WASHINGTON -- Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones hit consecutive
homers off closer Chad Cordero with two outs in the ninth inning
Sunday, rallying the Atlanta Braves to a 9-7 victory over the
Washington Nationals.
Chipper Jones' two-run shot off Cordero (2-4) erased a 7-6
deficit for Atlanta -- which led 6-2 heading into the bottom of the
eighth before Washington scored five times.
Andruw Jones followed with his second homer of the game and 49th
of the season, on an 0-2 pitch. He's homered in three straight
games to break the franchise record of 47 homers shared by Hall of
Famers Hank Aaron (1971) and Eddie Mathews (1953).
Macay McBride (1-0) earned his first major league victory. Kyle
Farnsworth got his sixth save.
Washington rallied in the eighth after John Smoltz left with
tightness in his pitching shoulder.<
^Brewers 4, Astros 2=
MILWAUKEE -- Rickie Weeks hit a two-run homer and Rick
Helling pitched seven strong innings to lead Milwaukee.
Houston remained a half-game ahead of Florida in the wild-card
race. The Astros, who failed to move a season-high 12 games over
.500, begin a four-game series with the Marlins on Monday at home.
Helling (2-0) was making his fourth start of the season and got
his first win as a starter. He gave up five hits and had a
season-high six strikeouts.
Derrick Turnbow pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 34
chances.
Roy Oswalt (17-12) lost for just the sixth time in 20 starts.<
^Phillies 11, Marlins 1=
PHILADELHPIA -- Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer and had
four RBIss, Jon Lieber pitched seven sharp innings and Philadelphia
kept its playoff push humming along with an easy win over Florida.
Kenny Lofton added a two-run triple and drove in three runs, and
Jimmy Rollins scored twice and had three hits to extend his hitting
streak to 17 games for the Phillies, who are 1½ games behind
Houston in the wild-card race. Philadelphia won two of three in the
series.
The Phillies rebounded nicely from a three-game sweep by
Houston. Burrell led an offense that battered the Marlins' starters
and left the Phillies feeling good about themselves heading into a
four-game series with NL East-leading Atlanta.
Lieber (14-12) allowed four hits. The Phillies scored six times
in the third, chasing Ismael Valdez (2-2).<
^Dodgers 7, Padres 3=
LOS ANGELES -- Brad Penny overcame a shaky start to pitch
six solid innings, Jose Cruz Jr. and Dioner Navarro hit
back-to-back homers, and Los Angeles beat San Diego to move within
six games of the NL West-leading Padres.
The win was the fourth in five games for the Dodgers, who have
20 games left and finish the season with a three-game series in San
Diego. The Padres dropped to .500 by losing two straight in Los
Angeles after winning the opener of the series.
Penny (7-9) gave up three runs on four hits and a walk in the
first before settling down. He blanked the Padres on one hit after
that, retiring his last 11 batters before being relieved by
Giovanni Carrara to begin the seventh.
Los Angeles battled back to tie the game at 3 before Scott
Cassidy (0-1) walked Jeff Kent with two outs in the fourth, and
Cruz greeted Chris Hammond by hitting a 2-2 pitch into the
left-field bullpen for his 16th homer. Navarro followed with his
second of the season to give the Dodgers a 6-3 lead.<
^Mets 7, Cardinals 2=
ST. LOUIS -- Pedro Martinez stopped his own two-game skid as
well as New York's six-game losing streak, pitching eight strong
innings against St. Louis.
Carlos Beltran homered and Mike Jacobs doubled twice with an RBIs
to help the Mets beat the Cardinals for the first time in 12 games
on the road and avoid a four-game sweep. Victor Diaz hit a
three-run homer in the ninth.
New York, which rested Mike Piazza a day after he was beaned,
won for only the third time in 15 games overall and completed a 2-8
road trip to Florida, Atlanta and St. Louis that damaged its
wild-card hopes.
Pitching in St. Louis for the first time since he won Game 3 of
the World Series for Boston with seven shutout innings, Martinez
(14-7) allowed eight hits and struck out seven. He lost his
previous two outings while allowing eight runs in 13 innings and
was 1-4 in his previous eight starts.
Matt Morris (14-8) gave up four runs and nine hits in 6 1-3
innings.<
^Cubs 3, Giants 2=
SAN FRANCISCO -- Neifi Perez hit a tiebreaking double in the
eighth inning against his former team, and Chicago wrapped up a
successful road trip with a victory over San Francisco.
Jerry Hairston hit a two-out double against LaTroy Hawkins (2-6)
-- traded by the Cubs in May -- before Perez lined an RBIs double to
left for the go-ahead run.
Matt Murton homered and Todd Walker had an RBIs triple in the
second for the Cubs, who finished their road trip at 8-2.
Moises Alou tied the score at 2 in the sixth when he scored on a
wild pitch by Michael Wuertz, but Alou got banged up on the play
and left the game shortly after. Wuertz (5-2) recovered for the
win, and Ryan Dempster got his 27th save in 29 chances.
The Giants lost for the fifth time in six games. Barry Bonds
will make his long-awaited season debut Monday night against San
Diego.<
^Reds 5, Pirates 3=
CINCINNATI -- Pinch-hitter Austin Kearns had a tying,
two-run single, and Felipe Lopez delivered the go-ahead hit as
Cincinnati came from behind to beat Pittsburgh.
Jason LaRue homered and Rich Aurilia added an RBIs single in a
five-run seventh inning that gave the Reds back-to-back wins for
the first time since a four-game winning streak from Aug. 25-28.
LaRue broke up rookie Paul Maholm's shutout bid by hitting the
first pitch of the seventh into the right-field bleachers for his
12th homer. After Edwin Encarnacion walked, John Grabow (2-3)
entered and gave up Chris Denorfia's double and Kearns' two-run
single that tied it at 3.
Rick White gave up consecutive run-scoring singles by Lopez and
Aurilia.
Matt Belisle (4-7) earned the win in relief of Brandon Claussen.
David Weathers got his 12th save.<
^Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 2=
DENVER -- Aaron Cook pitched his third career complete game
to win his fifth straight decision and Matt Holliday keyed a
six-run fourth inning with a three-run double as Colorado avoided a
three-game sweep by beating Arizona.
Cook (5-1), who returned from the 60-day disabled list on July
30 after missing nearly a year with complications from blood clots
in his lungs, struck out five, walked one and allowed eight hits.
He has given up eight runs in his last 39 innings.
It was his first complete game since Aug. 1, 2004, also at home
against Arizona.
The Rockies ended their four-game losing streak.
Diamondbacks starter Russ Ortiz (5-10) lasted only three-plus
innings. He allowed six runs, dropping to 1-8 in his last 11
starts.
Troy Glaus homered twice for Arizona to give him 34 home runs
this season and four in three games.