Phillies Don’t Cry Wolf, Beat Braves

Randy Wolf (9-11) gave up three hits in eight innings and Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves, 3-1, Tuesday night at Atlanta to pull within one game of the National League East-leading Braves with five games to play.

Greg Maddux (17-11) failed for the seventh time to win his 18th game, giving up two runs and six hits in eight innings. His seven-game winless streak is his longest since 1991.

Wolf (9-11), who pitched a one-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in his previous start, followed up with his first career victory over the Braves. He had been 0-5 with a 5.77 earned-run average against Atlanta, including three losses this season.

The left-hander retired the last 10 hitters he faced before giving way to Jose Mesa, who worked a perfect ninth for his 40th save in 44 chances.

The Braves are going for their 10th consecutive division title, unparalleled in U.S. major league sports. Even so, the first game of the three-game series was met with indifference in Atlanta, where a crowd of 30,739, about 20,000 short of capacity, turned out on a warm, clear night.

St. Louis 5, Milwaukee 1--Albert Pujols went three for four at Milwaukee and set the NL rookie record with 353 total bases, one more than Richie Allen’s total with Philadelphia in 1964.

Fernando Vina hit the first inside-the-park homer at Miller Park and Darryl Kile (16-10) gave up three singles in five innings as St. Louis won for the 20th time in 25 games and moved into a share of first place in the NL Central for the first time since May 28.

The Cardinals pulled even with the Houston Astros, who lost to San Francisco, 4-1.

Pujols singled in the sixth to set the record before Jim Edmonds’ two-run homer off Ben Sheets (10-10). In the ninth, Pujols flied out to the deepest part of the park in center field.

Sheets gave up five runs and 11 hits in 62/3 innings and is 0-6 in nine starts since June 29.

Arizona 10, Colorado 1--Randy Johnson (21-6) managed only six strikeouts in seven innings and gave up four hits at Phoenix as the Diamondbacks won for the fifth time in six games.

Johnson has 372 strikeouts, 11 shy of the season record Nolan Ryan set in 1973. Johnson has one start remaining.

Luis Gonzalez drove in three runs with his 56th homer, a run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly. Greg Colbrunn had four hits and tied a club record with three doubles.

Pittsburgh 10, New York 1--The defending NL champions were eliminated from playoff contention when Bronson Arroyo (5-7) pitched a five-hitter for his first major league complete game and Craig Wilson drove in a career-high four runs at New York.

Wilson followed Aramis Ramirez’s run-scoring double in the first inning with a two-run homer against Bruce Chen (7-7).

Florida 4, Montreal 3--A.J. Burnett (10-12) gave up three runs and five hits in 72/3 innings at Miami to win for the first time in seven starts since Aug. 21.

Kevin Millar hit a two-run homer for Florida.

Tony Armas (9-14) lost for the ninth time in his last 11 decisions, leaving the game in the fourth inning after being hit by Dave Berg’s line drive.