Kevin Millwood gave the Texas Rangers the quality start they desperately needed.
Millwood scattered six hits in his second complete game of the season, and Josh Hamilton hit one of five homers off Detroit starter Nate Robertson in the Rangers’ 9-1 victory Wednesday night.
Millwood (7-7), who lost his previous three decisions, relied on his fastball to get ahead of the hitters. He struck out three and walked one in his 15th career complete game.
“I located my fastball,” said Millwood, who gave the Rangers their fourth complete game of the season. “I pretty much threw the fastball wherever I wanted to. When you do that it can make your other pitches better. I think I pitched better tonight than I did any time this year. It shows me the work I’m doing is paying off.”
The Rangers had allowed seven or more runs in 10 of their previous 11 games before Millwood ended that trend. Texas started the night with a major league-high ERA of 5.43, 5.82 by the starters.
Rangers manager Ron Washington intended on taking Millwood out after eight innings, but Millwood wanted to complete the game and threw 113 pitches.
“He came down and said he thought he was going to take me out,” Millwood said. “I said I was fine, let me finish it.”
Detroit had 18 fly ball outs in what is known as a hitter’s park.
“What he did more than anything else was he stayed out of the middle of the plate so he could keep (the ball) off the fat part of their bats,” Washington said. “When they did center it up, we had someone standing there to catch it.”
Texas had lost the first five meetings with Detroit this season, and seven in a row overall.
Travis Metcalf homered twice, once off Robertson (8-9), and Brandon Boggs, Michael Young and Milton Bradley also connected for the Rangers.
The highest scoring team in the majors won for the third time in 12 games.
Hamilton had three hits, including his 29th homer, a solo shot in the fourth that gave him a major league-leading 115 RBIs.
Metcalf’s two-run homer in the second got the Rangers’ offense started.
Mets 6, Braves 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Pelfrey pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game and David Wright homered to lead New York past Atlanta 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Pelfrey (12-8) also delivered at the plate, hitting an RBI single in a five-run first inning, when the NL East leaders took advantage of two Atlanta errors.
Daniel Murphy hit a two-run single, and Fernando Tatis also drove in a run for the Mets, who have won eight of nine and 11 of 14. They remained 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Philadelphia.
Braves starter Jair Jurrjens (11-9) gave up six runs — four earned — and six hits in five innings.
Phillies 4, Nationals 0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brett Myers tossed a nine-hitter for his first shutout in four years and Philadelphia handed Washington its 12th straight loss.
Myers (6-10) struck out nine and walked one in his sixth start since being recalled from the minors on July 20. He earned his first shutout since a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 20, 2004, and his first complete game since he tossed a six-hitter in a 6-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 20, 2006.
The Nationals tied Kansas City for the longest losing streak in the majors this season. The skid is the franchise’s longest since the Montreal Expos dropped 12 straight from Aug. 13-27, 1976.
Ronnie Belliard had two hits for Washington, which has the worst record in the major leagues (44-83). The Nationals have been shut out 19 times this season.
Greg Dobbs hit a two-run homer off Collin Balester (2-6) in Philadelphia’s three-run fifth.
Brewers 5, Astros 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Manny Parra lasted five innings to earn his first victory in a month, and J.J. Hardy hit a two-run homer for Milwaukee.
Rickie Weeks walked three times and scored three runs, and Prince Fielder had two sacrifice flies for the Brewers, who managed four hits.
Parra (10-6) won 7-4 at San Francisco on July 20, then lost four straight decisions over his next five starts. He allowed two runs and six hits.
Carlos Villanueva worked two hitless innings, Eric Gagne got out of a jam in the eighth and Salomon Torres pitched the ninth for his 24th save.
Wandy Rodriguez (7-6) allowed three runs, two earned, and three hits in 5 1-3 innings for the Astros.
Reds 2, Cubs 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Bronson Arroyo allowed three hits and a run in seven innings and Cincinnati cooled off Chicago.
Arroyo (11-10) tied a career high with five walks, struck out four and was backed by two double plays in a duel with Cubs starter Ted Lilly, who held the Reds hitless the first five innings.
The loss was only the fifth in the last 22 games for the NL Central-leading Cubs.
The Reds broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh when Edwin Encarnacion hit a fly that fell in front of left fielder Alfonso Soriano and behind shortstop Ryan Theriot for a leadoff double. He moved up on an infield out and scored on Jolbert Cabrera’s sacrifice fly.
David Weathers pitched the eighth and Francisco Cordero struck out the side in the ninth for his 24th save.
Lilly (12-7) fell to 0-3 against the Reds this season with all three losses at Wrigley Field. He gave up two hits in seven innings and lost for the first time since the Reds beat him on July 10.
Cardinals 11, Pirates 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rick Ankiel and Jason LaRue hit two-run homers and St. Louis’ Todd Wellemeyer beat Pittsburgh for the third time this season.
Skip Schumaker had three hits and Wellemeyer (11-4) won his fourth straight decision and added an RBI single for St. Louis, which won for the fourth time in its last 12 home games.
The Cardinals are an NL-best 37-29 on the road and 34-29 at home after splitting a two-game series with the Pirates.
Ryan Doumit had three hits, including his 13th homer, for Pittsburgh, but Jason Davis (1-3) failed to make it out of the fourth coming off two effective starts. Doumit is hitting .538 (14-for-26) with five RBIs against the Cardinals and leads NL catchers with a .333 average.
Ankiel’s homer in the third put the Cardinals ahead 5-2. LaRue, a late lineup addition at catcher when Yadier Molina was scratched with a bruised left foot, added a two-run homer in the seventh.
