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Braves rally to beat Dodgers 9-5 in 12 innings

Aug 8, 2009 - 8:59 AM LOS ANGELES(AP) -- Only a few teams have gotten to Dodgers All-Star closer Jonathan Broxton this season. The Atlanta Braves were the first to rough him up in Los Angeles.

Garret Anderson lined the first pitch he saw from Broxton to right field for a tying single in the ninth inning, and the Braves then scored four in the 12th to beat the Dodgers 9-5 on Friday night.

"That's what he does. He's a professional hitter," said outfielder Ryan Church, whose three-run homer off Ramon Troncoso provided the knockout punch in the 4-hour, 20-minute game.

Troncoso (4-1) gave up one-out singles in the 12th to Anderson and Brian McCann before rookie Scott Elbert came on and struck out Adam LaRoche. But Yunel Escobar lined the rookie's 3-1 pitch to right-center to score Anderson. The hit came only hours after manager Joe Torre announced that Elbert would make his first big league start on Sunday.

Escobar's clutch hit raised his average with runners in scoring position to .419.

"He hits the ball. He's a line drive gapper. Guys like that are going to drive in runs," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "It's pretty good coming back from three runs down. It's hard to come back in somebody else's park, especially with their bullpen."

Two pitches later, Church hit his fourth homer.

Church had the last laugh on the heckling fans at Dodger Stadium who remembered his base-running gaffe earlier this season with the New York Mets, when he was called out for failing to touch third base.

"There were still some people out there hazing me in the outfield saying, 'Hey, you're going to miss third base again.' But that's cool," Church said. "When you're out there you're going to have people rooting against you. It's part of the game. But it does feel good to be able to deliver a devastating blow like that."

Broxton's blown save was his fourth in 28 attempts this season. Nate McLouth walked with one out, stole his 17th base and scored with two out when Anderson lined a single to right field on the first pitch.

The Dodgers left the bases loaded in the 11th when pinch-hitter Tony Abreu grounded out to shortstop against Peter Moylan (4-2) after an intentional walk to Andre Ethier, who won Thursday's series opener with a three-run homer in the ninth off Braves closer Rafael Soriano.

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley allowed two runs and four hits in six innings. He left after 78 pitches because of a mild left hamstring strain, which occurred on a single in the sixth.

"About halfway down the first-base line, I felt a grab," Billingsley said. "No good thoughts were going through my mind at that time. I was thinking to myself, 'Should I say something now, or if I should go back out there and try to throw?' I went back out there and tried to throw one pitch and couldn't do it, so I just walked off the mound."

Hong-Chih Kuo inherited a 5-2 lead from Billingsley and promptly gave up a walk and a home run by Kelly Johnson.

"Unfortunately we lost Billingsley and gave two runs back. It was just one of those unfortunate games," Torre said.

Marlins 3, Phillies 2=

At Philadelphia, Ricky Nolasco pitched seven sharp innings, Nick Johnson and Cody Ross hit solo homers, and Florida beat Philadelphia.

Coming off a sweep by last-place Washington, the Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak and moved within six games of NL East-leading Philadelphia, which has lost six of nine.

Ben Francisco hit a two-run homer for the Phillies, who got another strong outing from Joe Blanton (7-6). He gave up three runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings, and has allowed three runs or fewer in eight straight starts.

Nolasco (8-7) allowed two runs and four hits.

Leo Nunez finished for his 10th save.

Rockies 6, Cubs 2=

At Denver, Colorado took advantage of the late scratch of Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano.

About 15 minutes before the game, Zambrano was pulled because of a recurrence of a lower back injury. The Rockies jumped on emergency fill-in Sean Marshall for three runs in two innings.

Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez (9-9) allowed two runs - one earned - and four hits in 6 2-3 innings for his third consecutive victory.

Chris Iannetta hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Jeff Samardzija, helping the Rockies to their sixth win in eight games and 15th straight against a NL Central team.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 4=

At Pittsburgh, Ryan Ludwick's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning scored the go-ahead run, and St. Louis stretched Pittsburgh's losing streak to six.

Chris Carpenter (11-3) fell behind 4-2 in the third - as many runs as he allowed in his previous four starts combined - before finishing with five shutout innings to improve to 6-0 in seven starts.

Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer and scored the lead run as the Cardinals won for the seventh time in 10 games.

Astros 6, Brewers 3=

At Houston, Jason Michaels homered twice for the Astros and Bud Norris struck out seven in six innings in his Minute Maid Park debut.

Norris (2-0), a 24-year-old rookie, allowed two runs and three hits in his second major league start. He came up from the minors on July 29, and threw seven shutout innings to win his first last Sunday in St. Louis.

Nationals 7, Diamondbacks 6=

At Washington, Josh Willingham hit a two-run single in the seventh inning, and Washington won its season-best sixth straight.

The Nationals spotted Arizona a 5-0 lead in the second inning, when the Diamondbacks hit three homers off Collin Balester. But they couldn't hold on, ending their winning streak at five.

Jason Bergmann (2-1) earned the win, retiring the only batter he faced in the seventh. Mike MacDougal pitched 1 2-3 innings for his 11th save.

Padres 6, Mets 2=

At San Diego, Rookie Everth Cabrera hit a grand slam in the ninth off New York closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Cabrera, who struck out three times, connected on a 3-2 pitch from Rodriguez (2-3) to give the Padres their 11th win over New York in 14 games.

The Padres tied it 2-2 in the ninth after Kyle Blanks led off with a walk and scored on fellow rookie Will Venable's double off Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who has five blown saves, walked Henry Blanco and intentionally walked pinch-hitter Oscar Salazar to load the bases.

Heath Bell (4-1) pitched the ninth for the win.

Reds 10, Giants 5=

At San Francisco, Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips drew a tiebreaking, bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning and the Reds took advantage of a meltdown by San Francisco's bullpen.

Pinch-hitter Drew Sutton led off the ninth with an infield single off Giants closer Brian Wilson (3-5) before Alex Gonzalez and Joey Votto drew one-out walks. Phillips, who doubled and scored when the Reds tied the game with two runs in the eighth, walked to force in Sutton.

David Weathers (3-3), the third of four Cincinnati pitchers, worked a scoreless eighth for the win.