Marlins Defeat Phillies Again

Juan Pierre’s two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in Miguel Cabrera to give the Florida Marlins a 7-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Miami. The win gave the Marlins a three-game series sweep and was their eighth in a row over the Phillies.

The Marlins are only two games behind wild-card leader Philadelphia and seven games above .500 for the first time since 1997.

Florida’s winning streak against Philadelphia matches the longest in Marlin history against an opponent. They beat the Chicago Cubs eight consecutive times in 1996-97.

“It’s not like we own the Phillies,” Pierre said. “All the wins have been pretty close games. We capitalize on all their mistakes and never give up. Its just one of those things. You can’t really explain it, but you get the confidence against them that you can win every game.”

After being outscored, 21-10, in the first two games of the series, the Phillies overcame deficits of 2-0 and 4-3 before the Marlins again won.

San Francisco 6, San Diego 2 -- Andres Galarraga drove in four runs to support Jesse Foppert (7-8) as the Giants won for the 10th time in 11 games. Pedro Feliz also homered for the Giants, who were 10-1 on their most successful home stand in 14 years.

Foppert won for the third time in four starts, yielding two runs -- one earned -- and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

Montreal 13, Atlanta 10 -- Orlando Cabrera homered and had a career-high six runs batted in as the Expos came back from a four-run deficit at Montreal.

Marcus Giles of the Braves doubled in his first four at-bats, tying major league records for doubles in a game and consecutive doubles in a game. He is the first NL player to hit four consecutive doubles in a game since Chicago’s Billy Williams on April 9, 1969.

Chicago 5, Houston 3 -- At Houston, Sammy Sosa hit his 521st career home run, tying Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 12th place on the career list, to help the Cubs move within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Astros in the Central Division.

Sosa hit his 22nd homer of the season -- and 12th in July -- in the first inning. He trails Jimmie Foxx by 13 for 11th place on the career list.

St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 3 -- Albert Pujols’ RBI single with two outs capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Cardinals had been 1-40 when trailing after eight innings.

With one out, Edgar Renteria singled. After Kerry Robinson singled, a double steal put runners at second and third. With two out, Orlando Palmeiro’s two-run single tied the score. After Bo Hart walked and pinch-hitter Mike Matheny’s infield single loaded the bases, Pujols singled to center.

Colorado 6, Milwaukee 1 -- Jason Jennings pitched six strong innings and hit a two-run single to help the Rockies complete their third consecutive home sweep of the Brewers.

Jennings (10-8) yielded one run, five hits and four walks, giving Colorado its ninth consecutive victory over Milwaukee at Coors Field.

Cincinnati 8, New York 5 -- Paul Wilson, helped by Jose Guillen’s tiebreaking homer in the fifth inning at New York, defeated his former team for the first time.

Wilson (6-8) made his second start and third career appearance against the team that selected him with the first pick of the 1994 draft. Traded by the Mets to Tampa Bay in July 2000, he signed with Cincinnati in January. He yielded five runs and eight hits in seven innings.