Baseball

Willis reverses Marlins' fortunes in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH - Dontrelle Willis halted Florida's nine-game losing streak in Pittsburgh, getting homers from Carlos Delgado and Damion Easley to become the majors' first nine-game winner with a 6-3 victory Thursday night.

The Marlins hadn't won in Pittsburgh since an 11-1 victory Sept.8, 2002, and were in danger of being swept in PNC Park for the third straight season after the Pirates won the first three of the four-game series.

Willis also had a streak to end: He was 0-2 in three career decisions against the Pirates, who are 10-14 at home this season but always seem to dominate the Marlins there.

Florida's PNC Park skid matched its second longest in an opposing ballpark, trailing an 11-game skid in Cincinnati from 1998-2000. The Marlins won their next five there.

Until beating the Pirates for the fifth time in their past 23 meetings, the Marlins had lost seven of eight overall to fall a game behind Atlanta in the East.

Willis was in control until the eighth despite allowing a season-high nine hits. The Marlins gave him leads of 2-0 on the Delgado and Easley homers and 4-1 after a two-run sixth that included Willis' run-scoring single.

The Pirates intentionally walked Alex Gonzalez to pitch to Willis with two on and Easley on second after a double, but Willis and Luis Castillo responded with consecutive run-scoring singles off Dave Williams.

PHILLIES 6, GIANTS 5: David Bell and Jimmy Rollins drove in two each and Jon Lieber won his second straight start to help host Philadelphia return to .500.

The Phillies (27-27) swept the three-game series and reached .500 for the first time since they were 8-8 on April 21. They haven't had a winning record since April 18 but have won 12 of 18. They open a four-game series at home against Arizona today.

San Francisco has lost seven straight and heads to New York for a three-game series. The Giants hadn't lost more than six straight since an eight-game skid from May 12-20, 2002.

Lieber was 1-3 with an 8.85 ERA in his past four starts after opening 5-1. He wasted an early 4-0 lead but survived two home runs in a four-run third and gave up eight hits in six innings.

NATIONALS 8, BRAVES 6: Backup catcher Gary Bennett drove in five, three on a bases-loaded double in the eighth, to lead host Washington.

The Nationals scored five in the eighth, four off struggling Dan Kolb, after Atlanta scored four in the top half to take a 6-3 lead.

Carlos Baerga pulled a grounder through the right side to score Jamey Carroll, and former Devil Ray Vinny Castilla followed with a run-scoring double that cut the Braves' lead to 6-5. Atlanta then intentionally walked Marlon Byrd to face Bennett, who earlier hit a two-run homer.

CUBS 5, PADRES 0: Glendon Rusch pitched a four-hit shutout and Derrek Lee had three hits to raise his average to .389, leading visiting Chicago to its season-high seventh straight win.

The Cubs have had at least 10 hits in every game of the streak. They also won their sixth straight road game, the first time they've done that since 1991.

METS 6, D'BACKS 1: Pedro Martinez pitched eight sharp innings and got a customary home run from Carlos Beltran to lead host New York.

Martinez struck out nine to increase his league-leading total to 92. Beltran hit his seventh homer, all in games started by Martinez.

DODGERS 6, BREWERS 4: J.D. Drew homered twice to back five solid innings from Tampa native Derek Thompson in his second big-league start as host Los Angeles snapped a three-game losing streak.

ROCKIES 8, CARDINALS 7: Todd Helton tied the score with a two-run single in the ninth, and Brad Hawpe followed with the winning walk to help host Colorado hand Jason Isringhausen his first blown save of the season.

[Last modified June 3, 2005, 01:17:39]