Baseball

Braves' latest title on hold

ATLANTA - The Braves kept their champagne on ice. Instead, this was a night for a more poignant, personal celebration.

Todd Greene hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Colorado Rockies rallied for a 6-5 victory Monday night, preventing Atlanta from clinching its 14th straight division title.

While most of the Turner Field crowd groaned when Greene homered, a small group of family and friends cheered, including the catcher's father, Charles Greene, who has fought a long battle with lung and bladder cancer.

"My dad's having some trouble, but he was able to be here," said Todd Greene, a native of Augusta, Ga., who lives in suburban Atlanta during the offseason. "The last time he saw me play (in person) was when we were here last year."

Colorado came back from a four-run deficit, taking advantage of the Braves' shaky bullpen. Chris Reitsma took over with one out in the eighth and didn't retire anyone.

Matt Holliday and Garrett Atkins hit back-to-back singles before Greene drove a 1-and-2 pitch into the centerfield seats, a 406-foot shot for his seventh homer and the Rockies' first lead of the night.

"With all my family and friends here, yes, it was the biggest hit I've ever gotten," Greene said.

Reitsma threw a changeup where he wanted, low and over the inside corner, then watched in disbelief as the ball sailed out of park.

METS 6, PHILLIES 5: Bad defense and a shaky bullpen cost host Philadelphia a crucial game as New York rallied for four runs in the eighth.

Ugueth Urbina wasted Brett Myers' stellar effort during the meltdown, putting the first two batters on before Miguel Cairo's run-scoring double made it 5-3.

Carlos Beltran followed with a slow roller to second that a charging Chase Utley briefly had in his mitt before it popped out. Utley tried to recover but threw wildly past first for an error, and two scored to tie it.

Ryan Madson came in and struck out David Wright, then hit Mike Piazza with a pitch. The left-handed hitting Mike Jacobs sent a sacrifice fly to deep center off the right-hander to put the Mets ahead 6-5.

GIANTS 3, PADRES 2: Former Devil Ray Randy Winn hit a tying two-out triple off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth and J.T. Snow hit a go-ahead single two batters later as visiting San Francisco pulled within three of West-leading San Diego.

The Padres were within one out of reducing their magic number to two, but Hoffman blew a save for the third time in 44 chances and saw his streak of 38 saves end.

NATIONALS 4, MARLINS 0: Cristian Guzman had three hits and three RBIs, Hector Carrasco pitched six strong innings and visiting Washington put Florida on the brink of playoff elimination.

BREWERS 12, REDS 9: Carlos Lee drove in two to match his career high with 113 RBIs, and host Milwaukee reached 78 victories for the first time since 1997. The Brewers (78-78) are seeking their first winning season since 1992.

DODGERS 9, PIRATES 4: Rookie Jason Repko drove in four with two triples and former Devil Ray Jose Cruz homered as host Los Angeles sent Kip Wells to his major league-worst 18th loss.

[Last modified September 27, 2005, 02:45:31]