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NL notebook

Braves' power handles Giants'

ATLANTA -- Tom Glavine took care of the first seven innings. Then it came down to a classic matchup: Barry Bonds vs. John Smoltz.

Bonds flied out to the warning track in the ninth against Smoltz, and the Braves held on for a 1-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.

Glavine won for the fifth time in six starts, but everyone was talking about the matchup between baseball's home run king and one of the game's most dominating closers.

"That's what the fans came to see, power vs. power," said Gary Sheffield, who drove in the run with a first-inning single. "It was a win-loss situation, Barry put good wood on it but it stayed in the park. We won that one tonight."

Even after Jeff Kent flied out to the warning track in right-center, Smoltz didn't back down from Bonds. The Braves closer came in with a 97 mph fastball on a 3-and-2 pitch and watched a liner head toward the deepest part of Turner Field.

Andruw Jones, already lined up about as far back as he could get, drifted onto the warning track and made the catch in front of the 400-foot sign.

Smoltz got Benito Santiago on a popup to end it, earning his major league-best 42nd save in 46 chances.

"I was definitely going to challenge Bonds," Smoltz said. "Obviously, you want to keep it in the park. That was a little close."

Braves manager Bobby Cox, who never criticizes his players publicly, clearly was taken aback by Smoltz's pitch selection with a full count on Bonds.

"He almost hit it out," Cox said, managing a nervous grin. "That's all I'll say."

CARDINALS 7, PIRATES 3: Edgar Renteria homered and drove in three runs as visiting St. Louis won its fifth in a row.

Albert Pujols hit his 27th home run for the Cardinals, who had 11 hits, their third straight game in double figures. St. Louis maintained its three-game lead over Houston in the Central.

Andy Benes continued to pitch effectively since his return from the disabled list after right knee injury. He left after walking Rob Mackowiak to open the seventh, and reliever Mike Crudale immediately gave up a home run to Craig Wilson.

D'BACKS 7, REDS 2: Tony Womack hit a tiebreaking two-run double and visiting Arizona took advantage of catcher Jason LaRue's mishaps with the knuckleball.

Womack's sixth-inning double off John Riedling snapped a tie at 2 and sent the Diamondbacks to their 18th victory in 22 games. The defending World Series champions are 30 games over .500 for the first time since 1999 and lead the West by a season-high eight games.

Knuckleballer Jared Fernandez got his elusive pitch working so well that LaRue could barely get his mitt on it. Arizona scored two unearned runs in the first as LaRue had three passed balls, one shy of the major-league record for an inning.

ASTROS 4, CUBS 3: Craig Biggio homered and Wade Miller won his career-best seventh straight decision for visiting Houston.

The Astros took a four-run lead and hung on, similar to Tuesday, when they took a five-run lead and won 5-4.

DODGERS 5, EXPOS 2: Shawn Green hit his 35th homer and Kazuhisa Ishii got his first win since July 14 to lead visiting Los Angeles.

Green, second in the league in homers to Chicago's Sammy Sosa, broke a tie at 2 with a one-out shot off Bartolo Colon in the third for his eighth homer in 14 games.

MARLINS 1, ROCKIES 0: Brad Penny pitched eight scoreless innings and Juan Encarnacion drove in the winning run in the ninth for host Florida. Colorado's Denny Neagle didn't allow a hit until Luis Castillo's one-out single in the sixth.

PHILLIES 4, BREWERS 1: Rookie Brett Myers took a shutout into the ninth before settling for his first career complete game, leading host Philadelphia.

PADRES 6, METS 2: Brian Lawrence pitched into the eighth and Bubba Trammell and Ron Gant homered as San Diego sent host New York to its 10th loss in 13 games.

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