>>Cubs Blank Mets In Dempster's Return
(Flushing, NY) -- Starlin Castro clubbed a three-run homer to back five scoreless frames from Ryan Dempster in his return from the disabled list as the Cubs blanked the Mets, 7-0. Dempster came back from a lat injury to fan four and allow just four hits to improve to 4-and-3 on the season. Alfonso Soriano, Jeff Baker and Geovany Soto also knocked in a run for Chicago, which took two-of-three at Citi Field. Jonathan Niese gave up all seven runs through seven innings of duty to suffer the loss for New York. Daniel Murphy finished 3-for-4 in defeat.
>>Furcal Lifts Cards To Win Over Fish
(St. Louis, MO) -- Rafael Furcal was the hero yesterday with a two-run single in the ninth that lifted the Cardinals to a 5-4 walk-off win over the Marlins. Furcal finished 2-for-5 with three RBI for St. Louis, which closes the first half of the season at 46-and-40 and two-and-a-half games behind the first-place Pirates. Mitchell Boggs earned the win in relief for the Cards after starter Joe Kelly threw six frames and allowed just one unearned run on two hits. St. Louis resumes the season on Friday in Cincinnati for the start of a three-game set with the Reds.
MLB NL
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Atlanta Braves 4, Philadelphia Phillies 3
Pittsburgh Pirates 13, San Francisco Giants 2
Colorado Rockies 4, Washington Nationals 3
Milwaukee Brewers 5, Houston Astros 3 (10 inn)
Cincinnati Reds 4, San Diego Padres 2
Arizona Diamondbacks 7, Los Angeles Dodgers 1
>>Blue Jays Hold Off White Sox
(Chicago, IL) -- Colby Rasmus and Edwin Encarnacion both hit two-run homers in the first frame to lead the Blue Jays to an 11-9 win over the White Sox. Kelly Johnson clubbed a two-run homer and Jeff Mathis added a solo shot for Toronto, which snapped a three-game slide to salvage the finale of a three-game series in the Windy City. Jason Fraser was credited with the win and Casey Janssen locked down his 12th save of the season. Alex Rios ripped a three-run homer and plated four runs for Chicago. Alexei Ramirez knocked in a pair and Kevin Youkilis finished 3-for-4 with an RBI in defeat. Dylan Axelrod gave up seven runs in just three innings of duty to suffer the loss.
MLB AL
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Detroit Tigers 7, Kansas City Royals 1
Tampa Bay Rays 7, Cleveland Indians 6
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 6, Baltimore Orioles 0
Oakland Athletics 2, Seattle Mariners 1 (13 inn)
Texas Rangers 4, Minnesota Twins 3 (13 inn)
New York Yankees 7, Boston Red Sox 3
