Wood Makes His Pitch for Cubs

Kerry Wood struck out 13 in eight impressive innings at Wrigley Field, leading the Chicago Cubs past the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0, Saturday, only three days after Mark Prior struck out 12 in a complete-game shutout.

Wood gave up only three hits -- all singles -- and only one Pirate advanced past first base.

“I think Cubs fans are going to be awful spoiled with these guys in the long run,” said catcher Damian Miller, who homered and drove in two runs. “Their mental makeup is right where it needs to be and their stuff is always going to be there. It’s just a matter of those guys being consistent every fifth day.”

Wood (2-0) has struck out 26 in 20 innings over three starts. He walked four and was pulled after 122 pitches.

Wood took advantage of the wind blowing in on a chilly spring day.

“Today was a great day for me to pitch with the wind howling in, and with days like that you can get away with more mistakes,” Wood said.

The Pirates did not threaten until the ninth, when they put two runners on base against reliever Mike Remlinger. Joe Borowski took over and got two outs for his second save.

Miller hit a solo home run off Kris Benson (2-1) in the third inning to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.

Milwaukee 3, Arizona 2 -- Curt Schilling struck out 10 in six innings, but Matt Kinney (1-1) held the Diamondbacks to two runs and five hits through 5 2/3 innings to help the Brewers to their fourth victory in five games, all on the road. The right-hander struck out six and walked four.

Schilling and fellow ace Randy Johnson are a combined 0-4 this season. No Diamondback starter has a win yet.

Schilling (0-2) gave up three runs -- two earned -- and four hits. He also walked four and hit a batter.

Arizona fell to 2-9, the worst record in the National League and its worst start since going 2-13 in its 1998 expansion season.

Florida 12, Atlanta 5 -- Derrek Lee drove in five runs with two homers and the Marlins pounded Brave pitching for 15 hits at Miami for their fourth consecutive victory.

Atlanta, last in the NL East, has been outscored, 72-16, in its eight losses. The Braves’ ERA rose to 6.39, worst in the National League.

Lee, dropped from fourth to sixth in the order this week following a slow start, hit a drive in the seventh that eluded center fielder Andruw Jones near the 434-foot sign.

The 6-foot-5 first baseman runs well, and he beat the throw home standing up.

St. Louis 3, Houston 0 -- Woody Williams pitched six crisp innings, extending his surprising success in Houston, and the Cardinals ended a three-game losing streak and won for only the second time in seven games.

Williams (2-0) is one of the few pitchers who enjoy hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, where he is 5-1. The right-hander yielded six hits, walked two and struck out two, improving to 6-2 with a 2.47 earned-run average against Houston.

Colorado 3, San Diego 2 -- Preston Wilson homered leading off the top of the ninth inning. He hit a 2-0 pitch from Brandon Villafuerte (0-1) into the seats in left-center for his second home run of the season.

Villafuerte failed to get an out in the ninth. After the homer, Jose Hernandez walked and Bobby Estalella singled to chase Villafuerte.

Matt Herges came on and loaded the bases with two out before getting Jay Payton to fly out to right.

Philadelphia 8, Cincinnati 5 -- Todd Pratt drove in three runs, offsetting solo homers by Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn at Cincinnati. Pratt singled in a run in the second inning and drove in two more with a bases-loaded single to cap a three-run fifth.

Jimmy Haynes (0-3) lasted only five innings in his third ineffective start. He gave up four runs and eight hits and walked four. At that, his ERA actually improved to 10.38.