Baseball

Marlins capitalize on odd call

HOUSTON - An unusual call against Astros pitcher Wandy Rodriguez helped boost the Florida Marlins' lead in the wild-card race.

Juan Pierre walked in the seventh inning when umpires said Rodriguez touched his mouth with his hand while on the mound, and Paul Lo Duca followed with a tiebreaking two-run homer that sent Florida to a 4-2 victory over Houston on Tuesday night.

"It was a bad call," Astros manager Phil Garner said.

Josh Beckett struck out eight over 71/3 innings against his hometown team, and Carlos Delgado homered for the second straight game, becoming the ninth player to hit 30 homers in nine straight seasons.

Florida, which was outhit 9-6, holds a one-game lead over Philadelphia in the wild-card standings.

Mike Lamb and Adam Everett homered for the Astros, who lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped 11/2 behind the Marlins.

With the score tied at 2 and one out in the seventh, Juan Pierre worked the count to 3-and-2 against Rodriguez. Before the next pitch, third-base umpire Bruce Dreckman cited Rodriguez for making contact between his hand and mouth or lips, a violation of baseball's rules, and called ball four.

Garner and Rodriguez argued in vain that the pitcher had merely touched his nose.

Chad Qualls relieved, and Lo Duca homered on a full count, his fifth home run in 407 at-bats this season.

"What happened in the sixth inning I'm not sure," Rodriguez said. "If I am going to touch anywhere, I'm going to step off of the mound."

PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 4: Mike Lieberthal drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the sixth inning, leading host Philadelphia.

The Phillies remained one game behind Florida in the wild-card race. They have won two straight over East-leading Atlanta.

Ryan Howard homered and doubled, Chase Utley drove in two and Kenny Lofton went 3-for-3 with a triple and two runs.

Andruw Jones had a three-run double for the Braves, increasing his league-leading RBI total to 124.

CARDINALS 5, PIRATES 4: Chris Carpenter blew a four-run lead in his worst outing since his 13-game winning streak began in mid June, but host St. Louis rallied on David Eckstein's run-scoring single in the ninth.

Jim Edmonds and Yadier Molina homered for the Cardinals, who are 12-3 this season against Pittsburgh and reduced their magic number for clinching the Central to two. They have won the first two games of the series despite getting outhit 24-13.

Ryan Doumit singled, homered and doubled in his first three at-bats for the Pirates, who have lost 15 of 18. He popped out to short in his fourth at-bat in the seventh.

GIANTS 5, PADRES 4: Barry Bonds singled and walked twice and had two run-scoring doubles for host San Francisco. Noah Lowry overcame baserunners in every inning on the way to the win, and Ray Durham hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly. San Diego lost its fourth straight after manager Bruce Bochy called a team meeting to discuss inconsistent play.

ROCKIES 6, DODGERS 4: Clint Barmes triggered a six-run second inning with a two-run single with the bases loaded and visiting Colorado held on. Every Dodgers outfielder - Ricky Ledee, Jose Cruz and Jayson Werth - committed an error during the Rockies' rally. Sun-Woo Kim won his third straight decision over four starts, improving to 3-0 in five starts since being claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals on Aug. 5. Two of the wins have come against the Dodgers. Todd Helton recorded his 900th career RBI with a double in the second.

NATIONALS 4, METS 2: Hector Carrasco filled a hole in Washington's rotation with a solid spot start, and the visiting Nationals used a three-run third to beat Tom Glavine. Brad Wilkerson, Marlon Byrd and Preston Wilson hit run-scoring singles to help Washington win the opener of a three-game series between teams on the fringe of the wild-card race.

CUBS 4, REDS 3 (10): Todd Walker's long single with the bases loaded in the 10th lifted host Chicago. Derrek Lee homered for the Cubs, who have won nine of 12. Felipe Lopez and Edwin Encarnacion homered for Cincinnati. Encarnacion hit a two-run homer in the second, the rookie's sixth, and Lopez tied the score the next inning with his 20th homer.

BREWERS 3, D'BACKS 1: Carlos Lee and Geoff Jenkins hit back-to-back homers, helping Chris Capuano become visiting Milwaukee's first 17-game winner in 13 years. J.J. Hardy also drove in a run for the Brewers, who have won six of eight to reach .500 for the first time since Aug.7.

[Last modified September 14, 2005, 02:15:34]