Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
CHICAGO - With a strong wind turning lazy popups into long homers, Greg Maddux knew it could be a long day for pitchers.
It was, but not for Maddux.
Maddux pitched a solid six innings and the Braves hit three home runs to win their seventh straight with a 13-3 victory over the Cubs on a breezy Thursday afternoon.
"The wind's blowing out, you know that you're going to give up a couple," Maddux said. "You just try to stay out of the big inning and hope your team has one before they do."
Atlanta had several to back Maddux. With the score tied at 3, Cubs starter Shawn Estes walked Gary Sheffield and Chipper Jones to lead off the sixth. After Andruw Jones struck out, Julio Franco and Castilla hit run-scoring singles, and Franco scored on Henry Blanco's sacrifice fly to give Atlanta a 6-3 lead.
The Braves broke open the game with three runs in the sixth and five in the eighth.
Vinny Castilla homered, doubled twice and drove in four runs, falling a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Franco was 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs.
Atlanta got five in the eighth on sacrifice flies by Castilla and Jones, and run-scoring singles by Marcus Giles and Sheffield.
"We got a little bit of everything today," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "You knew it was going to be a day when someone scored a lot ... because the wind was blowing out."
Rafael Furcal led off the game with a home run, and Blanco hit a two-run shot in the ninth.
It was the first victory for Maddux in four appearances and his second straight strong start after two disastrous outings in which he allowed 11 runs in 13 innings. Maddux allowed three runs in six innings, striking out seven on 87 pitches.
"He's been pitching pretty well the last couple games," Blanco said. "Hopefully he figured out what he was doing wrong. I think you'll see a different Maddux now."
ASTROS 11, REDS 2: Richard Hidalgo hit a three-run double and host Houston jumped to the biggest first inning in franchise history, scoring nine.
Houston sent the Reds to their eighth straight loss and outscored them 36-8 during a four-game sweep.
Geoff Blum had two hits in the first inning, including a two-run single. Jeff Bagwell, Brad Ausmus and Adam Everett added run-scoring singles as the Astros chased Paul Wilson before he got an out.
It was the most runs for the Astros in any inning since nine in the sixth at Pittsburgh on Sept.8, 1999. The most runs Houston has ever scored in an inning is 12 against Philadelphia in the eighth on May 31, 1975.
Ron Villone got the victory, pitching six innings and giving up two runs on four hits.
Craig Biggio started Houston's first inning by reaching base on a throwing error by shortstop Ray Olmedo and moving to second on a single by Blum. Bagwell drove in Biggio with a single, and a walk to Lance Berkman loaded the bases for Hidalgo, who hit a three-run double.
After a single by Morgan Ensberg, Hidalgo scored on a single by Ausmus and Everett drove in Ensberg with a single to bring on John Riedling in relief of Wilson.
After a single by Biggio, Blum's single scored Ausmus and Everett. A walk to Bagwell loaded the bases and a walk to Berkman scored Biggio.
DODGERS 9, CARDINALS 4: Shawn Green had four hits and scored four as visiting Los Angeles got production from an underachieving offense for a third straight game.
Jolbert Cabrera and Adrian Beltre each drove in two runs for the Dodgers, who swept the two-game series. Los Angeles won consecutive games for the first time since June 20-21, going 4-13 since then.
Scott Rolen homered, doubled twice and had three RBIs. St. Louis has lost four straight for the first time since June 13-16. The Central champions fell to one game above .500 for the first time since June1.
The Dodgers, who entered with an NL-low .241 batting average, scored their most since May9, when they beat Montreal 9-5. They've scored 20 in the past three games, but before that had totaled 20 runs in 11 games, and this was the fifth game this season they've scored seven or more.
ROCKIES 11, GIANTS 3: Preston Wilson had two homers and a career-high six RBIs, and Darren Oliver hit his first major-league homer and won his fourth straight decision for host Colorado. Barry Bonds homered for 641 in his career, 19 shy of Willie Mays for third all-time. But Bonds' shot in the fourth was all the Giants could manage off Oliver until Rich Aurilia homered in the seventh.
PIRATES 5, BREWERS 4: Jeff Suppan pitched a complete game for the win, giving up eight hits, no walks and nine strikeouts to help visiting Pittsburgh earn a split in the four-game series. Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon said he didn't like that Suppan threw a season-high 133 pitches, but McClendon was happy he could let his bullpen rest. Richie Sexson led off the Brewers' ninth with a homer.
PADRES 14, DIAMONDBACKS 2: Sean Burroughs hit a three-run homer, doubled twice and scored three as San Diego ended Arizona's 11-game home winning streak. Mark Kotsay, Mark Loretta and pitcher Kevin Jarvis each drove in two runs for the Padres, who snapped Arizona's four-game winning streak. San Diego won for the ninth time in 12 games.
PHILLIES 7, METS 2: Jim Thome and Mike Lieberthal capped a four-run first with homers, and Vicente Padilla pitched into the ninth for visiting Philadelphia. The Phillies wasted no time getting on the board after being no-hit for six innings by Montreal's Tomo Ohka on Wednesday.