National League roundup

Rockies beat Braves 11-10 to boost wild-card lead

[September 23, 2009]  DENVER (AP) -- The Colorado Rockies survived a wretched start and a wild finish to increase their NL wild-card lead.

The Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 11-10 Tuesday night despite Jorge De La Rosa's stunningly bad start and a bullpen meltdown in the ninth inning that saw a five-run lead whittled to one.

"That was interesting," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.

Brad Hawpe homered for the first time since Aug. 29, his opposite-field shot barely clearing the wall, and Clint Barmes added an opposite-field inside-the-park home run for Colorado, which holds a five-game lead over Arizona and Atlanta in the wild-card chase.

In between the homers, the Rockies scored twice on wild pitches and once on a balk.

De La Rosa was tagged for six runs on six hits and three walks in just 2 1-3 innings, a surprise given that he leads the majors with 15 wins since June 1 and was 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA this month.

Colorado took an 11-6 lead into the ninth with only a few thousand fans sticking around in the cold and rain -- and that's when things really got crazy.

After allowing two bloop singles that plated four runs and put the tying run at third base and the go-ahead run at first, Franklin Morales secured his seventh save in eight chances when pinch-hitter Nick Hundley hit a rope that appeared to be heading over Seth Smith's head in left field.

"Nick hit that ball right on the screws," Padres manager Bud Black said. "And it was right at him."

Tracy, for one, thought the Padres had just gone ahead when the ball came smoking off Hundley's bat.

"You can't square a ball much better than that, I can promise you that," Tracy said. "I saw Seth either freeze or just take a tiny step forward and the way that ball was hit and came off the bat, I thought it maybe had a chance of going over his head. I really did. I'm glad it didn't."

Hundley said he thought he had just hit the go-ahead double before Smith grabbed it out of the air.

"These are the toughest games to lose," Hundley said. "You battle back with a chance to win and just fall short."

After securing the save, Morales learned Huston Street was going to reclaim the closer role after retiring the only two batters he faced in his first appearance since returning from biceps tendinitis.

"When I handed (Tracy) the ball, he said, 'You convinced me,'" Street recounted.

Diamondbacks 10, Giants 8

At Phoenix, Miguel Montero had three hits and Arizona scored nine runs in the second and third innings to drive Matt Cain out of the game.

Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds struck out three times to break his own major league record for strikeouts in a season with 206. He had 204 last year.

Cain (13-7) gave up seven runs and eight hits in 2 1-3 innings.

Cardinals 11, Astros 2

At Houston, Joel Pineiro (15-11) allowed five hits in seven innings, Yadier Molina hit a two-run homer and St. Louis inched closer to the NL Central title.

The Astros have dropped nine straight, their longest skid since a 10-game skid in May 2007.

Dodgers 14, Nationals 2

At Washington, Rafael Furcal drove in four runs, Hiroki Kuroda (8-6) allowed four hits over six innings and the Dodgers won their sixth in seven games to lower their magic number for clinching a postseason berth to three.

Adam Dunn homered for Washington, which has dropped three straight and six of seven.

Phillies 9, Marlins 3, Game 1

Marlins 3, Phillies 0, Game 2

At Miami, Anibal Sanchez (3-7) allowed two hits in eight innings to beat Philadelphia for the first time in five career decisions and give Florida a doubleheader split.

Joe Blanton (11-7) gave up two hits in seven shutout innings to outpitch Marlins ace Josh Johnson (15-5) in the first game win that reduced to five the Phillies' magic number for clinching the NL East.

Braves 3, Mets 1

At New York, Jair Jurrjens dominated the Mets again, Yunel Escobar hit a two-run single and Atlanta won its sixth straight road game and its 10th in 12 games overall.

Escobar singled with two outs in the fourth to give the Braves a 2-1 lead against Nelson Figueroa (2-7), who allowed two hits in seven innings.

Cubs 7, Brewers 2

At Milwaukee, Derrek Lee hit his 35th homer and drove in two runs for a career-high 109 this season.

The Cubs won their third straight since suspending Milton Bradley for the season and Lee has continued his sizzling September. He's hitting .408 for the month and is 6 of 8 in this series with two home runs and six RBIs.

Reds 10, Pirates 4

At Pittsburgh, Scott Rolen had three hits and three RBIs, Joey Votto had three doubles and the Cincinnati assured the Pirates of their third straight last-place finish in the NL Central.

Pittsburgh (56-93) lost for the 21st time in 24 games, the Pirates' worst stretch since they lost 24 of 28 from July 13-Aug. 15, 1985.

[Associated Press; By ARNIE STAPLETON]

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