WASHINGTON — Philadelphia's Cliff Lee showed his value to the team amidst swirling trade rumors, pitching seven scoreless innings to steer the Phillies to an 8-0 win over the Washington Nationals Tuesday. On the same day the Phillies traded outfielders Shane Victorino to Los Angeles and Hunter Pence to San Francisco, one of the Phillies' other former All-Stars heavily involved in trade rumors — Lee — excelled. Lee (2-6) allowed just one walk and struck out seven for Philadelphia, which snapped a three-game losing streak. He also performed with the bat, hitting a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning. Lee stole second, his second career steal, before scoring on Jimmy Rollins' fourth career inside-the-park home run. Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg (11-5) allowed a season-worst six earned runs. Reds 7, Padres 6: In Cincinnati, Ryan Ludwick drove in four runs with a homer and a single, helping Cincinnati edge San Diego. The NL Central leaders blew a six-run lead before rallying for their 18th victory in 21 games. A loss to the Padres in the series opener Monday snapped a 10-game winning streak. Brandon Phillips hit a tiebreaking solo shot in the seventh inning, off the final pitch by Jason Marquis (4-6), who had won his previous three starts. Reds reliever Sean Marshall (4-3) got the win with two perfect innings. Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th straight save. Braves 7, Marlins 1: In Atlanta, Kris Medlen had a successful return to the rotation, guiding Atlanta past Miami and to its seventh straight win. Medlen (2-1) allowed one run and one walk in five innings. He made his first start since 2010. Brian McCann homered for the Braves, who closed to within 2-1/2 games of Washington atop the NL East. In his past 19 games, McCann has nine homers and 20 RBIs. Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco (8-10) gave up four runs and struck out six in five innings. He has lost four straight starts and has a 7.48 ERA over that span. Pirates 5, Cubs 0: In Chicago, A.J. Burnett pitched a shutout, as Pittsburgh downed Chicago. Burnett (13-3) just about stole the spotlight after the Cubs traded their ace pitcher Ryan Dempster to Texas just before the trade deadline. Burnett came close to a no-hitter, before allowing a single with two outs in the eighth. His bid for a second career no-hitter and the sixth in the majors this season ended with two outs in the eighth. Neil Walker drove in five runs for the Pirates. Chicago's Casey Coleman (0-2) had a rough night after being recalled from the minors to fill in for Dempster, fiving up four runs in 4-2/3 innings. Cardinals 11, Rockies 6: In Denver, Matt Holliday homered, doubled and drove in four runs to lead St. Louis over Colorado. Brewers 10, Astros 1: Aramis Ramirez and Corey Hart hit three-run homers for Milwaukee. Diamondbacks 8, Dodgers 2: Paul Goldschmidt homered in the first inning for the second straight game, Miguel Montero added a three-run shot and rookie Wade Miley pitched eight dominant innings for Arizona. Giants 4, Mets 1: Tim Lincecum struck out seven in seven innings and San Francisco took advantage of a two-run error by shortstop Ruben Tejada to snap a season-long five-game losing streak. — Agencies
