Giants make it six in row
J.T. Snow singled in the winning run with one out in the ninth to lead the San Francisco Giants to their sixth straight victory, 5-4, over the visiting Montreal Expos last night.
Barry Bonds homered twice (Nos. 32 and 33) and Jason Schmidt pitched eight innings, but the bullpen blew his chance to become the majors' first 16-game winner. The Giants maintained their lead in the wild-card race.
Snow singled to right off Luis Ayala (4-9) and right fielder Juan Rivera tried to throw out pinch runner Ricky Ledee at the plate, but the ball sailed into the stands behind home plate.
Astros 5, Phillies 0 -- Roy Oswalt and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, and Raul Chavez hit a three-run double in visiting Houston's victory over free-falling Philadelphia. Oswalt (13-8) allowed five hits, struck out seven, and walked two in 7 2/3 innings to win his fifth straight decision.
Cardinals 7, Reds 2 -- Tony Womack scored the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk from Danny Graves in the eighth inning and Larry Walker hit the next pitch for a grand slam to lead host St. Louis over Cincinnati.
The Central leaders are 13-2 against the Reds this season and will try to complete a three-game sweep tonight. St. Louis opened a 15-game lead over Chicago -- the Cardinals' largest advantage since 1968.
Brewers 3, Cubs 1 -- Victor Santos allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings to win for the first time since beating Chicago July 16, and Milwaukee defeated the visiting Cubs.
Bill Hall had a two-run triple for Milwaukee -- which was aided by Nomar Garciaparra's fourth-inning throwing error -- and improved to 7-5 against the Cubs this season.
Padres 11, Braves 6 -- Jake Peavy struck out nine in seven innings and Freddy Guzman got a hit, scored, and had an RBI in his major league debut, leading host San Diego.
Peavy (9-3) allowed just two hits -- a second-inning single by Andruw Jones and a fourth-inning home run by Chipper Jones. He walked none and retired his final 10 batters.
Rockies 6, Mets 4 -- Jason Jennings (11-10) overcame a slow start to pitch seven solid innings and Matt Holliday drove in the go-ahead run with a solo homer in the sixth, lifting Colorado in Denver.
Pirates 7, Diamondbacks 1 -- Craig Wilson and Ty Wigginton each hit home runs to lead visiting Pittsburgh to its fourth straight win.
Ryan Vogelsong (4-9) scattered six hits over seven innings for the Pirates, who won for the eighth time in 10 games.
Dodgers 6, Marlins 1 -- Wilson Alvarez (7-3) won his fourth straight decision, and Steve Finley and Adrian Beltre each homered to lead host Los Angeles over Florida.
