Braves Rough Up Nats…Again – MLB Roundup For May 1st

UNDATED (AP) — James Shields had some fun Tuesday night at the expense of his former team.

Shields gave up four hits in seven innings as Kansas City trounced Tampa Bay 8-2. He scattered three hits after Matt Joyce touched him for a two-run homer in the first inning.

Shields and the Royals trailed 2-1 in the sixth until Mike Moustakas (moos-TAH'-kahs) smacked a two-run homer. Moustakas had two hits and three RBIs to help the Royals finish 14-10 in April, one year after hauling a 5-16 mark into May.

Also in the majors, Atlanta beat Washington for the ninth straight time dating to last season as Tim Hudson and Anthony Varvaro combined on a three-hitter in the Braves' 8-1 rout of the Nationals. Hudson allowed just three hits in seven innings and contributed to his 200th career win by hitting a homer and a double.

Milwaukee has a nine-game winning streak over Pittsburgh after Rickie Weeks crushed a three-run homer and had five RBIs in the Brewers' 12-8 victory over the Pirates. Starling Marte's (mahr-TAYZ') three-run homer put the Bucs ahead 8-7 in the sixth before Jean Segura led off the bottom half of the inning with a home run.

Arizona was two outs away from a 1-0 victory until Pablo Sandoval launched a two-run homer to give San Francisco a 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks. Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner allowed just three hits in seven shutout innings, while DBacks starter Trevor Cahill limited the Giants to four hits in eight-plus innings.

Jaime Garcia gave up a run and seven hits in eight innings as St. Louis beat Cincinnati 2-1 to end a three-game skid. Matt Holliday hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth to back Garcia, who's 7-0 in eight starts against the Reds at Busch Stadium.

Edwin Encarnacion (ehn-kahr-nah-see-OHN') hit a pair of two-run homers in Toronto's 9-7 win over Boston, ending the Red Sox's five-game winning streak. David Ortiz hit a three-run double to put the Bosox ahead 7-6 in the seventh, a half inning before Encarnacion's second blast of the night.

Ryan Raburn homered twice for the second straight game as Cleveland pounded Philadelphia 14-2. Carlos Santana, Mark Reynolds, Lonnie Chisenhall, Michael Brantley and Drew Stubbs also went deep to give the Indians seven homers in the game, one short of the club record set in 1997 and matched in 2004.

Carlos Quentin homered, doubled twice and drove in three as San Diego outscored the Cubs 13-7 in Chicago. Edinson Volquez allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings and improved to 5-0 in seven starts versus the Cubbies.

Hyun-Jin Ryu struck out 12 in six innings of the Dodgers' 6-1 win against Colorado. Hanley Ramirez homered in his first start of the season, one day after coming off the disabled list.

Brandon Lyon uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give Miami its third straight win, 2-1 over the New York Mets. Lyon gave up Donovan Solano's game-tying single two batters before the wild pitch sent the Mets to their sixth consecutive loss.

Hiroki Kuroda (hih-ROH'-kee kuh-ROH'-duh) struck out eight while scattering four hits in seven shutout innings of the New York Yankees' 7-4 win over Houston. Travis Hafner had three hits and three RBIs as part of the Yankees' 15-hit attack.

Chris Dickerson had three hits and two RBIs, Matt Wieters (WEE'-turz) drove in two runs and Nate McLouth smacked a solo homer in Baltimore's 7-2 win at Seattle. Winning pitcher Jason Hammel limited the Mariners to two runs in five innings despite yielding seven hits and three walks.

Yoenis Cespedes (yoh-EH'-nehs SEHS'-peh-dehs) doubled, tripled and had four RBIs in Oakland's 10-6 victory against the Los Angeles Angels. Seth Smith added two hits and three RBIs as the A's needed just nine innings to beat the Angels following Monday's 19-inning marathon.

Yu Darvish improved to 5-1 and Texas used a six-run sixth inning to beat the Chicago White Sox 10-6. Adrian Beltre (BEHL'-tray) capped the rally with a two-run shot, two innings after Nelson Cruz and Jeff Baker homered on consecutive pitches.

Detroit picked up its fifth straight win as Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder each hit two-run homers in the Tigers' 6-1 verdict over Minnesota. Justin Verlander is 3-2 after limiting the Twins to a run and five hits while fanning eight in seven innings.

UNDATED (AP) — Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton (JEE'-ahn-kar'-loh) expects to be sidelined for about a month because of a strained right hamstring suffered in Monday's game against the New York Mets. He underwent an MRI on Tuesday and said the diagnosis was a grade-two strain on the one-to-three scale for the injury.

Stanton was hurt trying to beat out a grounder and was put on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday.

The Marlins entered tonight's action with a 7-19 record despite their current two-game winning streak.

In other baseball news:

—The New York Yankees have placed infielder Kevin Youkilis (YOO'-kih-lihs) on their already crowded disabled list that includes Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira (the-SHEHR'-uh) and Curtis Granderson. Youkilis has been diagnosed with a sprained lumbar spine that caused him to miss eight of the Yankees' previous nine games. The Yankees filled the void by promoting infielder Corban Joseph from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (BAYR'-reh). Joseph has never played in the major leagues.

— Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg may have irritated a nerve in his right arm using an electrical stimulation machine. It's unclear whether Strasburg will make his next start on Saturday.

— Cleveland Indians outfielder Nick Swisher is out of the lineup against Philadelphia because of a sore left shoulder. Indians manager Terry Francona said Swisher could also miss Wednesday's game against the Phillies.

— The Atlanta Braves right-hander Luis Ayala has been placed on the 15-day disabled list because of an anxiety disorder, a move retroactive to April 25. Right-hander David Carpenter was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.

— Reliever Joel Hanrahan has been activated from the 15-day disabled list by the Boston Red Sox after two weeks out due to a sore right hamstring.

— The Pittsburgh Pirates have designated left-hander Jonathan Sanchez for assignment. Sanchez appeared in five games for the Pirates this season, and went 0-3 with an 11.85 ERA.

— Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Randy Wells has retired after going winless in five starts this season for the Texas Rangers' Triple-A team.