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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Milwaukee's Francisco Rodriguez has blown five saves in eight chances after losing on Monday.
PHILADELPHIA » With their full team finally together, the Philadelphia Phillies are slowly starting to look like the ballclub that has won five straight NL East titles.
Ty Wigginton hit a sacrifice fly to cap a four-run rally in the ninth inning against Francisco Rodriguez and lift the Phillies to a 7-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.
The last-place Phillies were 0-42 when trailing after eight innings before coming back against Rodriguez, who replaced John Axford as the closer last week.
On Sunday, the Phillies beat San Francisco on Jimmy Rollins’ RBI hit in the 12th inning.
"It’s huge. We have to build on that momentum," Ryan Howard said. "We need to take that energy and spread it over nine innings."
With one out against K-Rod, Rollins walked, Juan Pierre singled and Chase Utley walked to load the bases. Howard ripped an 0-2 pitch up the middle to drive in a pair and cut it to 6-5. Carlos Ruiz followed with a line-drive hit to left-center to tie it at 6. Hunter Pence walked to load the bases again.
Eric Kratz entered to run for Howard. Wigginton followed with a liner to left and Kratz scored easily ahead of Ryan Braun’s off-target throw.
"It’s good to see we can rally," manager Charlie Manuel said.
Rodriguez (2-5) has blown five saves in eight tries.
"I didn’t get it done," Rodriguez said. "It’s really painful."
St. Anthony High alumnus Shane Victorino struck out in the first inning trying to check his swing on a pitch that appeared to hit him.
Victorino left the game with a bruised right elbow the following inning.
Carlos Gomez hit a three-run homer and the Brewers battered two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay
Halladay allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings in his second start since returning from a nearly two-month stint on the disabled list.
"I feel good," Halladay said. "The results aren’t what I want. The execution isn’t what I want. I definitely have some work to do, but I feel 100 times better."
Joe Savery (1-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.
Nationals 8, Mets 2, 10 innings
Bryce Harper homered his first time up in New York, then hit a tie-breaking single to key a six-run burst in the 10th inning that sent visiting Washington over the Mets.
Cubs 2, Pirates 0
Jeff Samardzija gave up one hit over eight innings and Alfonso Soriano hit two run-scoring doubles as visiting Chicago cooled off Pittsburgh.
Giants 7, Padres 1
Buster Posey hit a three-run homer, Ryan Vogelsong won for the first time in nearly a month and host San Francisco opened its longest homestand of the season with a win over San Diego.
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 3
Ian Kennedy had a bases-clearing triple and scattered five hits over eight strong innings, helping host Arizona beat Colorado.
Reds 8, Astros 3
Ryan Ludwick and Todd Frazier had three hits and two RBIs each and Brandon Phillips continued his solid play since the injury to Joey Votto with three hits to help Cincinnati to a victory over host Houston.
Marlins 2, Braves 1
Josh Johnson pitched six scoreless innings and Emilio Bonifacio homered to lead host Miami over Atlanta.
Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3
Chad Billingsley returned from the 15-day disabled list with a strong outing that ended a five-start losing streak and Luis Cruz hit a three-run homer as visiting Los Angeles beat St. Louis for its fifth straight victory.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
White Sox 7, Twins 4
Adam Dunn hit his majors-leading 29th homer, Gavin Floyd went six innings after coming off the disabled list and host Chicago ended a five-game losing streak with a win over Minnesota.
Rangers 9, Red Sox 1
Scott Feldman, starting after Roy Oswalt was scratched with back tightness, threw seven strong innings to lead Texas to a victory over visiting Boston.
Ian Kinsler went 3-for-4 and Craig Gentry went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Texas. Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli both had two RBIs in the Rangers’ first home game since July 8.
Indians 3, Orioles 1
Justin Masterson, backed by three double plays, pitched 71/3 strong innings to help host Cleveland beat Baltimore and avoid a four-game sweep.
Angels 6, Royals 3
Pinch hitter Kendrys Morales delivered a rare three-run single in the eighth inning, helping host Los Angeles beat Kansas City.
