Cubs Get No Relief in Loss to Cardinals

When Kerry Wood left, the St. Louis Cardinals’ bats woke up.

Wood struck out 11 in seven shutout innings for Chicago, but the Cardinals rallied against five Cub relievers for a 4-2 victory Wednesday night at St. Louis.

Tino Martinez hit a tying, two-run single and St. Louis took the lead on Kyle Farnsworth’s wild pitch in a four-run eighth. The Cardinals evened the series between NL Central contenders at a game apiece.

The Cardinals stayed one game behind Houston in the National League Central. Chicago fell 1 1/2 games off the lead.

The Cubs fell to 5-24 at Busch Stadium since the start of the 2000 season. Sammy Sosa drove in both runs for Chicago.

Wood shut out the Cardinals on four hits and was pulled after 125 pitches.

Albert Pujols singled off Antonio Alfonseca to start the eighth and Jim Edmonds followed with a single off Mark Guthrie. Farnsworth (3-1) walked Scott Rolen to load the bases before Martinez singled on a 1-1 pitch.

On an 0-and-1 pitch to Edgar Renteria, Farnsworth threw a fastball in the dirt well in front of the plate and it bounced off catcher Damian Miller’s chest protector as Rolen scored the go-ahead run.

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Montreal 9, Philadelphia 6 -- Pinch-hitter Joe Vitiello singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Expos beat the Phillies at Montreal to close within a game of the NL wild-card lead.

Montreal has won four straight overall and eight in a row at home. The Expos led, 6-1, in the seventh, but Pat Burrell hit an RBI double and Marlon Byrd tied in the score with his first career grand slam. The homer came against Hector Almonte (1-1), who earned his first major league win.

Philadelphia lost its fifth game in a row and fell to 1-8 on a season-high, 13-game trip.

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San Diego 10, Arizona 2 -- Phil Nevin hit a grand slam and Ryan Klesko had a three-run homer at Phoenix to lead the Padres over Curt Schilling and the Diamondbacks.

Schilling (7-8) gave up 12 hits, the highest total off him since Colorado had 14 last Sept. 20. He pitched seven innings and gave up five runs, matching his season high.

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Pittsburgh 4, Florida 0 -- Kip Wells and two relievers shut out the slumping Marlins, and Jason Bay had two key hits in his Pirate debut at Pittsburgh.

Florida has lost seven of eight on a trip to Colorado, San Francisco and Pittsburgh that ends today, scoring more than four runs only once.

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San Francisco 6, Colorado 4 -- Sidney Ponson took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning at Denver and the Giants handed the Rockies their fifth straight loss.

Jeffrey Hammonds hit a two-run homer for the Giants, who won for the seventh time in eight games after a six-game losing streak.

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Atlanta 4, New York 1 -- Greg Maddux earned his 286th win, Chipper Jones drove in all four runs and the Braves won at Atlanta.

Maddux (13-10) appears on track to win at least 15 games for a record 16th straight season.

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Milwaukee 6, Cincinnati 2 -- Scott Podsednik drove in three runs and the Brewers won their ninth game in a row in defeating the Reds at Cincinnati. The Brewers’ winning streak is their longest since a nine-game string in 1997, when they were still in the American League.