Lieberthal Sparks Rout of Marlins

Mike Lieberthal hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, Vicente Padilla pitched eight shutout innings and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Florida Marlins, 14-0, Tuesday night.

The Phillies closed to within a half-game of the National League wild-card-leading Marlins, who had won eight in a row against Philadelphia. The teams play twice more at Veterans Stadium and have a three-game series in Florida next week.

The Phillies are seeking their first playoff berth in 10 years. Florida hasn’t reached the postseason since winning the World Series in 1997.

Padilla (14-10) gave up five hits and retired 15 of the last 17 batters he faced. He struck out six and walked none.

Lieberthal’s two-run single sparked a four-run first inning, and Jim Thome hit his 41st home run, a two-run shot in the sixth.

“We have to take two out of three, if not three out of three,” Lieberthal said. “There were some jitters out there early. It was like a playoff game.”

San Francisco 4, San Diego 2 -- Barry Bonds hit the 656th home run of his career and the host Giants reduced to two the magic number to clinch the NL West title.

Bonds’ 43rd homer -- his third in four days -- landed in the right-field stands in the fifth inning. Bonds took the league lead in home runs, one ahead of Albert Pujols of St. Louis.

Houston 14, Colorado 4 -- Richard Hidalgo hit three homers and drove in five runs at Denver to help the Astros stay 1 1/2 games ahead of Chicago in the NL Central.

The Astros hit six homers to support Jeriome Robertson (15-7), who set a team rookie record for victories. Hidalgo tied the club record for homers in a game.

Chicago 3, New York 2 -- Sammy Sosa homered for the first time in more than a week, and Mark Prior struck out 13 in 8 2/3 innings at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs set a season attendance record of 2,844,087.

Montreal 5, Atlanta 4 -- Greg Maddux was denied his 15th victory when the bullpen failed to hold a three-run lead, and the Expos won on Orlando Cabrera’s run-scoring double in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Maddux is trying to become the first pitcher to win 15 games or more in 16 consecutive seasons.

The Braves still lowered the magic number to two for clinching their 12th consecutive division title.

St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 5 -- Pujols had three hits at St. Louis to increase his major league-leading total to 202.

The Cardinals improved to 10-2 against Milwaukee with their fifth consecutive victory over the Brewers.

Cincinnati 12, Pittsburgh 4 -- Ryan Freel had a career-high four hits, including a homer, to lead the Reds’ 17-hit attack at Pittsburgh.