Danny Espinosa, right, of the Washington Nationals is congratulated by third base coach Bo Porter after hitting a two-run homer in the second inning against Houston. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Danny Espinosa hit a two-run homer early, and his RBI single in the 12th inning lifted the Washington Nationals to a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Michael Morse was 0 for 4 when he doubled to start the 12th inning and extend his career-high hitting streak to 16 games. He was replaced by pinch-runner Cesar Izturis, who was making his first appearance for Washington after being claimed off waivers from Milwaukee on Monday.
Roger Bernadina advanced Izturis to third with a sacrifice bunt. Espinosa's sharp grounder off Mickey Storey (0-1) skipped past the pitcher for a hit that brought Izturis home and gave the Nationals their second straight extra-inning win over Houston.
The loss dropped the Astros to 0-11 in extra-inning games this season. Washington beat them 5-4 in 11 innings on Monday.
Houston's Steve Pearce singled off Tyler Clippard in the 12th before Carlos Corporan drew a two-out walk. Bernadina, the center fielder, crashed into the wall while making a diving catch on a ball hit by Brett Wallace to secure the win.
Washington pinch-hitter Chad Tracy doubled with two outs in the 10th for the only hit by either team in the first two extra innings.
Drew Storen (1-0) retired the last two hitters in the 11th for the win, and Clippard earned his 23rd save.
Pearce drew a two-out walk in the ninth before Ryan Mattheus intentionally walked pinch-hitter Scott Moore, but pinch-hitter Brian Bogusevic grounded out to send the game to the 10th.
Ben Francisco gave Houston an early lead with a two-run homer off Ross Detwiler to the Crawford Boxes in left field in the first inning. The lead was short-lived as Espinosa tied it at 2-all with his two-run shot to right field off Jordan Lyles in the second.
Both pitchers quickly got back on track.
Detwiler set down the next 10 Astros he faced, with Houston's next hit not coming until back-to-back singles by Pearce and Matt Downs with two outs in the fourth inning.
Detwiler retired Brandon Barnes, who was making his major league debut on Tuesday, and allowed just one baserunner — a walk in the sixth — after that. He was replaced by Michael Gonzalez for the eighth inning.
Detwiler allowed three hits and two runs with two strikeouts in seven innings.
Jose Altuve recorded Houston's first hit since the fourth inning with a two-out single in the eighth. He stole second base, but the Astros came away empty when Michael Gonzalez retired Marwin Gonzalez.
Lyles was equally effective, retiring the next nine batters he faced after the homer. Jesus Flores broke the streak with a double with two outs in the fifth.
Lyles walked a batter in the sixth and seventh innings, but didn't give up another hit until he was chased by a single by pinch-hitter Jayson Werth to start the eighth.
Wesley Wright replaced Lyles and struck out two, before Fernando Rodriguez threw 1 1-3 perfect innings.
Lyles yielded three hits and two runs with six strikeouts in seven-plus innings.
Brewers 3, Reds 1
MILWAUKEE — Brewers rookie Mike Fiers took a perfect game into the seventh inning and Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Johnny Cueto to lead Milwaukee over the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Fiers (6-4) retired his first 18 batters before Zack Cozart doubled to left-centre leading off the seventh. He advanced to third on a fly ball and scored on Brandon Phillips' sacrifice fly.
The only other hits Fiers gave up were eighth-inning singles to Xavier Paul and Ryan Hanigan. The right-hander struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Ludwick to get out of the inning and left the field to a standing ovation.
Jim Henderson pitched a scoreless ninth for his first career save. It was Milwaukee's second consecutive win over the NL Central leaders and its fifth straight victory at home.
Phillies 3, Braves 0
PHILADELPHIA — Cole Hamels threw a five-hitter for his fifth career shutout, Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat Atlanta 3-0 Tuesday night to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Braves.
Hamels (12-6) struck out six and didn't walk a batter to record his 11th career complete game and his first win in three tries since signing a $144 million, six-year contract July 25. The All-Star lefty is 4-5 since going 8-1 the first two months.
Mike Minor (6-8) took the loss for the wild card-leading Braves, who had won eight of 10. Minor allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings.
Hamels last threw a regular-season shutout on Sept. 1, 2009 against San Francisco. He tossed a five-hitter against Cincinnati to complete Philadelphia's three-game sweep in the 2010 NLDS.
Marlins 4, Mets 2
NEW YORK — Jose Reyes extended his hitting streak to a career-high 25 games with an infield single that set up Miami's big inning, and the Marlins extended the New York Mets' home losing skid to a month with a 4-2 win Tuesday night.
Booed again at Citi Field, Reyes beat out a trickler that helped the Marlins score four times in the fourth. The former Mets All-Star shortstop has the longest hitting string in the majors this year.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a sacrifice fly after being activated from the disabled list for the Marlins.
On the day the Mets unveiled the logo for the 2013 All-Star game at Citi Field and attached the insignia to the centre-field scoreboard, they lost their eighth in a row at home. Their previous win in the park came July 7 against the Cubs.
Diamondbacks 10, Pirates 4
PITTSBURGH — Chris Johnson homered in the eighth and ninth innings Tuesday night, giving him five in eight games since being acquired in a trade, to rally the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 10-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Johnson's homer in the eighth carried far over the fence in centre field and capped a four-run rally against Jason Grilli (1-4) that put Arizona ahead 7-4. Pittsburgh had just taken a 4-3 lead with two runs in the seventh.
Miguel Montero doubled in a run in the ninth before Johnson hit a two-run homer off Chris Resop to seal the victory for Arizona, which had lost three straight.
Johnson was acquired July 27 in a trade with Houston, where he had eight homers in 92 games.
The Pirates lost for the third time in four games.
Giants 4, Cardinals 2
ST. LOUIS — Buster Posey continued his second-half tear with a three-run homer, Barry Zito pitched 6 2-3 innings of two-run ball and the San Francisco Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 Tuesday night.
Posey leads the major leagues with a .448 batting average and 30 RBIs since the All-Star break, including 12 in his last six games. The home run extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Joaquin Arias drove in the Giants' other run with an RBI double. Melky Cabrera also doubled for San Francisco, giving him a big league leading 152 hits.
Zito (9-8) allowed two solo home runs by Allen Craig. He gave up eight hits overall with four strikeouts and no walks. Jeremy Affeldt got the last four outs for his third save in four chances. Cardinals starter Lance Lynn (13-5) allowed four runs on eight hits with two walks and six strikeouts in six innings.
Padres 7, Cubs 4
SAN DIEGO — Carlos Quentin hit a three-run homer, Ross Ohlendorf pitched effectively into the seventh inning and San Diego ruined Brooks Raley's major league debut.
Chase Headley and Everth Cabrera both drove in two runs for San Diego, which has won eight of 10 at home.
Chicago lost its seventh consecutive game and has been outscored 38-16 during the slide.
Promoted from AAA Iowa, Raley (0-1) lasted four innings while allowing seven runs and eight hits. The left-hander had four strikeouts and three walks as a replacement for injured starter Matt Garza.
Ohlendorf (4-2) gave up one unearned run and three hits in six-plus innings.
Rockies 3, Dodgers 1
LOS ANGELES — Rookie Jeff Rutledge drove in three runs and had three doubles among his career-high four hits for Colorado.
Josh Roenicke (4-0) pitched three innings of scoreless relief for the victory. The right-hander took over for Alex White, who threw 80 pitches in four innings and allowed one hit and five walks before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter.
It was the fifth straight game in which a Rockies starter didn't reach the fifth inning. In the series opener Monday night, Drew Pomeranz threw 84 pitches over four innings and was lifted with a two-run lead before Adam Ottavino and the bullpen closed out a 2-0 victory.
