Wednesday's National League Capsules

Aug 28, 2008 - 5:01 AM By PA SportsTicker

CHI CUBS 2, PITTSBURGH 0 ------------------------

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Jason Marquis made sure the Chicago Cubs wouldn't need a lot of runs to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates again.

The first-place Cubs closed out their season series with the last-place Pirates by winning for the 14th time in 18 games against them, 2-0.

A day after the Cubs won a 14-9 slugfest, Marquis (9-7) pitched seven outstanding innings for his third win in a row.

Alfonso Soriano and Mark DeRosa each had two hits for Chicago, which won its fifth consecutive game.

The only runs of the game came in the seventh against Zach Duke (4-13), who has lost nine decisions in a row and has not won since June 9.

After Reed Johnson led off the inning with a single and DeRosa followed with a double, the Cubs scored twice without the ball leaving the infield.

Ronny Cedeno hit a light chopper that, in effect, acted as a squeeze play, allowing Johnson to score from third. Henry Blanco then performed a more traditional sacrifice, popping a bunt toward first that dropped in while DeRosa came home.

The runs came just as Marquis was settling in, as the righthander improved to 3-1 against the Pirates this season by allowing only five hits and no walks with three strikeouts. He retired the final nine batters he faced.

Carlos Marmol struck out two in a scoreless eighth and Kerry Wood had two strikeouts during a perfect ninth, earning his 27th save.

Duke tossed eight strong innings but was the hard-luck loser for Pittsburgh, which has lost a season-high seven in a row and 11 of 13. The lefthander allowed two runs and seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Raul Chavez went 2-for-3 and Freddy Sanchez had a triple for the Pirates, who are 7-19 since the trading deadline, when they shipped away outfielders Jason Bay and Xavier Nady.

SAN DIEGO 5, ARIZONA 4 ----------------------

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Jody Gerut had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the San Diego Padres used a late rally to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-4, and complete a three-game sweep.

Brian Giles led off the decisive frame with a pinch-hit single against Chad Qualls (2-8) and later scored when Chase Headley laced a single to right that evened the score at 4-4 with two outs.

Headley stole second, and Gerut followed with a single to right-center to give San Diego a 5-4 lead and a third consecutive win on the heels of a seven-game losing streak.

Mike Adams (2-3) worked a perfect eighth, and all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman retired the side in the ninth to convert his 27th save in 30 chances and 551st career.

Staked to a 4-0 lead in the sixth, Arizona starter Randy Johnson was denied in his bid to notch career victory No. 295. The 44-year-old lefthander worked seven innings, allowing three runs and added two hits and an RBI. He struck out nine and walked one batter.

Arizona scored all of its runs in the sixth inning, as Chad Tracy and Adam Dunn hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with one out.

Mark Reynolds followed with a sacrifice fly, and the next four hitters all reached, with Johnson capping the uprising with an RBI single.

Nick Hundley's two-run shot was the big blow in the seventh, as San Diego cut its deficit to 4-3 and chased Johnson from the game. Rookie Edgar Gonzalez also had an RBI single in the frame.

Chris Young had two hits for the Diamondbacks, who have dropped four in a row.

FLORIDA 4, ATLANTA 1 --------------------

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Josh Johnson tossed his first career complete game and Hanley Ramirez drove in two runs to lead the Florida Marlins to a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Johnson hurled a four-hit gem to improve to 4-0.

Dan Uggla homered in the ninth for Florida (68-65), which moved to within 5 1/2 games of the Philadelphia Phillies (73-59) in the National League East Division. The Phillies played the New York Mets.

Johnson took a no-hitter into the fifth and retired 12 straight after issuing a leadoff walk to Atlanta rookie Gregor Blanco before Kelly Johnson laced a one-out triple.

Florida got to Atlanta starter Mike Hampton (2-2) in the third. Uggla lead off the frame with a double into the right-center field gap to bring up Wes Helms. Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez's gamble to start Helms, who was inserted into the lineup because of his .571 average (4-for-7) against Hampton, immediately paid dividends as the former Braves prospect plated Uggla with a single.

Helms also was in the middle of Florida's two-out fifth inning rally, scoring on Ramirez's two-run single, which gave Florida a 3-0 lead.

Uggla capped the scoring with a towering blast midway up the second section of bleachers in left-center field off of Atlanta reliever Blaine Boyer in the ninth.

WASHINGTON 5, LA DODGERS 4 --------------------------

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Ryan Zimmerman homered, sending the Washington Nationals to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers (65-68) dropped their sixth straight and failed to make up any ground on the National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks (68-65), who lost to the San Diego Padres earlier but kept their three-game division lead.

After Washington took a 4-2 lead off Greg Maddux (6-11) through four innings, Los Angeles moved to within 4-3 on a solo homer from Andre Ethier in the fifth. But Zimmerman returned the favor with a solo shot in the seventh to add an insurance run.

Tim Redding (9-8) overcame three solo homers, allowing eight hits over six innings. Three relievers bridged the gap to closer Joel Hanrahan, who worked around a two-out single from Manny Ramirez to post his sixth save of the season.

NY METS 6, PHILADELPHIA 3 -------------------------

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Carlos Delgado homered twice and Daniel Murphy snapped a tie with an RBI double in the eighth inning as the New York Mets rallied for a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Delgado, who opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first, got New York within 3-2 with a solo blast in the sixth. Two frames later, the veteran slugger belted another solo shot over the left field wall off Rudy Seanez (5-4) with two outs, knotting the contest and capping his fifth two-homer effort of the season - and second in three games.

Following a single by Carlos Beltran, Brad Lidge came on and intentionally walked Ryan Church before Murphy drilled a double to right field to give the Mets a 4-3 edge. Brian Schneider followed with a bloop single down the left field line, plating Church and Murphy for a three-run bulge.

Brian Stokes (1-0) picked up the win after tossing a scoreless seventh and two other relievers bridged the gap to Luis Ayala, who worked a perfect ninth for his second save.

Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth homered for Philadelphia (73-60), which fell one-half game behind first-place New York (74-60) in the National League East.

HOUSTON 4, CINCINNATI 1 -----------------------

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Roy Oswalt continued his mastery of the Cincinnati Reds as the Houston Astros posted a 4-1 victory.

Oswalt (12-9) beat the Reds for the seventh straight time, allowing one run and five hits in seven innings. The hard-throwing righthander struck out three and walked two, while throwing 65 of 90 pitches for strikes.

For his career, Oswalt is 22-1 with a 2.50 ERA in 24 starts and one relief appearance vs. the Reds.

Hunter Pence's two-run homer in the fourth made it 2-1 and was all Oswalt needed. Ty Wigginton added a two-run blast in the seventh.

Rookie Joey Votto drove in a run for Cincinnati.

ST. LOUIS 5, MILWAUKEE 3 ------------------------

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick ignited an eighth-inning rally as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for four runs in the frame to record a 5-3 triumph over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Having lost seven straight to the Brewers, the Cardinals appeared to be heading for an eighth consecutive defeat before the comeback.

Pujols and Ludwick opened the eighth with back-to-back doubles off David Riske (1-2), cutting the Cardinals' deficit to 3-2. Troy Glaus then plated Ludwick with a single to tie the game. Glaus took second on the throw to the plate, moved to third on a groundout by Yadier Molina and scored on a fielder's choice. Aaron Miles, who was safe on the fielder's choice, scored the fourth run of the inning on a single by Felipe Lopez.

Ryan Franklin (5-5) pitched a scoreless eighth to pick up the victory. Chris Perez earned his sixth save with a scoreless ninth.

Jason Kendall and Mike Cameron each had two hits, drove in a run and scored a run for Milwaukee.

SAN FRANCISCO 4, COLORADO 1 ---------------------------

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Bengie Molina and Pablo Sandoval hit back-to-back home runs and Tim Lincecum pitched effectively into the eighth inning to help the San Francisco Giants avoid a three-game sweep with a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Molina evened the contest at 1-1 in the seventh inning with a solo shot over the left-center field wall off Livan Hernandez (11-11). It was Molina's 11th blast of the season.

Sandoval followed with his first career shot, lining Hernandez's first offering just over left field wall and slightly inside the foul pole.

It was all the offense Lincecum (15-3) needed. The 24-year-old yielded one run and five hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts in 7 2/3 frames en route to his fourth straight victory.