Tony Gwynn hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 7-4 in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday. Gwynn drove in Jerry Sands and Rod Barajas with a long double to center off Drew Storen (6-3). Dee Gordon added a run-scoring single — setting a career high with his fourth hit of the game. Mike MacDougal (3-1), the Dodgers' sixth pitcher, worked a scoreless eighth for the win. Javy Guerra pitched the ninth for his 16th save. Six Los Angeles relievers held Washington hitless over the last 6 1/3 innings. Juan Rivera hit two-run doubles in the first and third off Chien-Ming Wang to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. The Nationals tied the score at 4 in the bottom of the third off Chad Billingsley. Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse hit RBI doubles and Jayson Werth had a two-run home run — his 19th. Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly yanked Bilingsley after 2 1/3 — his shortest start in more than two years. Braves 6, Mets 5: Chipper Jones looked real comfortable batting second, hitting a double and homer and helping the Atlanta Braves snap a three-game skid with a 6-5 victory over the New York Mets Thursday in the first game of a doubleheader made necessary by the threat of Hurricane Irene. The Braves were forced to make a quick stop in New York to play two games postponed Aug. 27-28 after being handed their first three-game sweep of the season, by the Phillies. They next head to St. Louis for a crucial set against the team trailing them in the wild-card race. Only several hundred fans were on hand to see the start of the twinbill at 4:10 P.M. Phillies 7, Brewers 2: Cole Hamels pitched a four-hitter and Hunter Pence's triple keyed a six-run sixth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers. Hamels (14-7) gave up solo home runs to Yuniesky Betancourt and Corey Hart, but kept Milwaukee from mounting any big innings in a game between two best teams in the National League. The Phillies managed only one hit off Chris Narveson (10-7) the first 5 2/3 innings, but then broke through for six runs by getting seven consecutive batters on base to chase the Milwaukee starter in the sixth. Philadelphia had 11 of its 12 hits in the final 3 1/3 innings to win its fourth straight. Pence also had a run-scoring double in the ninth and finished with three RBIs. In another game Arizona beat San Diego 4-1.
