THREE UP
Rick Ankiel, after striding to the plate minus his helmet in the sixth, homered for the Cardinals’ first run in a 3-2 win over the Reds. He added a sacrifice fly in the seventh, his ninth RBI of the series. The Cards are 15-7 since he was called up Aug. 9.
Chad Billingsley shut down the Padres’ resurgent offense with seven innings of four-hit ball in a 5-0 Dodgers win. The 23-year-old right-hander beat San Diego for the third time this season, matching his career-high with nine strikeouts against only one walk.
The Brewers’ Prince Fielder hit his NL-leading 40th home run in a 7-4 win over the Pirates, joining Richie Sexson (45 in 2003 and ’01), Gorman Thomas (45, 1979) and Ben Oglivie (41, 1980) in the team’s 40-HR club. His two-run shot in the sixth was off …
THREE DOWN
… The Pirates’ Franquelis Osoria, who also gave up a tie-breaking single to Bill Hall in the fifth. He relieved Tom Gorzelanny, who threw 105 pitches in four innings. “We got into our bullpen well before we would have liked to,” manager Jim Tracy said.
The Mariners lost their ninth in a row, falling 6-4 to the Blue Jays. They begin a critical three-game series Monday in New York against the wild-card-leading Yankees. The Mariners haven’t won since Aug. 24 at Texas, a win that put them a season-high 20 games over .500.
The Tigers blew a 7-0 lead and lost 8-7 in 10 innings to the A’s. “A loss like this hurts in April, May, June, July, August or September,” manager Jim Leyland said. “We had a chance to pick up a game in the division and the wild-card race, and we let it get away.”
