Phoenix – Jake Peavy was nearly unhittable Wednesday night.
And for three innings, he was untouchable.
San Diego’s ace fell one strike short of Tom Seaver’s major-league record of 10 consecutive strikeouts and fanned 16 batters in seven innings before Stephen Drew’s two-out, two-run homer in the ninth gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 3-2 victory over the Padres on Wednesday night.
Peavy struck out the side in the second, third and fourth innings and had thrown 117 pitches when he was relieved by Scott Linebrink to open the eighth with San Diego leading 2-0. The strikeout record for a nine-inning game is 20, shared by Roger Clemens (twice) and Kerry Wood.
Peavy’s streak ended when he walked Eric Byrnes on a 3-2 pitch after a check swing call.
With San Diego ahead 2-0, pinch-hitter Miguel Montero homered off Linebrink in the eighth. Trevor Hoffman relieved to start the ninth, walked Chad Tracy with one out, then allowed Drew’s homer on a 3-1 pitch.
GIANTS 6, DODGERS 4 at Los Angeles: Barry Bonds hit his 741st career homer, a three-run shot in the first inning, Pedro Feliz had the go-ahead homer in the sixth and San Francisco beat Los Angeles for its first seven-game winning streak in nearly three years.
Bonds has homered in three of his past four games, moving him within 14 of Hank Aaron’s career record. He sent a 1-1 pitch from Randy Wolf into right-center field in the first inning. It was his second homer off Wolf and first since 1999.
PHILLIES 9, NATIONALS 3 at Philadelphia: Jon Lieber (1-0) limited Washington to two runs in six innings, Chase Utley was 5-for-5 with three RBIs, and Philadelphia won its fifth straight game.
MARLINS 4, BRAVES 3 at Miami: Miguel Olivo scored on a passed ball to cap Florida’s four-run rally in the ninth inning.
PIRATES 4, ASTROS 3 (16) at Pittsburgh: Adam LaRoche, his average down to .092, grounded a game-winning single into left field in the 16th inning and Pittsburgh rallied after blowing a two- run lead in the ninth to beat Houston.
CARDINALS 5, REDS 2 at St. Louis: Albert Pujols hit a two-run, tie-breaking double to spark a four- run eighth inning as St. Louis won for just the second time in nine home games.
CUBS 9, BREWERS 3 at Chicago: Derrek Lee and Cliff Floyd each got four hits, and Ted Lilly (2-2) allowed six hits and one earned run in seven innings as Chicago ended a three-game losing streak.
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