE RAYS 2, REDS 1 David Price took a shutout into the ninth and Matt Joyce homered, helping visiting Tampa Bay beat slumping Cincinnati. Evan Longoria singled home a run in the first inning and Joyce added his home run to deep right field off Johnny Cueto (0-2).
Friday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE Philadelphia 6, Miami 3 Atlanta 7, Washington 6 (10) Milwaukee 4, Pittsburgh 2 Chicago Cubs 6, St. Louis 3 (11) LA Dodgers 6, Arizona 0 Colorado at San Francisco, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston 4, NY Yankees 2 Toronto 2, Baltimore 0 Texas 1, Houston 0 (12) Chicago White Sox 9, Cleveland 6 Minnesota 10, Kansas City 1 Oakland at Seattle, (n)
INTERLEAGUE Tampa Bay 2, Cincinnati 1 NY Mets at LA Angels, (n) Detroit at San Diego, (n)
Sports, Pages 24 on 04/12/2014