Baseball Blog

Phillies continue wild-card push with win
Cole Hamels pitched eight strong innings and Ryan Howard hit a two-run double to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. The surging Phillies, who began the day just a half-game behind NL wild-card leader San Diego, won for the eighth time in 11 games. The 22-year-old Hamels (7-7), who started the season with Class-A Clearwater, had little trouble in this one.

Schilling is 14th pitcher with 3,000 K’s
Boston ace Curt Schilling became the 14th pitcher in major league history to reach 3,000 strikeouts Wednesday when he fanned Oakland’s Nick Swisher in the first inning. The 39-year-old Schilling allowed a leadoff double to Jason Kendall before getting Swisher swinging for the milestone strikeout. His accomplishment was announced and Schilling received a lengthy ovation. He stepped off the mound and tipped his hat.

Schilling is 14th pitcher with 3,000 K’s
Boston ace Curt Schilling became the 14th pitcher in major league history to reach 3,000 strikeouts Wednesday when he fanned Oakland’s Nick Swisher in the first inning. The 39-year-old Schilling allowed a leadoff double to Jason Kendall before getting Swisher swinging for the milestone strikeout. His accomplishment was announced and Schilling received a lengthy ovation. He stepped off the mound and tipped his hat.

Padres maintain slim wild-card lead
Mike Piazza drove in two runs with a pair of bloop singles, and Mike Thompson earned his first victory in more than two months as the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 on Wednesday. The Padres took two of three from the Diamondbacks and maintained its wild-card lead. San Diego entered with a half-game lead over Philadelphia and Cincinnati, and was three games behind first-place Los Angeles in the NL West.