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THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961 Founder and Publisher YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait. E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net Issues Pakistan protests agenda dictated by hardliners P akistan’s By Sami Zubeiri handling of protests against an anti-Islam film was a risky attempt to cash in on religious sentiment, analysts say, and could fan the flames of extremism in the troubled nation. As anger raged across the Muslim world at the US-made “Innocence of Muslims”, the coalition government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) declared Friday a public holiday and encouraged people to protest peacefully. But what was officially a “day of love for the prophet” ended in bloodshed and looting, with 21 people killed and more than 200 injured as angry demonstrators clashed with police, smashing up shops, cinemas and fast food outlets in major cities. Compounding the problems for Pakistan’s leaders, on Saturday Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour offered $100,000 of his own money to anyone who killed the filmmaker, urging the Taleban and Al-Qaeda to join the hunt to accomplish what he called the “noble deed”. More than 50 people have died around the world in violence linked to the low-budget movie, which mocks Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), since the first demonstrations erupted on September 11. But if the Pakistan government’s intention in calling a public holiday was to take the sting out of the demonstrations on its own doorstep, the policy failed. There had been dozens of rallies against the film, some of which had led to clashes, but nothing on the scale of Friday’s violence. While the number of protesters was relatively small - around 45,000 out of a population of 180 million - many carried the banners of extremist groups, and as often happens in Pakistan, their voices drowned out the forces of moderation. Pakistan is locked in a struggle against militant Islamism on its own soil but its “war on terror” alliance with Washington is unpopular and the government is keen to avoid accusations from opposition parties and hardliners that it is too cosy with Western powers. Najam Sethi, editor-in-chief of the Daily Times, an English-language newspaper, said the day of protest was a calculated move that backfired. “It was a gamble. They hoped and thought that the demonstrations would be peaceful,” he told AFP. “And even when they saw this could turn violent, they did not do anything, or much, because they’re afraid, as they are already accused of being soft on the West.” Author and analyst Hasan Askari said the events showed the elected government had allowed a small but vocal minority from the religious right to dictate the agenda. “As usual the government played on the wicket of religious elements and lost to them,” he told AFP. “By declaring Friday as a holiday it did not keep the initiative with it. The initiative went in the hands of the religious elements.” Pakistan’s government on Sunday distanced itself from Bilour’s bounty offer but political analyst Rasul Bakhsh Rais said it was further evidence of politicians’ willingness to try to capitalise on religious sentiment. “The statement shows the so-called secular and moderate politicians are using Islam for domestic politics,” Rais said of the reward offer. Bilour’s Awami National Party (ANP) is under pressure from hardline religious groups in the deeply conservative northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where it holds power and where anti-Western feeling runs deep. The bounty was in part an attempt to outflank the religious right, Askari said - to show that the nominally secular ANP can be as hardline as anyone. But efforts by mainstream parties to win support from religious conservatives - to ride the tiger of extremism - are both unlikely to succeed and fraught with risk, warned Rais. “It is typical of the mindset of the leaders to play to the gallery,” he said. “It will encourage religious fanaticism and in the long term it may harm peace and stability at home. Such elements need to be condemned.” Askari said that while Bilour’s offer of a bounty was embarrassing to the government internationally, particularly with President Asif Ali Zardari due to address the UN General Assembly today, it was also indicative of a stratum of opinion within the coalition. “These things show that hardline thinking is there in the government circles also,” he told AFP. “There is a common phenomenon of pointscoring in Pakistan politics and Bilour wanted to show that ‘we are not lagging behind any other group’.” A general election is due in the next few months and with anti-US sentiment running higher than ever in Pakistan, the government thought it could seize the moment to boost its popularity, said Sethi of the Daily Times. “Everything, including this attitude, is also linked to the upcoming elections”. — AFP All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary. 14 opinion TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 Japan, China military conflict seen unlikely By Linda Sieg H awkish Chinese commentators have urged Beijing to prepare for military conflict with Japan as tensions mount over disputed islands in the East China Sea, but most experts say chances the Asian rivals will decide to go to war are slim. A bigger risk is the possibility that an unintended maritime clash results in deaths and boosts pressure for retaliation, but even then Tokyo and Beijing are expected to seek to manage the row before it becomes a full-blown military confrontation. “That’s the real risk - a maritime incident leading to a loss of life. If a Japanese or Chinese were killed, there would be a huge outpouring of nationalist sentiment,” said Linda Jakobson, director of the East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney. “But I still cannot seriously imagine it would lead to an attack on the other country. I do think rational minds would prevail,” she said, adding economic retaliation was more likely. A feud over the lonely islets in the East China Sea flared this month after Japan’s government bought three of the islands from a private owner, triggering violent protests in China and threatening business between Asia’s two biggest economies. Adding to the tensions, China sent more than 10 government patrol vessels to waters near the islands, known as the Diaoyu in China and the Senkaku in Japan, while Japan beefed up its Coast Guard patrols. Chinese media said 1,000 fishing boats have set sail for the area, although none has been sighted close by. Despite the diplomatic standoff and rising nationalist sentiment in China especially, experts agree neither Beijing nor Tokyo would intentionally escalate to a military confrontation what is already the worst crisis in bilateral ties in decades. “The chances of a military conflict are very, very slim because neither side wants to go down that path,” said former People’s Liberation Army officer, Xu Guangyu, now a senior consultant at a government-run think tank in Beijing. Pressure from the United States, which repeated last week that the disputed isles were covered by a 1960 treaty obliging Washington to come to Japan’s aid if it were attacked, is also working to restrain both sides, security experts said. “I very seriously do not think any of the involved parties - Japan, China and including the United States because of its defence treaty (with Japan) - want to see a military conflict over this dispute,” said the Lowy Institute’s Jakobson. “They don’t want to risk it, they don’t seek it and they do not intend to let it happen.” Still, the possibility of a clash at sea remains. While the presence of the Chinese surveillance ships - none of which is a naval vessel - and Japan Coast Guard ships in the area might appear to set the stage for trouble, military experts said each side would try to steer clear of the other. “The bad news is that China sent ships to the area. The good news is that they are official ships controlled by the government,” said Narushige Michishita at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo. “This is good news because they are not likely to engage in aggressive action because that would really exacerbate the situation and turn it into a major crisis,” said Michishita. The Chinese ships, he said, had another mission besides asserting China’s claims to the islands and nearby waters. “My guess is that some (Chinese) official patrol boats are there to watch out for fishing boats ... to stop them from making problems,” Michishita said. Military specialists say the Chinese patrol vessels are well disciplined as are the Japan Coast Guard ships, while the two sides have grown accustomed to communicating. “Both sides are ready, but both sides are very well under control,” said a former senior Japanese military official. What worries observers most is the risk that a boat carrying Chinese fishermen slips through or activists try to land, sparking clashes with Japan’s Coast Guard that result in deaths - news of which would spread like wildfire on the Internet. In 1996, a Hong Kong activist drowned in the nearby waters. Diplomatic and economic relations By David Morgan E ven before his running mate was booed by a lobbying group for older Americans on Friday, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was losing support among such voters, whose backing is crucial to his hopes of winning the Nov 6 election. New polling by Reuters/Ipsos indicates that during the past two weeks - since just after the Democratic National Convention - support for Romney among Americans age 60 and older has crumbled, from a 20-point lead over Democratic President Barack Obama to less than 4 points. Romney’s double-digit advantages among older voters on the issues of healthcare and Medicare - the nation’s health insurance program for those over 65 and the disabled - also have evaporated, and Obama has begun to build an advantage in both areas. Voting preferences among seniors could change in the final six weeks of the campaign, but the polling suggests that a series of recent episodes favoring Obama and the Democrats could be chipping away at Romney’s support among older Americans. Romney’s selection of Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate put the federal budget and Medicare at center stage in the campaign. But the debate over spending and entitlement programs that Romney seemed to be seeking has not unfolded the way Republicans wanted. At the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept 5, former President Bill Clinton gave a folksy but blistering critique of Ryan’s plan to revamp Medicare, warning that it could leave seniors unprotected from escalating healthcare costs. Meanwhile, Democrats’ efforts to portray Romney as a wealthy former private equity executive with little sympathy for the less fortunate got a boost last week, from Romney himself. On a secretly recorded video released by the liberal magazine Mother Jones, Romney was shown telling supporters at a $50,000-a-person fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans would never vote for him because they do not pay federal income taxes, feel they are “victims,” and depend on government benefits. Democrats accused Romney of dismissing a range of Americans, including elderly people who depend on government programs such as Medicare and Social Security. Romney’s campaign rejected that, but the recent polls suggest that such claims may be resonating with Americans aged 60 and older, who for months had been the only age group to consistently support Romney over Obama. Analysts say that if Romney cannot reverse the trend among older voters, he won’t win on Nov 6. “If Romney loses seniors, he loses this election, period,” said Jonathan Oberlander, a health policy specialist at the University of North Carolina. “A bad showing nationally (among older voters) does not bode well for Florida and other states with big senior populations.” Ryan’s plan for Medicare would limit the program’s costs by converting it from a provider of popular benefits to a system that would give future beneficiaries a financial stipend to help pay for private insurance or traditional Medicare. Obama and fellow Democrats say Ryan’s approach, which chilled sharply in 2010 after Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain whose boat collided with a Japan Coast Guard vessel. This time, tensions are already high and China is contending with a tricky oncein-a-decade leadership change while Japan’s ruling party faces a probable drubbing in an election expected in months. “Two rational governments of major countries would not intentionally decide to enter into a major war with each other over a few uninhabited rocks,” said Denny Roy, an Asia security expert at the East-West Center in Hawaii. “But unfortunately, you can arrive at war in ways other than that - through unintended escalation, in which both countries start out at a much lower level, but each of them think that they must respond to per- ceived provocation by the other side, both very strongly pushed into it by domestic pressure. That seems to be where we are now and it is difficult to see how countries can get out of that negative spiral.” Others, however, were more confident that an unplanned clash could be kept from escalating into military conflict. “That’s not really a major possibility, because there are still broad channels of communication between the two sides, and they would help prevent that happening. Both sides could still talk to each other,” said former senior PLA officer Xu. “Even before anything happened, you would also have the U.N Secretary General and others stepping in to ensure that the situation does not get out of control.” — Reuters For Romney, troubling signs among older voters largely has been embraced by Republicans including Romney, would further expose seniors to rising healthcare costs and hasten Medicare’s financial instability. Republicans argue that their plan would preserve Medicare for future generations. Medicare serves nearly 50 million retired and disabled Americans, and polls show stiff public resistance to the Ryan plan, with older voters opposing it by a 2-to-1 ratio. Until now, however, there have been few tangible signs that opposition to Ryan’s plan would translate into a preference for president. Pollsters say Obama’s recent rise in popularity among older Americans could signal that Democrats are winning the advertising battle over Medicare. That would be something of a turnaround for Democrats. For much of the past two years, Republicans have helped to sway public opinion against Obama’s signature legislative achievement, his overhaul of the healthcare system, by casting it as a government overreach that will kill jobs by raising costs for employers. Republicans also said Obama would cut $716 billion from Medicare, an allegation rejected by Democrats and independent analysts. Even so, the Republican claims of Medicare cuts drew large numbers of seniors to the polls in the 2010 elections, when Republicans won control of the US House of Representatives. AARP, a grass-roots lobbying group with 37 million members aged 50 and up, backed Obama’s healthcare plan against Republican critics. So it wasn’t too surprising last week when Ryan, speaking at an AARP convention in New Orleans, faced a tough audience. Less than five minutes into Ryan’s speech, there were boos and cries of “No!” as he laid out the Republican message on Medicare and vowed to repeal “Obamacare”. But the data from Reuters/Ipsos polling - along with similar results from survey data of older voters by the Pew Research Center - indicate that the crowd’s response in New Orleans could symbolize more than just one large group’s discomfort with the Romney-Ryan ticket. A Pew poll, conducted Sept 12-16 and released last week, showed Romney with only a 47 to 46 percent lead among registered voters aged 65-plus. He also trailed Obama by 7 points among people aged 45 to 64 - a huge potential voting bloc that analysts say is increasingly concerned about retirement security. To illustrate the challenge that Romney could face in November, analysts note that Republican John McCain won 53 percent of the vote among those 65 and older in 2008, and lost to Obama with 46 percent of the overall vote. “This is certainly a bit of a game changer,” Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said of the increasing support for Obama among older Americans. “Older individuals vote. They’re the ones who turn up on Election Day, for sure.” Romney and Ryan are likely to need a clear victory among older voters to win the election, given Obama’s advantages among other important voting groups such as women, minorities and young adults, analysts said. “For Romney to win the election, he has to have the majority of the vote from people over 50,” said Robert Blendon, a political analyst at the Harvard School of Public Health. “If they share voters over 50, Romney’s really going to take a loss here.” — Reuters
Milan coach suspended ROME: AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri has been suspended for one match after protesting to match officials during his side’s 2-1 defeat at Udinese, league officials announced yesterday. A brief statement said Allegri was punished for protesting to the match referee as the teams were going down the tunnel after full-time in Sunday’s match in Udine, which was Milan’s third defeat in four games. It means the 45-year-old, who has been under immense pressure during Milan’s catastrophic start to the season, will be banned from the touchline for Cagliari’s visit to the San Siro tomorrow. Allegri has so far been given the backing of club bosses, including owner and president Silvio Berlusconi, but it remains to be seen how they will react if Milan slip to a fourth defeat. Milan finished runners-up last season, a year after Allegri led them to the title in his first season in charge. However, with three defeats in four games, it is the Rossoneri’s worst start to a campaign since the 1940-41 season. —AFP NEW YORK: Oakland Athletics’ Cliff Pennington hits a go-ahead sixth-inning RBI-single to drive in Josh Donaldson in a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees. —AP Athletics halt Yankees 7-game winning streak NEW YORK: Cliff Pennington hit a go-ahead single in the sixth inning after a key error by backup shortstop Eduardo Nunez and the Oakland Athletics bounced back to avoid a sweep, edging New York 5-4 Sunday and stopping the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak. A day after their stunning 14-inning loss, the A’s held on to at least maintain their 21/2game lead for the second AL wild-card spot over the Angels, who played later. The Yankees kept their one-game lead in the AL East because Baltimore lost in Boston. Despite the defeat, the Yankees have to like their chances to win the division - their final 10 games are against three teams with records below .500. Red Sox 2, Orioles 1 In Boston, Cody Ross doubled in the goahead run in the eighth inning, Andrew Bailey escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and the Red Sox ended Baltimore’s six-game winning streak. The Orioles began the day one game behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East and two games ahead of Oakland for the top wild-card spot in the league. Boston stopped its four-game losing streak after Dustin Pedroia led off the eighth with a double against Luis Ayala (5-5) and Ross followed with his tiebreaking hit. A double by Jim Thome helped Baltimore load the bases with one out in the ninth. But Bailey got Manny Machado on a forceout at home and struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Flaherty to finish it. Angels 4, White Sox 1 In Anaheim, Jered Weaver kept the Angels within striking distance in the AL wild-card chase, posting his league-leading 19th victory with a decision over the struggling White Sox. The White Sox lost their fifth in a row and led Detroit by a half-game in the AL Central. The Tigers lost the opener of their day-night doubleheader against Minnesota. Albert Pujols reached the 100-RBI mark for the 11th time in 12 big league seasons with a two-run double as the Angels remained 21/2 games behind Oakland for the second wildcard spot. Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer that helped the Angels complete a three-game sweep. Weaver (19-4) established a career high for wins. Twins 2, Tigers 1 In Detroit, Jamey Carroll hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and the Twins beat Detroit, winning both games of a doubleheader to prevent the Tigers from at least tying the Chicago White Sox atop the AL Central. Chicago still has a one-game lead in the division despite extending its losing streak to five with a 4-1 loss earlier in the day against the Los Angeles Angels. Detroit closer Jose Valverde (3-4) allowed pinch-hitter Denard Span to lead off the extra inning with a single and gave up a one-out, fall-behind single to Carroll. Jared Burton (2-1) got the win and Glen Perkins pitched a perfect 10th for his 14th save in 17 chances. Indians 15, Royals 4 In Kansas City, Carlos Santana hit two homers and drove in five runs as the Indians routed Kansas City in their highest-scoring game of the season. Santana connected for a two-run shot in the sixth inning off Jake Odorizzi, who lost in his major league debut. Santana added his team-leading 18th homer, a three-run drive during a seven-run ninth. The loss officially eliminated the Royals from playoff contention and assured them of another losing record. Kansas City has not made the postseason since winning the 1985 World Series, the longest active playoff drought in the majors. Rays 3, Blue Jays 0 In St, Petersburg, BJ Upton hit his eighth home run in 14 games and Jeremy Hellickson won for the first time in more than a month to help the Rays beat the Blue Jays. It was the fifth straight win for the Rays, who remained 31/2 games behind the Oakland Athletics in the race for the AL’s second wild-card spot. Hellickson (9-10) pitched 5 2-3 innings, giving up five hits and two walks while striking out six. The right-hander has given up only 16 runs in his last eight starts, but has won only two of them. Sunday marked his first win since Aug. 20. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 44th save. Upton’s 26th home run came in the first inning off Chad Jenkins, who was making his first major league start. Rangers 3, Mariners 2 In Seattle, Ryan Dempster allowed two runs and six hits over six-plus innings and Mike Napoli and Geovany Soto homered to lead the Rangers over the Mariners and preserve a four-game lead over the Oakland A’s in the AL West. With Oakland’s 5-4 win over the New York Yankees earlier Sunday, the Rangers were looking to avoid a sweep by the scuffling Mariners in order to keep their distance over the Athletics with a pivotal four-game series against them beginning in Texas on Monday. Solo homers by Eric Thames and Brendan Ryan off Dempster (12-7) in the seventh inning were the only blemishes to a strong outing. Dempster went 6 2-3 innings allowing one walk while striking out eight. Joe Nathan earned his 35th save. The Rangers were again without Josh Hamilton, who has missed the last five sports Indian Olympic body calls for elections on Nov 25 NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association has bowed to pressure from the International Olympic Committee and scheduled elections for Nov. 25. The IOA made the announcement Monday, a day ahead of a deadline set by IOC for the Indian body to call elections and resolve the confusion surrounding the status of Suresh Kalmadi. Kalmadi spent nine months in jail over corruption charges relating to the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He stepped away from the day-to-day running of the IOA but has not relinquished the presidency. Acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra told reporters yesterday the IOA “did not want to be in conflict” with the IOC. He said the body would also ensure that sports bodies governing Olympic disciplines would form the majority of the electorate. “The IOC had asked us to furnish information on two issues - the date of elections and to ensure a voting right majority of national sports federations whose disciplines are included in the Olympic Games. The executive board has announced the date for elections and a meeting on Oct. 18 will work out details of the electoral process,” Malhotra said. Malhotra did not clear up the national body’s stance on the IOC decision to send an observer to the elections. “The IOC had sought information on these two issues only. The observer issue was not among those on which the IOC had directed us to respond. We’ve already asked the IOC why we are being singled out because observers are not sent to other countries,” Malhotra said.—AP CHICAGO: Kyle Lohse and the shorthanded St. Louis Cardinals won for the sixth time in seven games, holding their lead in the NL wild-card race with a 6-3 win Sunday over the Chicago Cubs. Minus All-Stars Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltran from the starting lineup, the Cardinals stayed 21/2 games ahead of Milwaukee for the second wild-card spot. Lohse (16-3) made his team-leading 32nd start, giving up three runs and five hits in six innings. Jason Motte earned his sixth save in the Cardinals’ last seven games, and now has 40 saves this season. Molina did not play for the defending World Series champions because of lower back spasms, having hurt himself while getting out of the way of a pitch Saturday. The catcher was feeling better, manager Mike Matheny said, still had some discomfort. Cubs starter Justin Germano (2-9) worked 5 2-3 innings, giving up four earned runs and 10 hits. Brewers 6, Nationals 2 In Washington, Jonathan Lucroy had a pair of RBI singles and Milwaukee beat Washington to keep the Brewers in the playoff chase. Rickie Weeks had three hits while Aramis Ramirez had two doubles for Milwaukee, which twice benefitted from Washington outfielders losing fly balls in the sun. The Brewers are 21/2 games behind St. Louis for the final NL wild-card berth. Washington (92-60) leads the NL East by 41/2 games over Atlanta, a 2-1 winner over Philadelphia Sunday. The Nationals magic number to clinch the division remains at six. Reliever Brandon Kintzler (3-0) pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the win. John Axford recorded the final out with two runners on for his 33rd save. Losing pitcher Ryan Mattheus (5-3) allowed three earned runs on four hits. Braves 2, Phillies 1 In Philadelphia, Tim Hudson tossed two-hit ball over 7 1-3 innings to help the Braves move to the brink of a playoff spot with a win over the Phillies. Hudson (16-6) struck out four and allowed one unearned run to send the Braves back to Atlanta with a shot at winning an NL wild-card berth. A year after a historic September collapse, the Braves are again close to a postseason spot. They can clinch during a sixgame homestand that opens today. The Braves were up 81/2 games through Sept. 5 last year, but went 9-18 down the stretch and were overtaken by St. Louis on the final day of the season. This season, the Braves can almost work the final week on setting their playoff rota- TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 Hodgson laments Terry’s exit LONDON: England manager Roy Hodgson said yesterday that he had “reluctantly” accepted John Terry’s decision to call time on his international career, as the centreback contested a Football Association racism charge. Chelsea captain Terry effectively accused the FA of forcing his hand in quitting England duty after the governing body pressed on with charges that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand in October. Terry, who has always denied using a racist slur against his opponent, was found not guilty in a criminal case relating to the incident in a London court in July. Despite the controversy, Hodgson picked Terry in his squad for the European Championship in June and wanted to have the 31-year-old involved in England’s bid to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. “I’d like to thank John Terry for his commitment to the England team since I became manager,” said Hodgson. “I am of course disappointed to lose a player of John’s international experience and exceptional ability. “I have enjoyed a good relationship with John during my time as England manager and I reluctantly accept his decision. I can also confirm that he had the courtesy to call me prior to the announcement of his retirement from the England team. —AP Cardinals thrash Cubs American League Eastern Division W L PCT GB NY Yankees 88 64 .579 - Baltimore 87 65 .572 1 Tampa Bay 83 70 .542 5.5 Boston 69 85 .448 20 Toronto 66 85 .437 21.5 Central Division Chicago White Sox 81 71 .533 - Detroit 80 72 .526 1 Kansas City 70 82 .461 11 Minnesota 64 89 .418 17.5 Cleveland 63 90 .412 18.5 Western Division Texas 90 62 .592 - Oakland 86 66 .566 4 LA Angels 84 69 .549 6.5 Seattle 72 81 .471 18.5 MLB results/standings tion. David Ross hit a solo homer for the Braves. Pirates 8, Astros 1 In Houston, AJ Burnett allowed one run in eight innings for his 16th win, and Josh Harrison tied a career high with four hits to jumpstart Pittsburgh’s offense in a win over Houston. The win snapped a five-game skid for the Pirates, who at 75-77 are in danger of posting their 20th straight losing season, which would extend their major North American professional sports record. They have won just three times in the past 16 games to make their chances of securing the second NL wild-card slim. Burnett (16-8), who allowed four hits and struck out a season-high 11, won for the first time since Aug. 16 to become the first Pittsburgh pitcher to win more than 15 games since 1991. He had started six games with four losses between victories. Mets 3, Marlins 2 In New York, Ruben Tejada singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Mets a victory over Miami. Scott Hairston led off the inning with a single, took second on a passed ball by Rob Brantly, and was safe at third when pinch-hitter Jordany Valdespin beat the throw on what would have been an inningending double play. Instead, pinch-hitter Fred Lewis was intentionally walked after Valdespin was allowed to take second. Tejada lined a pitch from right-hander Oakland 5, NY Yankees 4; Minnesota 10, Detroit 4; NY Mets 3, Miami 2; Boston 2, Baltimore 1; Milwaukee 6, Washington 2; Atlanta 2, Philadelphia 1; Tampa Bay 3, Toronto 0; Pittsburgh 8, Houston 1; Cleveland 15, Kansas City 4; St. Louis 6, Chicago Cubs 3; Arizona 10, Colorado 7; LA Angels 4, Chicago White Sox 1; San Diego 6, San Francisco 4; Texas 3, Seattle 2; Minnesota 2, Detroit 1 (10 innings); LA Dodgers 5, Cincinnati 3. Ryan Webb (4-3) into shallow left field and sprinted toward first with his finger in the air as the rest of the Mets poured out of the dugout. David Wright hit a two-run homer in the first and Bobby Parnell (5-4) pitched the top of the ninth for the win. D’backs 10, Rockies 7 In Denver, Aaron Hill hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat Colorado, the Rockies’ season-high ninth straight loss. Arizona remained 41/2 games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot. Wil Nieves had four hits and Hill had three for the Diamondbacks, who have won three straight and six of seven. Wilin Rosario had three hits for the fourth game in a row and DJ LeMahieu also had three hits for the Rockies. CHICAGO: Cubs catcher Welington Castillo reaches for the ball as St. Louis Cardinals’ Yadier Molina (4) twists to get out of the way of the pitch during the ninth inning of a baseball game. —AP National League Eastern Division Washington 92 60 .605 - Atlanta 88 65 .575 4.5 Philadelphia 77 76 .503 15.5 NY Mets 69 83 .454 23 Miami 66 87 .431 26.5 Central Division Cincinnati 92 61 .601 - St. Louis 82 71 .536 10 Milwaukee 79 73 .520 12.5 Pittsburgh 75 77 .493 16.5 Chicago Cubs 59 94 .386 33 Houston 50 103 .327 42 Western Division San Francisco 89 64 .582 - LA Dodgers 79 74 .516 10 Arizona 77 75 .507 11.5 San Diego 73 80 .477 16 Colorado 58 94 .382 30.5 Padres 6, Giants 4 In San Francisco, Yonder Alonso’s two-run single in the seventh inning snapped a tie and helped the Padres beat the Giants. Mark Kotsay hit a home run and Yasmani Grandal also drove in a run for the Padres, who had lost four of their previous five games. Everth Cabrera had four hits, walked and stole three bases in five plate appearances. Xavier Nady, who had two hits, Eli Whiteside, Emmanuel Burriss and Buster Posey each drove in runs for the Giants, who rested their regulars a day after clinching the NL West Division title. Eric Stults (7-3) worked six-plus innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, to win his sixth in seven decisions. He struck out four and walked one. Clay Hensley (4-4) took the loss after giving up Alonso’s hit. Dodgers 5, Reds 3 In Cincinnati, Adrian Gonzalez hit a pair of solo homers off Homer Bailey on Sunday night, powering the Dodgers to a victory over the Reds that let them keep pace in the wild card race. The Dodgers remained three games behind St. Louis and a half-game behind Milwaukee for the final NL playoff spot. All three won on Sunday. The Dodgers have dropped 11 of their last 17 games. They’re off Monday before starting a three-game series in San Diego. The Dodgers finish the season with six games at home - three against Colorado, three against NL West-champion San Francisco. Bailey (12-10) allowed five hits in 6 2-3 innings, including the two homers by Gonzalez, who has five in his career off the right-hander. Shawn Tolleson (3-1) got the victory with one perfect inning in relief. Brandon League pitched the ninth for his fifth save in as many chances with LA. —AP
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