NL: Phillies end a nine-inning standoff

PHILADELPHIA - With the bases loaded and the game on the line, the last thing David Bell needed was extra motivation.

"I already had enough adrenaline going. I didn't need any more," Bell said.

The pressure and the brushback hardly bothered Bell as his sacrifice fly off Hector Carrasco in the ninth inning snapped a rare pitcher's duel at Citizens Bank Park and lifted the Phillies to a 1-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday.

Bobby Abreu lined a single to right off Carrasco to lead off the ninth. After Pat Burrell struck out for the third time, Chase Utley doubled to right and Ryan Howard was intentionally walked.

Bell hit a long fly to left and Matt Cepicky never attempted a throw.

"A lot of times a 1-0 game can give you a bigger lift than a blowout," Bell said.

The Phillies moved back to .500 and gained a game on the East-leading Nationals.

GIANTS 2, CARDINALS 0: Brad Hennessey pitched seven shutout innings in a spot start and Michael Tucker hit a fifth-inning single to break a scoreless tie for host San Francisco.

Ray Durham added two hits and scored a run for the Giants, who won for the third time in four games.

ASTROS 4, DODGERS 2: Roy Oswalt won his sixth straight start and Craig Biggio got two hits to tie the Giants' Barry Bonds for 49th on the all-time hit list.

Oswalt is 9-1 with a 2.07 ERA in 10 starts at home this season. He went 61/3 innings and allowed two runs on nine hits and a walk, striking out seven. Oswalt has a decision in all of his starts this season.

Biggio's second hit of the game gave him 2,730 for his career and moved him into a tie with Bonds, who has been injured all season.

CUBS 8, MARLINS 2: Derrek Lee hit his 26th homer in his return and Todd Walker homered and drove in three runs for visiting Chicago.

Kerry Wood scattered six hits - including Jeff Conine's homer - in 72/3 innings for his first win in 21/2 months.

Lee's shot off rookie Scott Olsen in the fourth gave him 68 RBIs.

PIRATES 11, METS 4: Jack Wilson singled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, then hit his first career grand slam in a seven-run seventh to lead host Pittsburgh.

The Pirates won their third in a row after going nearly a month without consecutive victories, following up Friday night's frantic 5-4, 10-inning comeback win decided by Humberto Cota's RBI single after the Mets were within one pitch of winning 5-1 in the ninth.

BREWERS 9, BRAVES 6: Ben Sheets pitched seven strong innings and Brady Clark drove in three runs as visiting Milwaukee snapped the Braves' season-high six-game winning streak. Sheets, who struck out a franchise-record 18 Braves last season in a 4-1 win, had only four strikeouts, but was nearly as effective.

ROCKIES 1, PADRES 0: Jason Jennings scattered seven hits in seven innings, All-Star Brian Fuentes escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, and Colorado won the lowest-scoring game in Coors Field history.

Jennings walked four, struck out one and benefited from three double plays. Jay Witasick worked the eighth before Fuentes pitched around trouble for his 12th save in 14 chances, finishing the 28th shutout at Coors Field - 16th combined.

REDS 6, D'BACKS 2: Adam Dunn hit a grand slam and visiting Cincinnati rallied for the second night in a row.

Sean Casey drove in two runs with a single and double, his first RBIs in 13 games, and Ray Olmedo had three hits, including a triple, for Cincinnati.

[Last modified July 10, 2005, 00:36:02]