Strasburg impressive again, but Royals win

Stephen Strasburg showed off his high heat in the high humidity of a sweaty summer afternoon, setting yet another strikeout record. He also suffered his first major league defeat.

The hard-throwing righthander struck out nine and allowed one run in six innings in his fourth start, but the host Washington Nationals were punchless again on offense in a 1-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals Wednesday.

Rockies 8, Red Sox 6

Jason Giambi hit a game-ending, two-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon as host Colorado scored three times in the ninth. Giambi, batting for Jonathan Herrera, sent a 1-and-0 pitch into the rightfield seats. Ian Stewart had tied it at 6 when he led off the inning with his eighth homer.

Marlins 7, Orioles 5

Edwin Rodriguez enjoyed a successful debut as visiting Florida's interim manager, getting home runs from Gaby Sanchez and Jorge Cantu in a comeback victory.

Cardinals 1, Blue Jays 0

St. Louis' Matt Holliday hit an RBI single off Kevin Gregg with two outs in the ninth inning, handing a win to Chris Carpenter. Holliday came up with runners on the corners and lined a full-count pitch into leftfield to give visiting St. Louis the lead.

Padres 5, Rays 4

Will Venable, Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley homered to lead visiting San Diego. Venable broke a scoreless tie with a two-run shot in the fifth. Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the sixth for a 3-0 lead.

Phillies 7, Indians 6

Jimmy Rollins hit the first game-ending homer of his career, a two-run shot with one out in the ninth for host Philadelphia.

Reds 3, Athletics 0

Johnny Cueto pitched shutout ball into the eighth and Jay Bruce had a two-run single in his second straight three-hit game as visiting Cincinnati earned a sweep.

- AP

Dodgers sign Budkevics

Righthander Pete Budkevics, the former Deer Park standout who led the Falcons to the Long Island Class A championship in 2004 before playing at C.W. Post, signed a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers this week.