Cubs Rally to Defeat Braves, 2-1, in the 15th

Tom Goodwin brought home Derrek Lee with a sacrifice fly in the 15th inning, and the Chicago Cubs went on to defeat the Braves, 2-1, on Friday night at Atlanta.

The Cubs tied it with two out in the ninth on a pinch-hit homer by Todd Hollandsworth, who drove a fastball from John Smoltz deep into the right-field seats. Smoltz had elbow surgery in the off-season and has given up home runs in three straight appearances.

The drawn-out finish overshadowed a wonderful pitching duel. Atlanta’s Horacio Ramirez pitched seven shutout innings and Carlos Zambrano gave up two hits in seven innings for the Cubs.

New York 3, Montreal 2 -- Todd Zeile doubled to break an 11th-inning tie at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Montreal is back at Hiram Bithorn Stadium for 22 more home games this season.

The Mets’ Karim Garcia opened the 11th with a single off Luis Ayala (0-2). Ty Wigginton reached on a fielder’s choice, and Zeile doubled to left-center.

David Weathers (1-0) pitched the 10th for the win, and Orber Moreno got three outs for his first save.

Houston 13, Milwaukee 7 -- Astro right-hander Wade Miller dominated Milwaukee again in the Brewers’ home opener, pitching six solid innings. Miller gave up two earned runs and four hits in improving to 11-1 against Milwaukee.

Jeff Bagwell went four for five with five runs batted in, including his sixth career grand slam.

Wes Obermueller (0-1) gave up five runs and was pulled during the Astros’ nine-run sixth inning.

Cincinnati 5, Pittsburgh 1 -- Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn homered for the Reds at Cincinnati.

With their third straight win, the Reds moved into first place in the NL Central for the first time since June 17, 2002.

Aaron Harang (1-0) held the Pirates to six hits in six innings.

Griffey put the Reds ahead to stay with a two-run homer in the first off Josh Fogg (0-1), the 483rd of his career. Griffey is three for eight with two homers in three games so far.

St. Louis 13, Arizona 6 -- The Cardinals pounded Casey Daigle in his major league debut with five home runs -- two by ex-Diamondback Reggie Sanders -- in 2 2/3 innings at Phoenix.

Tony Womack, another former Diamondback, went four for five with two doubles and an RBI.

Scott Rolen was three for five with four RBIs, including a two-run home run. Albert Pujols and Ray Lankford also homered for the Cardinals.

Florida 4, Philadelphia 3 -- Mike Lowell had three hits and drove in two runs for the Marlins at Miami.

Lowell’s third single sparked a three-run sixth inning that tied the score. Luis Castillo had a two-out RBI single in the seventh.