Rays/MLB

NL Roundup

By TIMES WIRES
Published April 27, 2006

BREWERS 5 BRAVES 4: MILWAUKEE - Ben Sheets is back to winning, and the Brewers already are accomplishing unprecedented feats.

Sheets, who opened the season on the disabled list, got his first victory since tearing a back muscle in August, and Milwaukee completed its first sweep of Atlanta.

"There's a first time for everything," Sheets said. "I'm glad it was this time."

Sheets' fastball reached 96 mph in his final inning.

"Believe it or not, Benny wasn't nearly as sharp as his last start," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "He's back healthy again - we don't even think about that anymore - and doing what he does best. He was on the attack."

Milwaukee won three for its first sweep of any length over the Braves since moving from the AL to the NL in 1998.

NOTABLE: Sheets walked his first batter this season, Adam LaRoche in the fourth.

ASTROS 8 DODGERS 5: HOUSTON - Lance Berkman had a two-run homer and three RBIs, backing Wandy Rodriguez for Astros.

Chris Burke had a career-high three hits as the Astros capped a 7-2 homestand with their ninth win in 11 games. They've won six of seven series and matched their best start since 1986.

Rodriguez tied his career high with six strikeouts.

Los Angeles loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth off Ezequiel Astacio. Former Devil Ray Dan Wheeler relieved and allowed ex-Ray Jose Cruz's run-scoring grounder and Ricky Ledee's two-run single before retiring Bill Mueller on a game-ending groundout.

Odalis Perez fell to 0-4 with a 12.91 ERA in six starts against Houston.

NOTABLE: The Astros have yet to lose a series. They split two in San Francisco on April 13, a doubleheader that followed consecutive rainouts.

MARLINS 7 CUBS 5: CHICAGO - Three former Cubs came back to hurt their old team.

Ex-Chicago prospect Ricky Nolasco got his first major-league win and former closer Joe Borowski picked up his third save, leading Florida.

Pinch-hitter Wes Helms had a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth for the Marlins, who stopped a three-game skid under manager Joe Girardi, a former Cubs catcher.

"You don't know how bad I was hoping I got to pitch in this series," said Borowski, a former Devil Ray in his first year with Florida. "It's always fun to pitch against guys you've played with and you've known for that long."

NOTABLE: X-rays were negative on Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, who jammed his right middle finger Tuesday.

METS 9 GIANTS 7 (11): SAN FRANCISCO - Billy Wagner gave up a tying ninth-inning homer to Barry Bonds, but Chris Woodward lined a go-ahead double in the 11th and scored on Jose Reyes' single to lift New York.

Bonds pinch hit and forced extra innings with his 711th homer, a two-run drive off a 99 mph fastball.

"Especially off Billy, it's crazy," Bonds said. "I haven't hit a ball like that off him ever."

NOTABLE: Giants centerfielder and ex-Ray Randy Winn ended an 0-for-17 slump with a first-inning single.

D'BACKS 3 PADRES 2: SAN DIEGO - Even El Duque got into the action when Arizona's pitching staff shut down the punchless Padres during a three-game sweep.

Orlando Hernandez, the seemingly ageless right-hander, was impressive for six innings and rookie Conor Jackson homered for the Diamondbacks.

In one of the few highlights for the Padres, Mike Piazza hit his 400th career homer with two outs in the ninth. Otherwise, this series was all about Arizona's pitching dominating the defending West champion Padres' popgun offense.

"We're awful right now. We know it," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said.

Hernandez stopped a personal three-game skid during which he allowed 14 earned runs in 161/3 innings.

QUOTABLE: "We haven't been able to put up a crooked number. Runs are hard to come by. We're just stuck in neutral." - Piazza

PHILLIES 9 ROCKIES 5: PHILADELPHIA - David Bell hit a three-run homer and Pat Burrell drove in two for the Phillies.

Mike Lieberthal and Chase Utley each had three hits for Philadelphia, 5-9 at home. Cory Sullivan had four hits, including a homer, for Colorado, 6-3 on the road games.

Ryan Madson pitched five shaky innings but got the win. A successful reliever his first two seasons, Madson has been inconsistent in four starts, posting an 8.05 ERA.

With the Flyers playing Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against Buffalo across the street, 19,182 turned out to watch the Phillies. It was the smallest crowd in the brief history of Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. The Flyers had 19,984 fans.

NOTABLE: Bell's homer was the 26th for the Phillies, a club record for April.

REDS 5 NATIONALS 0: WASHINGTON - Everything, it seems, is going right for Bronson Arroyo and Cincinnati these days. And all is amiss for the Nationals.

Arroyo, the former Hernando High standout, pitched eight one-hit innings, and the Reds took an early lead just as they did all series to complete a three-game sweep. Arroyo allowed only Ryan Zimmerman's single to right-center with two outs in the fourth.

"I went out there today and was warming up in the pen, and I knew I had good stuff," Arroyo said. "When you've got good stuff, especially playing in a park like this that's so big, you can be really aggressive and kind of go after these guys."

The Reds, with the majors' highest-scoring offense, won the last four of a 6-1 road trip. Washington has lost four straight.

NOTABLE: Nationals reliever Jon Rauch had four strikeouts in the eighth: David Ross, Arroyo, Felipe Lopez (who reached on a third-strike wild pitch) and Adam Dunn. It's the 48th time a pitcher has had four in an inning.

CARDINALS 4 PIRATES 3: ST. LOUIS - Albert Pujols prevented Jason Isringhausen's latest failure from hurting the Cardinals.

Pujols hit a winning single in the ninth after Isringhausen allowed Jose Hernandez's tying home run in the top half, giving St. Louis a three-game sweep.

Pujols has the winning RBI in four of the Cardinals' past five victories.

"Izzy, I know he wanted to get that save right there, and he made a mistake," Pujols said. "But we came out with a win, and everybody will forget about what happened."

St. Louis led 3-2 with two outs in the ninth when Hernandez hit his first homer of the season. Isringhausen has allowed three homers in eight innings.

QUOTABLE: "Maybe the pitch was good, but he didn't call it, so I don't have anything to say about that." - Pujols on a close 0-and-2 pitch from Roberto Hernandez that was called a ball moments before his winning hit

[Last modified April 27, 2006, 02:56:42]