Baseball report
Raul Ibanez #29 of the Philadelphia Phillies watches his 7th inning home run leave the park against the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park. (June 29, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
Raul Ibañez hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning, Vance Worley pitched seven strong innings and the host Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1, Wednesday night.
In a series billed as a World Series preview, the major league-leading Phillies (51-30) have taken two straight and go for a sweep Thursday.
Worley allowed one run, five hits and struck out five. The rookie righthander has filled in nicely for injured starters Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton.
Ibañez was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, falling a triple short of the cycle.
Reds 4, Rays 3: Ryan Hanigan hit a two-out, three-run shot off James Shields in the fourth inning for visiting Cincinnati. B.J. Upton hit a solo homer in the seventh. Upton has four homers in his last six games. Tampa Bay designated hitter Johnny Damon singled in the sixth to tie Boston star Ted Williams for 71st place on the all-time hit list with 2,654.
Twins 1, Dodgers 0: Scott Baker struck out nine while pitching neatly into the eighth inning and Ben Revere had two hits to help host Minnesota. Baker allowed six hits and walked one in 71/3 innings, dropping his ERA to 3.15.
Padres 4, Royals 1: Tim Stauffer won consecutive starts for the first time this year and his pop-up led to four unearned runs with two outs in the third inning. It was the first sweep of the year for the Padres, who have won four straight and seven of eight..
Braves 5, Mariners 3: Atlanta knocked around reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez. Atlanta rookie Freddie Freeman got to Hernandez for three hits and two RBIs, and visiting Atlanta earned its third consecutive victory against one of the Mariners' best starting pitchers.
Indians 6, Cardinals 2: Cleveland's young Carlos Carrasco gave up solo homers to Justin Upton and Stephen Drew, but otherwise stifled host Arizona through seven innings.
Angels 1, Nationals 0: Dan Haren pitched two-hit ball through 71/3 innings and host Los Angeles swept past Davey Johnson's new team. Washington had won 13 of 15 going into the series at Anaheim.
-- AP
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