Seo, Mets silence Marlins
Jae Seo pitched seven strong innings, Cliff Floyd hit a two-run homer, and the New York Mets salvaged the finale of their three-game series against the Florida Marlins with a 7-1 victory yesterday in Miami.
Seo (7-1) limited Florida to one run and five hits. He improved to 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA since being recalled from Triple A Norfolk Aug. 6.
A.J. Burnett (12-9) consistently threw 96 or 97 miles per hour and still lost his third consecutive start. He struck out nine but allowed eight hits and five runs.
Floyd hit his 29th homer of the year and second in two games with two outs in the third.
Roberto Hernandez pitched a hitless eighth inning, and Braden Looper followed with a 1-2-3 ninth to complete the five-hitter.
Nationals 6, Phillies 1 -- Esteban Loaiza struck out 11 and took a shutout into the eighth inning on short rest, and Preston Wilson and Brian Schneider each hit a three-run homer to lead Washington past Philadelphia at RFK Stadium.
Loaiza (10-10) gave up a run, four hits, and four walks, and matched his career high for strikeouts. When he got Pat Burrell looking at a 92-m.p.h. fastball to end the eighth with his 128th and final pitch, Loaiza bent over and pumped his right fist twice.
The Phillies still hold a half-game lead over Florida and Houston in the wild-card race.
Cardinals 4, Astros 1 -- Jason Marquis pitched his second straight complete game and Jim Edmonds hit the go-ahead two-run double as St. Louis prevented host Houston from taking over the wild-card lead.
Marquis (11-13) had lost seven straight starts before a two-hit shutout in his last appearance, Aug. 27 at Washington. The righthander limited Houston to five hits with five strikeouts and no walks in his third career complete game -- all this season.
Reds 8, Braves 3 -- Jason LaRue's pinch-hit grand slam capped a five-run 12th inning as visiting Cincinnati beat Atlanta to snap a five-game losing streak.
Austin Kearns hit an RBI double in the 12th off Dan Kolb (3-7) to give Cincinnati a 4-3 lead.
Giants 3, Diamondbacks 2 -- At Phoenix, Matt Cain allowed three hits in seven innings for his first win, Randy Winn scored twice and drove in a run, and San Francisco beat Arizona for its fifth straight victory.
Cubs 2, Pirates 0 -- Nomar Garciaparra homered and Jerome Williams pitched four-hit ball into the eighth as Chicago completed a three-game sweep in Pittsburgh.
Brewers 3, Padres 2 -- Brady Clark's suicide squeeze scored Corey Hart from third with one out in the ninth, giving host Milwaukee the victory over San Diego.
Rockies 7, Dodgers 6 -- Brad Hawpe drove in the winning run with a single with one out in the 10th as host Colorado completed a three-game sweep of Los Angeles.
