Nationals display power
New York ? Orlando Hernandez gave up three home runs before he was ejected for a beanball, and the Washington Nationals received an impressive pitching performance from Shawn Hill in a 6-2 victory Saturday over the New York Mets.
Dmitri Young, Ryan Church and Chris Snelling homered for the Nationals, who improved to 3-9 and gave rookie manager Manny Acta a victory against former boss Willie Randolph.
After Snelling’s two-run shot made it 6-1 in the sixth, El Duque’s next delivery ran up and in and hit Hill around the right forearm. Plate umpire Mike Winters quickly ejected an incredulous Hernandez (1-1), who argued vehemently.
Hill (1-2) earned his third major-league win – his first since beating Philadelphia, 6-0, on June 11 last year. The right-hander didn’t pitch in the big leagues after June 28 last season because of a sore elbow.
Hill allowed two runs and eight hits in seven innings, matching the longest outing of his career. He walked one and set a career high with five strikeouts.
Acta was Randolph’s third-base coach with New York for two years before the Nationals hired him during the offseason. Randolph won their first matchup Friday night.
Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 4
Phoenix – Orlando Hudson singled three times, then brought home the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly, and Arizona rallied to beat Colorado. Diamondbacks rookie Miguel Montero tied it in the eighth with his first big-league homer, a solo shot.
Padres 7, Dodgers 2
Los Angeles – Jake Peavy allowed a run and three hits over seven innings, and Brian Giles and rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff homered. Peavy (2-0) struck out three, walked two and gave up his only run on Jeff Kent’s sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Cubs 7 Reds 0
Chicago – Rich Hill limited Cincinnati to three singles over seven innings on a cold and windy day at Wrigley Field as Chicago snapped a four-game losing streak.
Brewers 3, Cardinals 2
St. Louis – Jeff Suppan beat St. Louis in his first chance since leaving the World Series champions as a free agent. Rickie Weeks hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning for Milwaukee, which snapped the Cardinals’ four-game winning streak.
Phillies 8, Astros 5
Philadelphia – Chase Utley homered and drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI double in the sixth, and Jimmy Rollins hit his NL-leading sixth home run for Philadelphia. Cole Hamels (1-0) picked up the win in his worst outing of the year.