National League roundup

[September 21, 2009]  (AP) After sending misbehaving Milton Bradley home, the Chicago Cubs sent the St. Louis Cardinals packing, too.

Jake Fox homered in the 11th inning and the Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-3 Sunday night, keeping the Cardinals' magic number at four and putting them on the road to try clinching the NL Central.

"It feels good to win a game," manager Lou Piniella said. "These guys played well."

Matt Holliday's wide slide on a potential double-play ball with the bases loaded in the ninth snuffed the Cardinals' shot at a three-game sweep.

Players celebrated prematurely after Ryan Ludwick avoided the tag at first following shortstop Ryan Theriot's off-target throw and fireworks briefly erupted over Busch Stadium.

Second base umpire Marty Foster ruled Ludwick out because Holliday had veered far out of the basepath to obstruct the relay.

"What a big double play," Piniella said. "He called it right away."

Ludwick took responsibility, blaming himself for not waiting for a better pitch.

"It's a position you want to be in, a position you grow up wanting to be in," Ludwick said "It's a lot of fun when you get it done, but obviously when you don't get it done not only is it tough on you but I think it brings the whole team down."

Bradley was suspended for the remainder of the season hours before the first pitch for conduct detrimental to the team. The last straw was the player's remarks in the Daily Herald of Arlington, Ill., criticizing the franchise, its fans and Chicago.

"It's a great place to play, great ballpark, great city, greatest fans in the world," general manager Jim Hendry said. "That's just something that's intolerable to me, to blame the fans and the other things that were blamed."

Micah Hoffpauir, who replaced Bradley in right field for the third straight game, had an RBI single.

Adam Wainwright was foiled in a second shot at his 19th win for the Cardinals, who began a nine-game trip with a three-game series starting Monday in Houston after a 3-6 homestand.

"As players, we don't necessarily look back on a homestand and analyze it," Holliday said. "We've got a game tomorrow."

Fox hit his 11th homer off Mitchell Boggs (2-3), and a third run scored on Brad Thompson's wild pitch. Esmailin Caridad (1-0) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings for his first major league win, and Carlos Marmol finished for his 14th save in 18 chances.

The Cardinals tied it in the eighth off Kevin Gregg on Holliday's leadoff walk, a wild pitch and Yadier Molina's two-out single. Gregg has allowed 18 earned runs in 20 1-3 innings the last two months.

Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano struck out six in six innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He's 4-0 with a 1.62 ERA in five starts on the Cardinals' home field.

Wainwright remained tied with CC Sabathia for the major league victory lead, although he struck out 10 for his second game in double figures this season.

Dodgers 6, Giants 2

In Los Angeles, Andre Ethier hit a go-ahead homer off Tim Lincecum and Randy Wolf shrugged off a pair of home runs by leadoff hitter Andres Torres.

Ronnie Belliard added a two-run single against the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner.

The Dodgers, trying to win consecutive NL West titles for the first time since 1977-78, reduced their magic number to eight for clinching the division and four for reaching the postseason. Los Angeles is five games ahead of Colorado in the division race with 12 to play.

The Giants fell 4 1/2 games behind the Rockies for the wild card.

Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 1

In Phoenix, Jason Giambi homered for the second consecutive game and Ubaldo Jimenez outpitched Dan Haren to help Colorado tighten its grip on the NL wild card.

Colorado expanded its wild-card lead on its three nearest pursuers because San Francisco, Florida and Atlanta all lost.

Giambi, who had a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning of Colorado's 10-4 victory Saturday night, added a two-run shot that gave him 11 RBIs in 12 games since joining the Rockies.

Phillies 4, Braves 2

In Atlanta, the Philadelphia Phillies ended rookie Tommy Hanson's streak of 19 consecutive scoreless innings, damaging Atlanta's faint wild-card hopes.

Brad Lidge pitched another shaky ninth inning but got his 31st save in 41 chances. The NL East-leading Phillies took two of three in the series.

There was a rain delay of 1 hour, 51 minutes in the middle of the fifth inning, ending Cliff Lee's start for the Phillies.

Philadelphia tagged Hanson (10-4) for four runs and seven hits, including four for extra bases, in five innings.

Reds 8, Marlins 1

In Cincinnati, Corky Miller homered and the Reds split their four-game series against Florida.

Miller's three-run shot and Joey Votto's two-run homer created a cushion for Kip Wells (2-4), who went seven-plus innings. It was his longest outing since being acquired by the Reds in July.

Brewers 6, Astros 0

In Milwaukee, Prince Fielder hit his 40th homer and the Brewers swept Houston and won their fifth straight.

The Astros lost their seventh consecutive game, matching their longest skid this season.

Fielder, who came in tied with Albert Pujols with a major league-best 127 RBIs, hit a solo shot in the first inning and set a club record in the fifth when he walked for the 100th time this season.

Mets 6, Nationals 2

In New York, John Maine pitched five shutout innings to earn his first win since May 31.

Daniel Murphy had two hits and two RBIs for the Mets, who won two of three in a series between the bottom two teams in the NL East. Carlos Beltran had an RBI single and Wilson Valdez added a two-run triple in the ninth.

Maine (6-5) allowed two singles and a walk in his second start since he was sidelined for more than three months with a sore right shoulder. Francisco Rodriguez earned his 33rd save.

Padres 4, Pirates 0

In Pittsburgh, Kevin Correia added to his impressive September, pitching seven strong innings for San Diego against Pittsburgh.

Correia (11-10) allowed six hits and did not walk a batter. He is 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four starts this month.

Heath Bell struck out the last two batters for his NL-leading 39th save in 44 opportunities.

[Associated Press]

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