Cincinnati wastes nine-run lead

Milwaukee comes back to claim 10-9 triumph in 10 innings

? The Milwaukee Brewers’ biggest comeback in franchise history came at the expense of the Cincinnati Reds’ biggest collapse since 1930.

Bill Hall’s squeeze bunt in the 10th inning scored Trent Durrington from third, completing Milwaukee’s rally from a nine-run deficit to beat Cincinnati, 10-9, Wednesday night.

“To be able to persevere and keep plugging away and win the ballgame, it’s a tremendous win for us,” Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said.

Hall tied the score at 9 with a three-run double in the eighth inning, one night after hitting a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth to give Milwaukee a 9-8 victory over the Reds.

“I never had a walkoff homer or a walkoff squeeze, especially two nights in a row,” said Hall, a reserve infielder. “I just wanted to get a good pitch that I could get down.”

Durrington led off the 10th with a ground-rule double off Todd Van Poppel (1-1) that hit off the top of the right-field wall. Scott Podsednik, who had four hits, then sacrificed Durrington to third before Hall bunted him in on the first pitch.

Yost said calling the squeeze made him “real nervous.”

“You just take your chances, try to win the ballgame right there,” Yost said.

The squeeze took the Reds by surprise.

“It was a good move by Ned,” Cincinnati manager Dave Miley said. “We thought if they were going to squeeze, it wouldn’t be on the first pitch.”

Dave Burba (2-0) pitched the 10th for the victory as Milwaukee’s relievers limited Cincinnati to only two hits the final six innings.

The Reds wasted a 9-0 lead on Sept. 28, 1930, falling to the Chicago Cubs 13-11 at Wrigley Field.

Padres 5, Expos 4

San Diego — Rookie Khalil Greene hit an RBI triple to cap a three-run eighth inning, and San Diego rallied to beat Montreal. Greene’s triple to right-center off Luis Ayala (0-4) scored Ramon Hernandez, who reached on an RBI grounder. Jay Payton hit an infield single to drive in the other run, although replays showed he was out by a step. Brian Giles, who started the rally with a leadoff single off Rigo Beltran, also hit a solo homer in the fifth.

Giants 10, Braves 7

San Francisco — Michael Tucker moved into the leadoff spot and homered among his three hits and drove in two runs in San Francisco’s victory over Atlanta. San Francisco snapped a string of three straight series losses, winning for just the fourth time in 14 games. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with two intentional walks and was the only Giants player without a hit until he singled to right in the eighth.

Dodgers 3, Mets 2

Los Angeles — Dave Roberts hit a two-run homer, Adrian Beltre added a solo shot and Los Angeles beat New York. Odalis Perez (2-1) allowed seven hits and walked two in six innings, but held New York to two runs — including Kazuo Matsui’s homer leading off the first inning. Eric Gagne recorded the last four outs for his sixth save in as many chances this season — and 69th save in a row dating to Aug. 28, 2002.

Phillies 6, Cardinals 3

St. Louis — Pinch-runner Marlon Byrd scored on an infield grounder to snap a tie in the ninth, and rookie Ryan Madson threw four innings of one-hit relief, giving Philadelphia a victory over St. Louis.

Pirates 4, Astros 2

Pittsburgh — Raul Mondesi hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning, and Josh Fogg shook off three consecutive terrible starts to lead Pittsburgh past Houston. Mondesi ended an 0-for-17 Pirates streak with runners in scoring position with his two-run double off Roy Oswalt (2-1).

Marlins 9, Rockies 4

Denver — After appealing his suspension, Alex Gonzalez homered and Josh Beckett pitched seven innings, leading Florida over Colorado. Miguel Cabrera, Mike Lowell and Hee Seop Choi also homered for the Marlins. Beckett (2-2) gave up four runs and eight hits, while striking out seven. The World Series MVP avoided losing three straight starts for the second time in his career.

Cubs 4, Diamondbacks 3

Phoenix — Steve Finley hit three home runs, but Alex Gonzalez hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning as Chicago avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over Arizona. Gonzalez homered off Matt Mantei to help the Cubs snap the Diamondbacks’ three-game winning streak after Finley’s third solo shot had tied it at 3 in the eighth.