PHILADELPHIA -- Two same-day call-ups helped the San Francisco Giants stay ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Adam Duvall hit a two-run home run to spoil Benton native and former Arkansas Razorback Cliff Lee's return from the disabled list and Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-4 on Monday night.
Hunter Pence had three hits and two RBI, Buster Posey drove in two runs and the Giants are two percentage points ahead of Los Angeles for first place in the NL West.
Making his first start since May 18 because of an elbow injury, Lee (4-5) had a rare rough outing against San Francisco. Lee was 5-0 with a 0.88 ERA in six career games against the Giants. He allowed 5 earned runs in 51 innings in those 6 starts before giving up 6 runs and 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings in this one with several scouts watching in the stands.
If Lee shows he's healthy and pitches effectively, he is a prime candidate for a trade before the July 31 non-waiver deadline. The four-time All-Star and 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner already was traded once by the Phillies in December 2009 to Seattle on the same day they acquired Roy Halladay in a separate deal.
The Phillies are headed toward their second consecutive losing season and will be looking to acquire young players from contending teams for some of their high-priced veterans.
"I could care less about the scouts or trade rumors," Lee said. "I've never cared about them. My goal is to go out there and give my team a chance to win. I'm in Philly and I want this team to win."
George Kontos (2-0) gave up 1 hit and struck out 3 in 2 innings in relief to earn the victory. Santiago Casilla pitched the ninth for his sixth save in nine tries.
Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong gave up 4 runs -- 3 earned -- and 11 hits in three-plus innings. But San Francisco's bullpen combined for six scoreless innings.
The teams combined to hit 21 singles before Duvall launched a home run to straightaway center to give the Giants a 5-4 lead in the sixth. Pence's RBI single with two outs made it 6-4 and sent Lee to an early exit. Pence hit an RBI triple off Jeff Manship in the eighth.
"It's pretty cool to hit a homer against a guy like that," Duvall said.
BREWERS 5, REDS 2 Host Milwaukee scored three runs on two misjudged balls in the outfield by Chris Heisey, and Wily Peralta pitched seven strong innings in the Brewers' victory over Cincinnati. Ryan Braun hit a two-run double in the third on which Heisey took a couple of steps in before retreating as the high liner went over his head. The four-year veteran with 134 career starts in left field apparently lost Carlos Gomez's high fly ball to the warning track in the fourth inning that turned into an RBI ground-rule double that made it 4-0. Peralta (11-6) allowed three hits, including Billy Hamilton's home run. Francisco Rodriguez threw a 1-2-3 ninth for his 29th save. Cincinnati's Mat Latos (2-2) gave up 4 earned runs and 8 hits in 7 innings.
MARLINS 3, BRAVES 1, 10 INNINGS Garrett Jones drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the 10th inning, lifting visiting Miami to a victory over Atlanta.
DODGERS 5, PIRATES 2 Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched seven strong innings, Adrian Gonzalez reached base five times and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat host Pittsburgh.
NATIONALS 7, ROCKIES 2 Ian Desmond tied a career high with five hits, including a two-run home run, and Doug Fister threw into the sixth inning to help visiting Washington beat sinking Colorado.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
WHITE SOX 3, ROYALS 1 Chris Sale pitched seven innings in his first outing since the All-Star break and Adam Dunn had two RBI and scored a run to lead the host Chicago White Sox to a victory over slumping Kansas City. The Royals have dropped four consecutive and seven of eight.
RED SOX 14, BLUE JAYS 1 David Ortiz hit the 452nd and 453rd home runs of his career, moving past Boston great Carl Yastrzemski into 36th place on the all-time list, and the Red Sox won their fifth consecutive game, routing host Toronto.
RANGERS 4, YANKEES 2 Miles Mikolas earned his first victory as a starter, pitching into the eighth inning and leading visiting Texas past the New York Yankees.
TWINS 4, INDIANS 3 Josh Willingham's tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning sent Minnesota to a victory over visiting Cleveland.
Sports on 07/22/2014