Phillies storm past Marlins
MIAMI — Once the Philadelphia Phillies broke up Dontrelle Willis' shutout in the ninth inning, there was no stopping them.
Helped by the Florida Marlins' inept bullpen and defense, the Phillies' first 10 batters in the ninth reached base, and they scored 10 times to beat Willis 10-2 Saturday afternoon.
Willis (21-9) was three outs from becoming baseball's first 22-game winner when he took a three-hit shutout into the ninth. Instead, his streak of wins in six consecutive starts was snapped.
The Phillies won for the sixth time in seven games, while the Marlins fell two games back with their fourth consecutive loss. Going back to last weekend, the Phillies have scored 52 runs in their past five games against Florida.
Todd Jones blew a save for the first time in his past 28 chances. He faced five batters, gave up five runs and committed a throwing error that allowed Philadelphia to score the go-ahead run.
Cardinals 5, Cubs 1
CHICAGO — Two days after clinching the NL Central, St. Louis could acknowledge it after beating Chicago for its 95th win.
St. Louis had already clinched the division title because even if second-place Houston had tied, the Cardinals held the tiebreaker on the basis of winning the season series against the Astros. But manager Tony La Russa didn't want his team to celebrate ensuring it would finish with more victories than the Astros.
After Saturday's victory, La Russa stood over by the first base coaches box and hugged his players as they walked off the field.
Mark Mulder (16-7) allowed eight hits and a run in seven innings and helped himself with a squeeze bunt and single off Greg Maddux (12-13) to get his first win since Aug. 22.
Braves 7, Mets 4
NEW YORK — Adam LaRoche homered and had four hits, and Marcus Giles also connected to lead Tim Hudson and Atlanta. Hudson (13-8) threw six innings and earned his fifth win in six decisions despite giving up three homers for the first time since May 2002.
Ryan Langerhans added three RBIs and reached safely four times for the NL East-leading Braves, who remained five games ahead of second-place Philadelphia. Giles also reached base safely four times, and Jeff Francoeur got three hits.
Giants 2, Dodgers 1
SAN FRANCISCO — Omar Vizquel lined a tiebreaking single to right with two outs in the eighth and Randy Winn hit his career-high 16th home run, leading San Francisco over Los Angeles.
The Giants prevented Jeff Weaver (14-10) from earning bid for his career-high 15th win with their second straight one-run victory over their archrivals.
Winn connected for the second straight day, Tyler Walker (4-4) was credited for one-third of an inning for the win, and Armando Benitez finished for his 15th save.
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 5
PHOENIX — Tony Clark hit home runs from both sides of the plate, including a go-ahead shot in the seventh inning, and Chad Tracy went 4-for-4 with a homer to rally Arizona over Colorado.
Tracy hit a one-out homer to right to tie it off reliever Randy Williams (3-1) in the seventh. Clark followed with a towering shot into the left-field stands from the right side to give the Diamondbacks a 6-5 lead.
Clark, who had his third two-homer game of the season on Friday, also had a three-run drive in the fifth from the left side that pulled the Diamondbacks within 5-4.
Oscar Villareal (1-0) pitched a perfect seventh to earn his first win since Sept. 25, 2003.
Astros 7, Brewers 0
HOUSTON — Craig Biggio hit his National League-record 43rd leadoff homer, Brandon Backe had his best outing since returning from the disabled list, and Houston won its fourth straight to stay a half-game ahead of Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race.
Biggio, leading off for only the 10th time this season, connected off Wes Obermueller (1-4). Biggio also had a leadoff homer May 12 against San Francisco and has 22 home runs overall this season.
Pirates 4, Reds 0
PITTSBURGH — Jason Bay had three hits, including his 30th home run, and Paul Maholm (2-0) allowed four hits in eight innings as Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati.
Bay extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a solo homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the third, helping the Pirates win for the third time in four games. Bay is 17-for-40 (.425) with five homers and 15 RBIs during the streak.
Freddie Sanchez also homered, becoming the first Pittsburgh player to hit a leadoff homer since Tike Redman on Aug. 12, 2003, against St. Louis.
Padres 8, Nationals 5
SAN DIEGO — Khalil Greene hit a grand slam to cap a five-run, two-out rally in the ninth inning, and Ramon Hernandez had a three-run homer in the 12th inning for the Padres.
Greene led off the 12th with a single, tying his career high with fourth hits. Pitcher Woody Williams pinch hit and struck out when his bunt attempt with two strikes went foul, and Dave Roberts followed with a bloop single to right, with Greene stopping at second. Hernandez then homered off Jon Rauch (1-4).
for San Diego's first walkoff homer of the season.
Scott Linebrink (7-1) pitched two perfect innings for the victory.
With the victory, San Diego maintained its 5 1/2 game lead over San Francisco in the NL West. The Padres are 73-74, the latest in a season that a team has led a division with a losing record.
The Padres, who won for the second time in seven games, have 15 games remaining.
San Diego came back from a 5-0 deficit in the ninth to tie the game on Greene's grand slam off Washington closer Chad Cordero.
Greene hit a 1-0 fastball into the left-field stands and was mobbed by his teammates as he approached the San Diego dugout. It was Greene's 12th home run.
Eric Young started the rally with a leadoff walk against Jason Bergmann, the first of four Washington pitchers in the ninth. After Bergmann struck out Ramon Hernandez, he was replaced by Joey Eischen, who got one out before allowing a single to Xavier Nady. Travis Hughes came in and allowed Joe Randa's RBI single.
Cordero, the major league leader with 46 saves, replaced Hughes and walked Mark Loretta before giving up Greene's grand slam. Pinch-hitter Ryan Klesko ended the inning with a deep fly out to center.
Cordero has blown seven save chances.
The Padres' comeback ruined six shutout innings thrown by Hector Carrasco, who was one out away from his first career win as a starter. Carrasco allowed just three hits as Washington took a four-hit shutout into the ninth inning.
Carrasco, starting for only the third time in 559 games, allowed one runner to reach second base. He struck out three and walked one.
It was Carrasco's second straight start after filling in for John Patterson, who fell ill before Tuesday's game against the New York Mets. Carrasco started on late notice Tuesday and did not receive a decision after giving up two runs on three hits in four innings.
Nick Johnson homered and drove in two runs and Preston Wilson hit a solo homer for the Nationals, who fell 3 1/2 games behind Houston in the NL wild-card race.
Adam Eaton started for the fourth time since coming off the disabled list with a strained right middle finger. Eaton allowed four runs on eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked two.
Notes: Johnson hit his 14th homer leading off the second inning and Wilson hit his 24th homer to lead off the sixth and give the Nationals a 4-0 lead. ... Before this season, Carrasco's only other start came with Boston when he pitched two innings on Oct. 1, 2000. ... Greene hit his first career grand slam and it was San Diego's first in the two-year history at Petco Park.