Mets 4, Braves 3

New York – Shawn Green hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, and New York tightened its grip on first place in the NL East on Wednesday night.

Marlon Anderson homered off John Smoltz to help the Mets win for the 10th time in 12 games. They padded their division lead to seven games over second-place Philadelphia, which was routed by Colorado.

The Braves fell 91â2 games behind the Mets. With 16 games remaining, Atlanta’s slim wild-card hopes are fading fast.

Diamondbacks 9, Giants 4

San Francisco – Mark Reynolds and Chris Snyder hit back-to-back home runs to help Brandon Webb win again.

Cubs 3, Astros 2

Houston – Rich Hill allowed three hits over seven innings, and Chicago moved into a tie with Milwaukee for the NL Central lead.

Hill (9-8) struck out seven and walked three as the Cubs snapped a four-game losing streak at Minute Maid Park.

Ryan Dempster, who lost Tuesday’s game in the 11th inning when he gave up a walkoff triple, earned his 26th save in 29 chances despite allowing a run in the ninth inning.

Dodgers 6, Padres 1

Los Angeles – Chad Billingsley did an excellent job filling in for the injured Derek Lowe by limiting San Diego to one run over six innings. Rookie James Loney homered for the fifth time in his last six games for the Dodgers, who won for just the third time in their last 11 games against the Padres and moved within 21â2 games of San Diego in the NL wild-card race. Philadelphia and Colorado also trail the Padres by 21â2 games.