Padres 14, Phillies 3
Philadelphia - Greg Maddux became the first pitcher to win 10 games in 20 consecutive seasons, tossing seven solid innings in San Diego's rout of Philadelphia.
Milton Bradley hit a pair of three-run homers and Adrian Gonzalez also connected twice for the Padres, who moved three games ahead of the Phillies in the NL wild-card race. Josh Bard had five of the Padres' season-high 22 hits.
San Diego entered three games behind Arizona in the West, while Philadelphia fell six behind the New York Mets in the East.
Maddux (10-9) allowed three runs and seven hits, outpitching Jamie Moyer in a matchup of 40-something hurlers with a combined 570 wins.
Cy Young had 19 straight seasons with double-digit wins from 1891-1909. Maddux is tied with Nolan Ryan for second behind Don Sutton for most seasons with 10 wins. Sutton had 21.
Benches emptied in the fourth inning when Carlos Ruiz slid hard into Padres second baseman Marcus Giles trying to break up a double play on a grounder by Abraham Nunez. Giles got up after his late relay throw to first base and immediately got in Ruiz's face, but no punches were thrown.
Ruiz's late slide into Giles' knees cost the Phillies a run. Umpires ruled interference so Nunez was out at first and Shane Victorino returned to third base, even though he scored easily on the play.
Reds 5, Marlins 3
Cincinnati - Aaron Harang won for the third time in four August starts, and Cincinnat tied a season high with its fourth straight victory.
Braves 7, Cardinals 2
St. Louis - John Smoltz worked eight innings for the second straight start, and Mark Teixeira drove in his 29th run in 22 games with Atlanta, which ended a three-game losing streak.
Chipper Jones had a two-run double and Teixera had an RBI single in a five-run fifth against Kip Wells that put Atlanta ahead 7-2. Paul McCann had a two-run double in the third for the Braves, who didn't need a closer on the day they cut ties with Bob Wickman.
Mets 5, Dodgers 2
New York - Oliver Perez outpitched Los Angeles ace Brad Penny, and New York got a dazzling all-around performance from David Wright. Wright homered, drove in two runs and made a pair of outstanding defensive plays at third base. Ruben Gotay hit an RBI double in the first inning, and New York's shaky bullpen bounced back from a rough series against San Diego.
Cubs 6, Diamondbacks 2
Phoenix - Sean Marshall gave up one run in six innings, Jacque Jones had four hits, and Chicago defeated Arizona in a showdown of NL division leaders.
Rockies 6, Nationals 5
Denver - Matt Holliday sparked a five-run, ninth-inning rally, and Colorado beat Washington.
The Rockies, who had lost two straight to the Pittsburgh Pirates at home, avoided falling back to .500 for what would have been the first time since after play on July 26. Colorado remained 41â2 games behind San Diego in the wild-card race.
The Rockies trailed 5-1 going into the ninth, before Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer, his 23rd of the year, off closer Chad Cordero (2-3). The Rockies then loaded the bases with no outs and Cordero was replaced by Jon Rauch, who gave up a two-run single to Yorvit Torrealba to pull the Rockies within 5-4. After a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, Kaz Matsui hit a soft grounder up the middle that shortstop D'Angelo Jimenez couldn't make a play on.
Brad Hawpe scored, and the Rockies ran onto the field and celebrated with Matsui.
The loss ruined another stellar performance by Shawn Hill, who scattered four hits over seven innings, striking out five and not allowing a walk. In 11 starts this season, Hill has allowed more than two runs only once, and has never allowed more than three.
Ryan Zimmerman and Wily Mo Pena both homered in staking Washington to a 5-1 lead.
Zimmerman was 3-for-4 with two singles and his 20th home run of the year. Pena's home run was his third in seven games since joining the Nationals in a trade from the Boston Red Sox.
Francis gave up four runs - three earned - and seven hits in 61â3 innings.
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