Associated Press
ATLANTA ó David Ross’ bases-loaded infield single in the 15th inning drove in Jeff Francoeur to give the Atlanta Braves a 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a game that lasted almost five hours Monday night.
Ross hit the grounder to shortstop Jack Wilson, whose throw to the third-base side of home plate pulled catcher Jason Jaramillo’s foot off the plate as Francoeur scored.
Jeff Karstens (2-4) walked Gregor Blanco to lead off the 15th. Blanco was forced out at second on Francoeur’s unsuccessful sacrifice bunt. Francoeur raced to third on Martin Prado’s single to center. Karstens loaded the bases on an intentional walk to Kelly Johnson.
Karstens, Pittsburgh’s eighth pitcher, made his first relief appearance since Sept. 25, 2007 against Tampa Bay while with the New York Yankees. He had made 31 straight starts and was listed as Wednesday’s starter against the Braves.
Kris Medlen (2-2), Atlanta’s eighth pitcher, earned the win with three scoreless innings. The game lasted 4 hours, 46 minutes.
It was the longest game in Atlanta since the Braves beat the Astros 7-6 in 17 innings on July 7, 2008 in the longest game in Turner Field history.
The win was manager Bobby Cox’s 2000th with the Braves.
Chipper Jones and Brian McCann hit two-run homers for Atlanta and Nate McLouth had three hits, including a homer, against his former team.
Marlins 4, Giants 0
MIAMI ó Sean West did not allow a hit until the seventh inning in his fourth career start and Brett Carroll hit his first career home run.
Rockies 5, Cardinals 2
ST. LOUIS ó Jason Marquis took the NL lead with his eighth win and Troy Tulowitzki homered for the first time in nearly a month.
Colorado last swept the Cardinals in July 1994, winning four straight at Mile High Stadium. The Rockies improved to 7-4 since Jim Tracy took over.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tigers 5, White Sox 4 (1st)
White Sox 6, Tigers 1 (2nd)
CHICAGO ó Jose Contreras allowed one hit in eight strong innings in his return to the majors, getting his first win in nearly a year as Chicago earned a split in the day-night doubleheader.
Contreras started 0-5 this year after a quick recovery from an Achilles tendon rupture last August.
“I needed to work on my pitches,” he said. “I needed to work on my location, and the only place to do it was Triple-A. I decided to go down to Triple-A and work on stuff. Obviously I came back and used it today, and it paid off with a great outing.”
Alexei Ramirez, Scott Podsednik and Jim Thome homered off Jeremy Bonderman, who was making his first major league appearance since June 1, 2008. Bonderman had surgery last June to correct a condition that caused a blood clot in his pitching arm.
“I don’t know if I felt rusty,” Bonderman said. “I just didn’t execute. There’s really no excuse other than that I just didn’t pitch well and didn’t give us a chance to win at all.”
Detroit won the opener as Brandon Inge hit a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth.
Yankees 5, Rays 3
NEW YORK ó Andy Pettitte recovered from two wild outings, and Johnny Damon hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning.
Blue Jays 6, Rangers 3
ARLINGTON, Texas ó Adam Lind homered twice and drove in four runs as the Blue Jays snapped a nine-game road losing streak.
Texas center fielder Josh Hamilton will undergo surgery today to repair a partial tear in an abdominal muscle and is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks.
The team had feared that the injury was a hernia similar to the one that shut down second baseman Ian Kinsler for 12 weeks last year.