NL: Braves pen breaks down

ATLANTA - The Braves are a first-place team. It's not so obvious from the look of their bullpen.

Shaky closer Chris Reitsma blew another save, his third in the past eight games, as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a three-run ninth to beat the Braves 6-4 Tuesday night.

Olmedo Saenz drove in two with a pinch-hit single off Reitsma, who didn't get an out. Oscar Robles added a run-scoring single off John Foster, that run also charged to Reitsma.

"I just wasn't good tonight," said Reitsma, whose ERA rose from 3.56 to 4.04. "I didn't have any command of my changeup and breaking ball. It kind of snowballed on me."

With the Dodgers down 4-3, Jayson Werth hit Reitsma's first pitch off the wall for a double and moved to third when Hee-Seop Choi slapped a single to left. Ricky Ledee walked to load the bases.

Saenz, who has 53 starts this season, came up as a pinch-hitter, a good choice considering his .368 average with runners in scoring position. He came through with a single to left, bringing home the tying and go-ahead runs.

"If I got something in the strike zone, I wanted to be aggressive and hit it hard," Saenz said. "I wasn't really trying to do anything else."

Reitsma has blown seven of 22 save chances, exposing perhaps the biggest weakness for the East leading Braves. Dan Kolb started the season as the closer but lost the job to Reitsma, who now appears to be trying to give it back.

"It stings a little bit," said Chipper Jones, one of three Atlanta players who homered. "You can't keep losing games like this down the stretch. The other teams in our division are playing some pretty good baseball."

For the second straight time, Reitsma's woes in the ninth cost John Smoltz his 13th win.

"I love John to death," Reitsma said. "I hate it when this happens more than anybody in the world."

Smoltz was the Braves' closer the past three seasons, so he knows how difficult it is to get those last three outs.

"It's a role with a huge magnifying glass," Smoltz said. "We're fine. It'll turn."

Jones, Brian McCann and Rafael Furcal homered off Derek Lowe in the first two innings. The Dodgers starter didn't give up anything else until the seventh.

CUBS 4, ASTROS 1: Greg Maddux outdueled Andy Pettitte for seven innings, and Aramis Ramirez homered and doubled twice to help Chicago snap a six-game road losing streak.

Maddux allowed three hits, his fewest since May, and shut down Houston after it scored 12 on 16 hits the previous night.

Kerry Wood pitched a perfect eighth for his sixth scoreless relief appearance, and Ryan Dempster pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.

PADRES 4, MARLINS 2: Miguel Olivo tripled and Mark Loretta doubled in visiting San Diego's three-run sixth. Brian Lawrence allowed six hits and a run in five innings for San Diego, escaping a two-on, no-out jam in his last inning.

The Padres trailed 1-0 when Jason Vargas walked Brian Giles to lead off the sixth. He advanced to third on Loretta's double and scored on Xavier Nady's groundout. Olivo tripled to deep center to drive in Loretta and make it 2-1. Olivo scored on pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney's single.

CARDINALS 8, D'BACKS 2: So Taguchi matched career highs with four hits and three RBIs, and Jeff Suppan pitched seven strong innings to win for the third time in four starts for host St. Louis.

METS 6, PIRATES 2: Kris Benson recovered from a shaky start and hit a two-run single against his former team, leading host New York. Benson gave up two runs and five hits in the first three innings before settling down.

GIANTS 10, REDS 8: Deivi Cruz and Pedro Feliz both set career highs with five hits, and visiting San Francisco came from behind. Cruz fell a triple short of the cycle and tied a career high with five RBIs, and Feliz scored four and was a homer shy of the cycle.

BREWERS 6, ROCKIES 4: Victor Santos earned his second win in 14 starts, and Wes Helms homered and drove in two for visiting Milwaukee.

NATIONALS AT PHILLIES, PPD.: Philadelphia's game against Washington was rained out and rescheduled for a day-night doubleheader Thursday.

[Last modified August 17, 2005, 01:10:12]