Atlanta ? Greg Maddux didn’t get the calls early, and he never recovered.

Bobby Abreu had three hits and Chase Utley homered — all in the first three innings — as the Philadelphia Phillies denied Maddux his 15th win of the season with an 8-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves Thursday night.

“I felt good, probably the best I’ve felt in a month,” Maddux said. “I thought I made some good pitches that I gave up singles on, and I made some bad pitches that I gave up doubles and home runs.”

Philadelphia pulled within a half-game of idle Florida in the NL wild-card race. Marlon Byrd finished 3-for-5, and Pat Burrell had two hits and two RBIs.

“You have to take care of your own business,” Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. “You can’t worry about other people.”

Brett Myers (14-7) shut the Braves down for seven innings, allowing seven hits, including a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Matt Franco in the fifth. Myers won his third straight decision.

Gary Sheffield went 3-for-4 for the Braves and Marcus Giles doubled twice, tying the modern franchise record with 47 this season. Tommy Holmes also hit 47 in 1945 when the team was in Boston.

Maddux (14-11) has won at least 15 games for 15 straight seasons, tied with Cy Young for the longest streak ever.

His next win gives him the record, but the Phillies postponed any celebration until at least Maddux’s next start, which is scheduled to come Tuesday in Montreal.

Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said Maddux probably would get two starts after that.

“It doesn’t matter,” Maddux said of the record. “It has nothing to do with pitching. I don’t think it affected anything I did mentally or physically to prepare for this game.”

He left after 3 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs on 12 hits, his second-shortest outing of the season. He lasted only two innings against the Marlins April 5.

That came during a dreadful start for Maddux, who lost three in a row before earning his first win.

He recovered and was 8-2 with a 2.68 ERA in his previous 12 starts, but he didn’t have much of a chance Thursday night.

D’backs 2, Dodgers 0

Phoenix — Chris Capuano allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings while starting in place of Curt Schilling, and Arizona beat Los Angeles. The 25-year-old left-hander struck out four, walked none and hit a batter in his fourth major-league start. Capuano (2-3) was on the mound because Schilling has a sore neck. Jose Valverde allowed one hit in the eighth, and Matt Mantei pitched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.

Brewers 5, Astros 3

Milwaukee — Ben Sheets once again beat Houston as Milwaukee stopped a six-game losing streak. Sheets (11-12) matched his career high for wins and defeated the Astros for the sixth straight time. Sheets had lost five in a row overall, but stopped that skid by allowing three runs and eight hits in eight innings. Dan Kolb pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 17 chances.

Padres 5, Giants 4 (10)

San Diego — Keith Lockhart’s pinch-hit, two-run single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning led San Diego past San Francisco. Lockhart’s hit off Tim Worrell helped the Padres avoid a three-game sweep.

Rockies 9, Cardinals 4

St. Louis — Sterling Hitchcock struggled for the first time since joining St. Louis, surrendering four solo home runs in 3 1/3 innings in a loss to Colorado. The Rockies are an NL-worst 17-33 since the All-Star break and have won only two of their last 11 games. But they took two of three from St. Louis for only their fourth road series victory in 24 tries all year, and their first against a winning team since May 31-June 2, 2002 at San Francisco.

Expos 3, Cubs 2

San Juan, Puerto Rico — Tomo Ohka took a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning and Orlando Cabrera hit two doubles and a triple as Montreal held off Chicago. The Cubs’ two-run rally in the ninth fell short. They stayed one game behind NL Central leader Houston. The Expos won the series against Chicago 2-1 and finished their 22 “home” games in Hiram Bithorn Stadium with a 13-9 record.

Reds 3, Pirates 2

Cincinnati — D’Angelo Jimenez hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to give Cincinnati a win over Pittsburgh and a split of their four-game series.