Lopez, Jones Help Cool Off Mets, 5-3

The Atlanta Braves needed something to slow down the surging New York Mets.

They got it in a big way Friday night with a pair of two-run homers from Javy Lopez and Andrew Jones to help the Braves increase their lead in the National League East with a 5-3 win over the Mets at Atlanta.

“They’ve been hot and we needed something to cool them off,” said Jones, whose 401-foot shot over the center-field fence in the sixth inning gave the Braves a 4-2 lead.

The Braves moved two games ahead of second-place Philadelphia and four in front of the Mets.

“It’s huge. Any win we can get now is huge,” said Jones, who has 99 runs batted in.

Lopez hit his 17th homer in the second inning to tie it at 2-2 after Todd Zeile hit a two-run homer in the top of the inning.

“They came at the right time, the right moment,” Lopez said. “We’ve still got eight games left and there is nothing but pressure games left.”

The Mets had won eight of their last nine and 25 of 31 games since Aug. 17 to cut a 13-game deficit to three. New York has eight games left to make up four games.

Florida 6, Philadelphia 5--Kevin Millar’s homer off Cliff Politte (2-3) with one out in the 10th completed the Marlins’ rally at Miami.

Antonio Alfonseca (3-4) pitched a perfect 10th. He was the Marlins’ fifth reliever, none of whom gave up a run as the team overcame a 5-1 deficit.

Phillies’ closer Jose Mesa let a 5-4 lead slip away in the ninth inning, his fourth blown save in 42 chances this season. Two singles and a passed ball put runners on first and third with one out, and Eric Owens’ sacrifice fly off Mesa tied it at 5-5.

Chicago 6, Houston 2--Matt Stairs drove in two runs and Sammy Sosa tied the club record for extra-base hits (97) as the Cubs defeated the Astros at Chicago and held off elimination in the division for at least one more day.

Jon Lieber (19-6) scattered five hits over seven innings to become only the second Cub pitcher in nine years to win 19 games.

St. Louis 14, Pittsburgh 3--Edgar Renteria and Miguel Cairo each had three RBIs and the Cardinals took advantage of five Pirate errors at St. Louis.

Mark McGwire hit his first Busch Stadium homer since Aug. 1 and Cairo doubled in three consecutive at-bats as St. Louis won for the 12th time in 14 games.

Jason Kendall, the Pirates’ regular catcher, made his eighth start in right field and made two errors. The Pirates also had throwing errors by second baseman Rob Mackowiak, third baseman Aramis Ramirez and reliever Mike Lincoln.

Montreal 7, Cincinnati 6--Brian Schneider’s two-out, two-run single off Danny Graves (6-5) in the ninth inning rallied the Expos at Cincinnati.

The Reds lost another infielder to a season-ending injury. First baseman Sean Casey tore his right calf while running to first base in the third inning.

Colorado 6, Milwaukee 5--Terry Shumpert and Alex Ochoa hit run-scoring hits with two outs in the ninth inning at Denver, rallying the Rockies past the Brewers.