Philadelphia outfielder Shane Victorino made light of a three-game ban hanging over his head by smashing his 12th home run of the season in the Phillies' 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Monday. Victorino has appealed the suspension handed down by Major League Baseball earlier Monday for his role in a bench-clearing incident against the San Francisco Giants Friday. “They were the ones that provoked it,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “I feel (Victorino) kind of did what he had to do. He had to stand up for himself.” Mets 5, Padres 4: In New York, Rookie reliever Josh Spence walked light-hitting Ruben Tejada to force home the tiebreaking run and the New York Mets rallied late for the second consecutive game against San Diego's usually dependable bullpen, beating the Padres 5-4. Angel Pagan homered to start New York's comeback and Jason Isringhausen earned his 299th save. The Mets, who trailed by four runs in the eighth inning Monday and by two in the eighth on Tuesday, won both games to move back above .500 (58-57). Rockies 3, Reds 2: In Cincinnati, Troy Tulowitzki hit a two-run homer, Esmil Rogers pitched just well enough for six innings and the Colorado Rockies sent the Cincinnati Reds to their fifth loss in six games. Dexter Fowler had two of Colorado's five hits and drove in the go-ahead run for the Rockies, who have won three out of their last four games. Lack of clutch hitting continued to plague the Reds, who were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left Dontrelle Willis still looking for his first win in six starts since being called up from Triple-A on July 10. Willis (0-2) lowered his ERA from 3.41 to 3.16 and finished with a season-high 10 strikeouts. Nationals 3, Cubs 1: In Chicago, Chien-Ming Wang allowed one hit over six scoreless innings, Jonny Gomes hit a two-run homer and the Washington Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs. In his third start – and first on the road – after missing more than two years following shoulder surgery, Wang (1-2) won for the first time since June 28, 2009, against the New York Mets as a member of the Yankees. Michael Morse added a long home run and Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 17 games for the Nationals, who have won three of four. The Cubs have lost two games after winning a season-high seven straight. Cubs starter Matt Garza (5-9) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. He had nine strikeouts and two walks.
