NEW YORK (AP) -Orlando Hernandez gave up three home runs before he was ejected for a beanball, and the Washington Nationals got an impressive pitching performance from Shawn Hill in a 6-2 victory Saturday over the New York Mets.
Dmitri Young, Ryan Church and Chris Snelling homered for the Nationals, who improved to 3-9 and gave rookie manager Manny Acta a victory against former boss Willie Randolph.
After Snelling’s two-run shot made it 6-1 in the sixth, El Duque’s next delivery ran up and in and hit Hill around the right forearm. Plate umpire Mike Winters quickly ejected an incredulous Hernandez (1-1), who argued vehemently.
Hill (1-2) earned his third major league win – his first since beating Philadelphia 6-0 on June 11 last year. The right-hander didn’t pitch in the big leagues after June 28 last season because of a sore elbow.
Hill allowed two runs and eight hits in seven innings, matching the longest outing of his career. He walked one and set a career high with five strikeouts.
Acta was Randolph’s third-base coach with New York for two years before the Nationals hired him during the offseason. Randolph won their first matchup Friday night.
Cubs 7 Reds 0
CHICAGO (AP) – Rich Hill limited the Reds to three singles over seven innings on a cold and windy day at Wrigley Field as the Cubs snapped a four-game losing streak.
It was the second straight strong start by the 27-year-old lefty. In his first outing this season, Hill (2-0) allowed only one hit and one run in seven innings against the Brewers.
The Cubs broke through against Bronson Arroyo (0-2) in the fifth, using a sacrifice fly by Ronny Cedeno and a suicide squeeze bunt by Cesar Izturis to take a 2-0 lead.
They drove the lanky Arroyo out in a five-run seventh inning that began with an error on Reds first baseman Jeff Conine for missing a throw.
Bob Howry replaced Hill for the eighth and Ryan Dempster pitched the ninth to finish the six-hitter.
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