Zimmermann Hits Double Figures In Win Over Rockies – MLB Roundup For June 21st

UNDATED (AP) — Jordan Zimmermann became a 10-game winner and hit a sacrifice fly as the Washington Nationals reached the .500 mark with a 5-1 win over Colorado. Zimmerman held the Rockies to one run on six hits, striking out nine over eight innings. He's 10-3.

Nats shortstop Ian Desmond homered for the second straight night. Adam LaRoche had three hits and drove in two.

Roy Oswalt (OHZ'-wahlt) lost in his Colorado debut. He went five innings, allowed four runs and struck out 11.

In other NL finals:

__ Lance Lynn of the St. Louis Cardinals also is a 10-game winner. Lynn improved to 10-1 with six innings of one-run ball in the Cardinals' 6-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Matt Holliday homered and drove in two. Lynn has won 28 of his first 35 decisions as a starter.

— The New York Mets shaded Atlanta 4-3 to take three of five in their series in Dixie. David Wright hit two solo homers and New York's bullpen pitched five-plus scoreless innings in relief of Jonathan Niese (nees), who left with shoulder stiffness.

— Pedro Alvarez took care of all of Pittsburgh's offense in a 5-3 win over Cincinnati. The third baseman homered and drove in all five runs. He now has 48 RBI's on the season.

__ Miami nipped San Francisco 2-1. Pinch-hitter Marcell Ozuna's two-run single in the eighth gave Tom Koehler his first victory in nine career starts.

__ San Diego beat the L.A. Dodgers 6-3 despite rookie phenom Yasiel Puig's (pweegz) sixth home run in the loss. Padres starter Jason Marquis (mar-KEE') went six innings, but was not involved in the decision. He was aiming for his 10th victory. Pedro Ciriaco tripled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and hit a two-run homer in the eighth for the Padres.

In the AL:

— Jhonny (JAH'-nee) Peralta hit a two-run homer off Andrew Bailey in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Detroit Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

— Tampa Bay raked the New York Yankees 8-3. Matt Moore improved to 9-3 by holding the Yanks to three runs on four hits in six and a-third innings. Three Rays relievers pitched scoreless relief. Evan Longoria homered twice.

— Ian Kinsler's two-run single in the seventh led Texas to a 4-3 win over Oakland to tighten up the race for the AL West leads. The Rangers pulled within a game of the Athletics by winning three times in the four-game series.

— Carlos Pena hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the 10th inning to give Houston a 7-4 win over Milwaukee. The victory enabled the Astros to two out of three games in the series. The game featured four errors and six unearned runs.

— Brian Dozier's two-run homer was one of four home runs hit off of White Sox starter John Danks in the Twins 8-4 win. Dozier, Justin Morneau (mor-NOH') and Oswaldo Arcia (AR'-see-uh), each had two runs batted in.

__ The L.A. Angels rallied from a 7-1 deficit to stun Seattle 10-9 in a wild one in Anaheim. Mark Trumbo hit his 17th homer for the Angels. A bases-loaded walk to Alberto Callaspo (ky-AS'-poh) in the eighth drove in the go-ahead run for the Angels.

UNDATED (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter's rehab has been put on hold after he injured his lower back in a bullpen session. Carpenter has been sidelined since February with nerve issues on the right side of his body.

Before spring training, the 38-year-old Carpenter and the team believed the injury might be career-ending. The 2005 NL Cy Young winner had been steadily progressing before the back tightened after he finished throwing Sunday.

In other baseball news:

— Boston's Clay Buchholz (BUHK'-ohlts) was able to throw a bit Thursday, and the Red Sox hope the unbeaten right-hander will be able to come off the disabled list and start next week. Buchholz is 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA. The Red Sox put him on the 15-day DL on Tuesday because of a strained neck.

— The Texas Rangers are planning to bring top pitching prospect Martin Perez back to the majors and give ace Yu Darvish an extra day of rest. The Rangers said they would recall left-hander Perez from Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday to start that night against the St. Louis Cardinals.