Football
Associated Press 18y

NL Capsules

PITTSBURGH -- Ben Sheets took a perfect-game bid into the
seventh inning before Chris Duffy led off with a single, and the
Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Wednesday to
split a doubleheader.

In the opener, Freddy Sanchez got three hits and Ian Snell
struck out 10 as Pittsburgh won 6-3.

Sheets (5-6) gave up two hits and struck out 10 in eight
innings. He did not walk a batter. One pitch after Duffy singled,
Sheets picked him off first base.

There has not been a perfect game in the majors since Randy
Johnson pitched one for Arizona at Atlanta on May 18, 2004.

Geoff Jenkins and Prince Fielder homered as the Brewers won for
only the second time in their last seven games and fourth time in
their last 19.

Ryan Doumit homered in the Pirates' eighth.

Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 12th save in as many
chances since being acquired by the Brewers July 28.<
^Astros 5, Cardinals 1=

ST. LOUIS -- Roy Oswalt pitched shutout ball into the ninth
inning and Lance Berkman hit his 40th home run, helping the Astros
bounce back from a dispiriting loss to beat St. Louis.

The Astros ended a three-game losing streak and averted a
three-game sweep against a team they're chasing in the NL Central.
A night earlier, Albert Pujols hit a two-run double with two outs
in the ninth off Brad Lidge for a 6-5 victory.

Chris Burke, starting at second base for the second straight
game in place of slumping Craig Biggio, had two hits and two RBIs.

The Cardinals got only two runners into scoring position before
the ninth against Oswalt (13-8), who gave up one run on seven hits
in 8 1-3 innings.

Jason Marquis (14-15) pitched on three days' rest for the eighth
time in his career and lasted only 10 batters.<
^Phillies 6, Braves 5, 1st game; Phillies 7, Braves 2, 2nd game=

ATLANTA -- Carlos Ruiz and Jimmy Rollins hit two-run homers
and Jon Lieber won his fourth straight decision to give
Philadelphia a sweep of its doubleheader with Atlanta.

In the opener, Atlanta left fielder Matt Diaz's eighth-inning
error allowed two runs to score as the Phillies rallied from an
early five-run deficit to beat the Braves 6-5.

The sweep allowed the Phillies to gain one-half game on NL
wild-card leader San Diego, which beat Cincinnati on Wednesday
night. The Phillies are 1½ games behind San Diego.

One day after their official elimination from the NL East race,
the Braves' wild-card hopes took a serious blow as they fell 6½
games behind the Padres.

Lieber (8-9) has four wins and three no-decisions since his last
loss on Aug. 5. He pitched 7 1-3 innings and allowed eight hits and
two runs.<
^Mets 7, Marlins 4, 11 innings=

MIAMI -- Jose Valentin scored on a passed ball and Ricky
Ledee came across on a throwing error later in the 11th inning, as
the Mets pulled off another late-inning comeback to beat Florida.

Carlos Delgado had a pinch-hit, game-tying RBIs single in the
ninth and Paul Lo Duca drove in three runs for the Mets, who could
have clinched the NL East with a win and Atlanta sweeping a
doubleheader from Philadelphia.

Josh Willingham homered for the third straight game and Scott
Olsen allowed six hits in eight innings for Florida, which has lost
two straight and fell to fourth in the NL wild-card standings --
three games back of San Diego, a 10-0 winner in Cincinnati.

Aaron Heilman (4-4) got the win after throwing two hitless
innings, and Billy Wagner got his 38th save in 43 chances.

Matt Herges (1-3) took the loss.<
^Padres 10, Reds 0=

CINCINNATI -- Jake Peavy continued his domination of
Cincinnati hitters and Mike Piazza hit a three-run homer to help
the Padres beat the Reds.

The loss dropped Cincinnati 3½ games behind San Diego in the NL
wild-card race. The Reds are 5-12 since moving within one
percentage point of St. Louis in the NL Central on Aug. 24. They
are now five games behind the Cardinals in the division.

Peavy (9-14) is 4-0 in six career starts against Cincinnati.

Reds starter Kyle Lohse (2-3), also the loser in that Sept. 2
game, allowed seven runs and eight hits in 2 1-3 innings.<
^Dodgers 6, Cubs 0=

CHICAGO -- Brad Penny became the first 16-game winner in the
National League and Rafael Furcal homered to help the Los Angeles
Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 on Wednesday night.

Nomar Garciaparra added a two-run double off Angel Guzman (0-6)
and Furcal had three hits and three runs for the Dodgers, who
maintained a 1½ games lead over San Diego in the NL West. The
Padres beat the Reds 10-0 on Wednesday night.

The Dodgers bounced back after suffering a 9-8 loss in 11
innings to the Cubs on Tuesday night. Los Angeles blew a 7-0 lead
to Chicago, which has the worst record in the NL.

The Cubs have lost 20 of their last 26 games.

Penny (16-8) cruised for the easy victory. He pitched seven
scoreless inning, scattering seven hits. He struck out six without
allowing a walk.<
^Diamondbacks 4, Nationals 2=

PHOENIX -- Livan Hernandez blanked his former Washington
teammates for seven innings and four Arizona players hit solo home
runs to help the Diamondbacks finally beat the Nationals.

Hernandez (12-12) retired 21 of 22 batters from the first to the
eighth before giving up a pair of runs on Robert Fick's pinch-hit
double.

Alfonso Soriano was thrown out at third base for the second game
in a row, leaving him still one stolen base shy of becoming the
fourth 40-homer, 40-steal player in major league history.

Conor Jackson, Orlando Hudson, Stephen Drew and Chris Snyder hit
solo home runs off Tony Armas Jr. (8-11) to put the Diamondbacks up
4-0 after four innings.<

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