Wood is striking for Cubs
Kerry Wood tied a Cubs record with seven straight strikeouts and finished with 11 to lead Chicago past the Braves, 10-2, yesterday in Atlanta.
Corey Patterson, Michael Barrett, pinch hitter Alex Gonzalez, and Moises Alou all homered for the Cubs.
Wood (2-0) got all seven batters to go down swinging during his streak, retiring the first six on offspeed pitches. The streak began in the third, after Mark DeRosa walked, and Marcus Giles singled and stole second.
Chipper Jones, J.D. Drew, and Andruw Jones fanned, ending the inning. Julio Franco, Johnny Estrada, and Jesse Garcia struck out in the fourth, and pitcher Russ Ortiz (0-2) struck out opening the fifth. DeRosa then flied to right.
Wood also struck out seven straight as a rookie against Houston May 6, 1998, when he struck out 20 to tie the record for a nine-inning game. Mark Prior also struck out seven straight batters against the Astros Aug. 5, 2002.
Astros 7, Brewers 4 -- Lance Berkman hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, leading Houston to victory at Milwaukee. Berkman's homer, his first of the season, capped a five-run rally against Doug Davis (1-1) in the third inning. The four RBIs were also his first of the season.
It was Berkman's third career slam and first batting righthanded. His last grand slam was June 20, 2002, and was hit in Milwaukee.
Roy Oswalt (1-0) gave up runs in the first and sixth innings before being replaced by Brad Lidge to start the seventh. Oswalt allowed seven hits, walked three and struck out six.
Mets 4, Expos 1 -- Eric Valent, subbing for the injured Cliff Floyd, hit his first major league home run, a go-ahead, two-run drive that backed Tom Glavine and led New York over Montreal at San Juan. Floyd injured his right thigh running out an infield grounder in the first and needed to be helped off the field by manager Art Howe and a trainer. Valent pinch ran and went to right field in the bottom half.
Marlins 3, Phillies 1 -- Josh Beckett allowed two hits and struck out 11 in seven innings, helping the World Series champions defeat visiting Philadelphia, sweep the three-game series, and hand the Phillies their fourth consecutive loss. The Marlins have won 10 in a row against Philadelphia in Miami and have beaten the Phillies 13 times in the last 15 games.
Rockies 4, Dodgers 2 -- Shawn Estes pitched seven strong innings, and Vinny Castilla and Jeromy Burnitz homered as Colorado beat host Los Angeles, snapping a four-game losing streak. Estes (2-0), a non-roster invitee to spring training who has both Colorado victories, allowed one run and three hits before Brian Fuentes relieved to start the eighth. Giants 6, Padres 3 -- Barry Bonds remained on hold with 659 career homers after failing to connect for the fifth straight game, although he was intentionally walked and scored in the five-run eighth inning that helped give San Francisco the win at San Diego.Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 5 -- Marlon Anderson's pinch-hit home run off Matt Mantei in the ninth gave St. Louis a three-game sweep of Arizona in Phoenix.Pirates 4, Reds 3 -- Rob Mackowiak hit a two-run homer, Raul Mondesi drove in two runs, and Pittsburgh avoided a three-game sweep and snapped host Cincinnati's four-game winning steak.
