Phillies veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins was benched after a pair of baserunning blunders Thursday in Philadelphia's 3-2 win over the New York Mets, according to an ESPN.com report.

Rollins was pulled for the start of the seventh inning after a pair of mistakes in the sixth.

Rollins failed to run hard on a dropped popup that could have put him on second base. He stole second base, then was caught in a rundown on a grounder and was tagged out.

 

 

 

Josh Beckett pitched well in his first appearance with the Dodgers, but things didn't start off swimmingly against the Rockies.

Beckett allowed a home run to Tyler Colvin on his second pitch, a fastball that was crushed into the second deck. The Red Sox traded Beckett to the Dodgers over the weekend.

Beckett allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings as Colorado defeated Los Angeles 10-0.

"I've only been here a couple of days," Beckett said. "I'm still feeling things out. As I move forward, I'll get more comfortable."

Veteran pitcher Barry Zito took a three-hit shutout into the ninth inning, Hector Sanchez's two-run double highlighted a four-run fifth and the Giants beat the Braves 5-2 on Thursday night for their fourth straight win, according to an ESPN.com report.

Former major league pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee, 65, signed a one-game contract with the San Rafael Pacifics of the independent North American League, in what the team promoted as his chance to become the oldest pitcher to win a professional game.

The left-handed Lee went the distance in a 9-4 win over the Maui Na Koa Ikaika on Thursday night, allowing eighth hits with no walks or strikeouts, according to an San Jose Mercury Sports report.

As a minor league publicity stunt, Lee's outing was also a triumph as the Pacifics sold out, all 1,200 seats. 

David Price allowed three hits over seven innings as the Rays defeated the Angels 7-0 on Friday night.

Price leads the American League with 16 wins. Price hasn't suffered a defeat since a a 9-1 home loss to the Mets on June 13.

He is 7-0 with a 2.21 ERA in his past nine road starts and 8-0 with a 1.72 ERA in his past 11 starts overall.

"I feel like I've been throwing the ball well," Price said.

"I've gotten a lot of runs early, and that makes my job a lot easier. I can go out there and attack the zone, make people put the ball in play and get early outs so I can go deep into games. I'm not worrying about any individual numbers or anything like that. I'm just trying to help us every five days to get to the postseason, and we'll take it from there."

Hanley Ramirez had three hits and drove in two runs playing for the first time against the team that traded him last month, and the Dodgers beat the Marlins 5-2 on Friday night, according to an ESPN.com report.

Jordan Danks hit his first major league homer in the bottom of the ninth inning and the White Sox overcame a three-run deficit to beat the A's 4-3 on Friday night, according to an Associated Press report.

Jose Reyes extended his hitting streak to 25 games on Tuesday night as the Marlins beat the Mets 4-2. Reyes recorded the hit on an infield single that set up a big inning for Miami. "That's good I got on base," Reyes said. "It's not easy to get a hit." Reyes is hitting .287/.350/.430 in his first season with the Marlins.

Nate Schierholtz, acquired from the Giants on Tuesday, made his debut with the Phillies a memorable one, hitting the tiebreaking homer in the fifth inning that gave Philadelphia a 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night, according to an Associated Press report.

Patrick Corbin pitched two-hit ball over six innings following his promotion from the minors Wednesday, and the Diamondbacks got home runs from Miguel Montero and Chris Johnson in a 4-0 victory that completed a three-game sweep of the Dodgers.