News - Joe Beimel
RBI singles by Nick Hundley and Tony Gwynn completed a San Diego rally in the eighth inning Thursday and gave the Padres a 5-4 win over Colorado. The Rockies let an early 3-0 lead get away and fell six games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the National League West title. Colorado still leads both Atlanta and San Francisco by 3 1/2 games in the NL wild-card chase. Troy Tulowitzki staked Colorado to its early lead with a three-run homer in the first, but the Padres fought back to tie it through seven innings.
Geoff Blum singled in Miguel Tejada from third with two out in the ninth Friday, completing a Houston rally and giving the Astros a 6-5 win over Washington. The Nationals scored four times in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead, but Houston tied it in the eighth and won it in the ninth on Blum's bases-loaded hit. Joe Beimel (0-5) was on the mound to open the ninth and he gave up a leadoff single to Tejada.
Brandon Moss had three RBI, including the winner, in the 10th inning Tuesday to lead Pittsburgh to an 8-5 victory over Washington. Adam and Andy LaRoche each drove in two runs for the Pirates, who have won four straight. Tom Gorzelanny (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for the win.
Pablo Sandoval hit a two-out walk-off home run Tuesday that gave the San Francisco Giants a 9-7 win over the Washington Nationals. Sandoval was down to his last strike against veteran Joe Beimel (0-2), who had retired the first two San Francisco hitters in the bottom of the ninth before giving up a single to Emmanuel Burriss and a walk to Edgar Renteria.
Austin Kearns and Nick Johnson keyed a big eighth inning Thursday that rallied Washington past Los Angeles 11-9 and ended a miserable day for the Dodgers. The Dodgers were struck by the news early Thursday that they had lost slugger Manny Rodriguez to a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's anti-drug policy. They then blew a six-run lead to the lowly Nationals, had a seven-game winning streak halted and lost at home for the first time this season.
