Rockies Destroy Cubs – MLB Roundup

UNDATED (AP) — Doug Fister won his 11th game by tossing seven and a-third strong innings and the Washington Nationals increased their National League East lead to four games by downing the New York Mets 7-1. Adam LaRoche homered twice and Danny Espinosa added a three-run shot for the Nationals.

Fister is 11-3. The lanky right-hander allowed one unearned run and six hits in seven and a-third innings. He struck out seven and reduced his ERA to 2.49.

In other baseball:

— The Atlanta Braves' losing streak has reached a season-high eight games. Dustin Ackley and Logan Morrison hit home runs in the third inning in the Seattle Mariners' 7-3 win over the Braves, who finished an 0-8 road trip. The Braves were swept at Dodger Stadium and San Diego before losing two straight at Safeco Field. Braves ace Julio Teheran (TEH'-ran) fell to 10-8 with the loss. Chris Young won his 10th game for the Mariners.

— Drew Hutchison came within one out of a complete-game one-hitter, Jose Bautista homered and drove in three runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 to end a four-game losing streak. Hutchison and Casey Janssen combined on the one-hitter as the Blue Jays closed within four games of the AL East-leading Orioles.

— The New York Yankees downed AL Central-leading Detroit 5-1. Brian McCann hit his 13th home run. Chase Headley also went deep for the Yanks. Derek Jeter singled for his 3,429th hit. He needs one more hit to tie Honus Wagner for sixth place on the career list.

— Mat Latos (LAY'-tohs) pitched seven shutout innings and chipped in with a hit as the Cincinnati Reds posted an 8-3 win over the Cleveland Indians in the Battle of Ohio. Zack Cozart hit a three-run homer.

— Kevin Kiermaier hit a two-run homer to help Jeremy Hellickson end a six-start winless stretch for his first victory in 11 months, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 7-3.

— The L.A. Dodgers maintained their two-and-a-half-game lead atop the NL West by edging the crosstown Angels 2-1. Mike Kemp homered in a two-run second inning. Dan Haren evened his record at 9-9 with his best outing of the year. He held the Angels to two hits in seven and a-third innings. He had a 10.03 ERA during his previous five starts.

— San Francisco downed NL Central leader Milwaukee 7-4. Michael Morse and Pablo Sandoval each drove in three runs to help Ryan Vogelsong improve to 7-8.

— The Brewers maintained their one-game lead over St. Louis because the Cardinals lost 2-1 to Boston. Xander Bogaerts drove in both runs, including a tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the ninth.

— Kansas City downed Arizona 4-3. Mike Moustakas hit his 14th homer, a two-run shot, and drove in all four runs.

— In a typical Coors Field slugfest, Colorado battered the Chicago Cubs 13-3 behind a 16-hit attack. Carlos Gonzalez homered, doubled and singled as the Rockies ended their five-game losing streak.

— Philadelphia routed the Houston Astros 10-3. Chase Utley hit his 10th homer for the Phils. Ben Revere had four hits, including a triple.

— Pittsburgh beat Miami 7-3. Josh Harrison had three hits to extend his hot streak. He's 20 for his last 44 during a 10-game hitting streak.

— Adam Rosales touched White Sox ace Chris Sale for a two-run homer and added another later in the game to lead Texas to a 3-1 win over Chicago. It was the first two-homer game for Rosales. Sale was pretty much untouchable after giving up the homer, but it was enough to drop his record to 10-2. He gave up the two runs on just three hits and struck out nine in six innings.

— Seth Smith's home run in the top of the 10th inning gave San Diego a 5-4 win over the Twins. Trevor Pflouffe had a home run and 3 RBIs for Minnesota.

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Commissioner Bud Selig (SEE'-lihg) says he expects baseball owners to vote next week from a list of three candidates for his successor.

Owners meet in Baltimore next week. Selig is retiring in January.

Selig confirmed several reports that the three finalists are Rob Manfred, MLB's chief operating officer; Tim Brosnan, MLB's executive vice president for business and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner. Selig says the list is accurate.

A candidate has to be approved by 23 of the 30 teams to be elected.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres hired A.J. Preller as general manager. Preller has been assistant GM of the Texas Rangers. He has extensive international scouting experience, particularly in Latin America.

Preller replaces Josh Byrnes, who was fired June 22.

He beat out a field of finalists that included assistant GMs Mike Hazen of the Boston Red Sox and Billy Eppler of the New York Yankees, and Kim Ng, senior vice president for baseball operations for Major League Baseball. Ng is one of the highest-ranking women in baseball.