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WASHINGTON - Tom Glavine was missing his best stuff. Two baserunning errors stopped a big inning cold. A few groundballs weren't fielded cleanly. The opposing pitcher was riding a 21/2-month winning streak.
The New York Mets could easily have unraveled, especially when Jose Guillen stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth.
It took starter-turned-reliever Aaron Heilman to settle the team. He retired Guillen and preserved Glavine's victory with 21/3 scoreless innings in Wednesday night's 5-3 victory over the Nationals.
"I certainly didn't leave him with an easy situation," Glavine said, "but he got us out of that inning."
The Mets tagged a laboring Livan Hernandez for four runs and eight hits, ending the All-Star right-hander's run of 11 winning decisions that equaled the franchise record. Hernandez stalked the mound in frustration after some of his 125 pitches before leaving after Carlos Beltran's single to start the eighth, with a standing ovation following him to the dugout. It was his first loss since April 19, when he allowed six runs in a 6-3 loss to Florida.
"I'm not going to be perfect all the time," Hernandez said. "I'm happy for my work today, and I'll be better next time."
Mike Cameron homered in the first for the Mets, and three runs followed in a sixth that would have been more productive if not for the baserunning errors. Glavine pitched 52/3 innings and allowed three runs and nine hits, all singles, for his 268th victory, tying Jim Palmer for 31st on the career list.
For a while, the Nationals hit virtually everything Glavine threw over the plate. He had an 0-and-1 count on one of the 21 batters he faced in the first four innings. He finished with three walks, one intentional, ending a streak of 11 starts with two walks or fewer.
"It wasn't easy," Glavine said. "They hit some decent pitches. They hit some mistakes, obviously, but it's the kind of game where you're just kind of battling to keep your team in the game."
He did so until the sixth. With the Mets leading 4-3, the Nationals loaded the bases with two walks and third baseman David Wright's error. Glavine was gone, and Heilman came on to face Guillen.
"I thought," Nationals second baseman Jose Vidro said, "we were going to take over the game right there."
But Guillen grounded to second, and Washington didn't threaten again.
MARLINS 5, BREWERS 4 (12): Juan Encarnacion's single in the 12th lifted host Florida, whose pitchers had 22 strikeouts, 14 by starter A.J. Burnett in six innings.
Milwaukee had no baserunners over the final 91/3 innings. J.J. Hardy, who had a two-out, run-scoring single in the third, was the Brewers' final baserunner. Paul Lo Duca's sacrifice fly in the eighth scored Encarnacion, who had tripled with one out, to tie it at 4.
ASTROS 5, PADRES 4: Andy Pettitte won despite leaving early with elbow problems and Craig Biggio moved into 50th place on the career hits list for host Houston, which won for the seventh time in eight games to pass the Cubs for second place in the Central. Pettitte, whose 2004 season was ended by elbow surgery, came out after five innings with tightness in his left arm and is day to day.
CARDINALS 2, D'BACKS 1: David Eckstein's suicide squeeze scored pinch-runner So Taguchi in the ninth to lift visiting St. Louis and give Chris Carpenter his 13th victory, tied for most in the majors. Javier Vazquez held the powerhouse Cardinals to a season-low three hits in a complete-game loss.
DODGERS 9, ROCKIES 5: Antonio Perez homered and drove in a career-high five and Jason Phillips added a three-run shot for visiting Los Angeles. Perez, who had three hits, replaced All-Star second baseman Jeff Kent, out with a sore hamstring.
PHILLIES 5, PIRATES 0: Vicente Padilla, in danger of being bumped from the rotation, pitched six shutout innings for visiting Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh's leaky defense helped three runs score.
GIANTS 7, REDS 2: Lance Niekro had a two-run triple in a four-run fifth and former Devil Ray Alex Sanchez also drove in two for host San Francisco.
CUBS AT BRAVES, PPD.: Heavy rain from a tropical depression pounded Turner Field. The game is scheduled to be made up today as part of a day-night doubleheader.