Phillies catch up to Brewers
Brett Myers pitched a two-hitter and Philadelphia moved into a tie for the NL wild-card lead, sweeping a day-night doubleheader from Milwaukee by winning the second game 6-1 on Sunday at Philadelphia.
The surging Phillies are now tied with the Brewers for the wild-card spot with 12 games remaining.
Philadelphia is also just one game behind NL East-leading New York, which fell to Atlanta 7-4.
In the opener the Phillies won 7-3.
N.L. highlights
Rockies 1, Dodgers 0 (10): At Denver, Troy Tulowitzki drove in the winning run with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th to help Colorado end Los Angeles’ four-game winning streak.
The Dodgers, who had won 12 of 13, maintained a 4 1/2-game lead over Arizona in the West after the Diamondbacks lost 2-1 to Cincinnati in 10 innings at Phoenix.
A.L. highlights
Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3: At Boston, Jon Lester held Toronto to four hits over eight innings and Coco Crisp drove in two runs to lead Boston over Roy Halladay and Toronto.
The Red Sox moved within one game of East-leading Tampa Bay, which lost to New York 8-4. Boston and the Rays begin a three-game series on Monday in St. Petersburg, Fla, where the Red Sox are 0-6 so far this season.
Orioles 7, Twins 3: At Baltimore, Radhames Liz pitched eight shutout innings, and the Orioles hit five home runs in a victory over Minnesota. The Twins started the day in a virtual tie with Chicago for the Central lead.
White Sox 4,11 Tigers 2,7: At Chicago, DeWayne Wise hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth inning and the White Sox beat Detroit to complete a doubleheader sweep after the bullpen blew a seven-run lead. The White Sox won the first game behind Javier Vazquez’s 7 2/3 scoreless innings.
Thigpen congratulates Rodriguez
Former Chicago White Sox reliever Bobby Thigpen was quick to congratulate the man who broke his saves record, sending a note to Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez.
Rodriguez earned his 58th save this season when he finished out Los Angeles’ 5-2 win over Seattle on Saturday night. Thigpen posted 57 saves for Chicago in 1990.
Thigpen, who now manages the White Sox’s rookie league affiliate in Bristol, Va., wrote that Dave Righetti sent him a congratulatory note after breaking the record the former Yankees reliever set.
“I wanted to continue that tradition with a note of my own to you,” Thigpen wrote.
Jeter homer ties Gehrig for hits
Derek Jeter hit a solo homer in the fifth inning Sunday, tying Lou Gehrig for the most career hits at Yankee Stadium.
Jeter connected against Tampa Bay’s David Price for his 1,269th hit at the ballpark, which is in its final season.
Cooper gripes about ‘home game’
The Houston Astros were officially the home team Sunday night against the Chicago Cubs, the first of two games relocated to Miller Park in Milwaukee in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
But with his club chasing the NL wild-card spot, Astros manager Cecil Cooper sure wasn’t thrilled with the idea of playing in front of a predominantly pro-Cubs crowd at a supposedly neutral site. And he planned to make his feelings known to commissioner Bud Selig, a close friend.
Cooper was expecting the NL Central-leading Cubs to get plenty of support. Their fans often make the relatively short drive up I-94 for Cubs-Brewers games, and sometimes outshout the home team’s rooters — to the point that they’ve taken to calling the stadium “Wrigley North.”