Braves Push Lead to Three in East

Andruw Jones had no time to think about the National League East race and the New York Mets.

Not with Curt Schilling on the mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“We’ve just got to concentrate on this game,” Jones said Sunday at Phoenix. “We just have to score some runs off Schilling. We know he’s a tough pitcher.”

As things turned out, Kevin Millwood outpitched Schilling and the Atlanta Braves beat the Diamondbacks, 7-1, to take a three-game lead in the NL East over the New York Mets.

New York starts a three-game series at Turner Field tonight.

The Diamondbacks stayed five games behind the Mets in the wild-card race.

Jones homered and tripled in three at-bats against Schilling, who had limited him to six hits in 32 at-bats and one career RBI.

Jones also had a single later, but lost his chance to hit for the cycle when he flied out to end the eighth inning.

“I thought about it, but when you think about it, that’s when you ain’t going to do it,” said Jones, who hit his 32nd homer.

Millwood (10-11) pitched seven stingy innings to defeat the Diamondbacks for the third time this season. He’s 4-0 against them in his career.

“That’s kind of the formula Atlanta has been using for a number of years,” Arizona Manager Buck Showalter said. “Pitch that well, they stay close, and they put us away late.”

Schilling (10-12) lost his fifth consecutive decision. He’s 4-6 in 11 starts since he was traded from Philadelphia to Arizona.

“I don’t know that I’m really into the personal battles here,” Schilling said. “We’ve put ourselves against the wall, and every game now is a must-win. For whatever reason, we’re not winning ballgames.”

St. Louis 4, Chicago 2--Right fielder Sammy Sosa’s three-base error allowed three runs to score in the eighth inning and the Cardinals defeated the Cubs at St. Louis.

The Cardinals won their seventh in a row, completing a four-game sweep of the Cubs for the first time since 1963. St. Louis cut its magic number for clinching the Central to two over Cincinnati.

Sosa dropped Edgar Renteria’s fly ball with the bases loaded and two outs, sending Chicago to its fifth consecutive loss. The Cubs have dropped 15 of 17.

Montreal 5, New York 0--Vladimir Guerrero homered twice and doubled, leading Tony Armas Jr. and the Expos over the Mets at Montreal.

Armas (6-8) allowed three hits in seven-plus innings, extending his scoreless streak to 14 innings.

Houston 5, Pittsburgh 3--Moises Alou hit his 30th homer and drove in four runs at Houston as Scott Elarton and the Astros sent the Pirates to their ninth consecutive loss.

Cincinnati 8, Milwaukee 4--Alex Ochoa’s three-run homer capped a four-run fifth inning and paced the Reds to a victory over the Brewers at Cincinnati.

Philadelphia 6, Florida 5--Randy Wolf pitched seven strong innings and Bobby Abreu hit his 24th homer, leading the Phillies over the Marlins at Philadelphia.