Padres Rout Reds, Tie Cubs for Wild-Card Lead

Khalil Greene had his first two-homer game, and Brian Giles and Ryan Klesko homered in a five-run first inning to lead the San Diego Padres over the Cincinnati Reds, 14-5, Friday night at Cincinnati.

Greene, a rookie, set career highs with four hits and four runs batted in and also scored four times as the Padres set a season high for runs.

With the victory, the Padres moved into a tie with the Chicago Cubs for the lead in the National League wild-card race.

Every San Diego starter except Sean Burroughs had at least one hit after two innings, including pitcher David Wells, who was three for 34 (.088) before singling up the middle in the first inning. In all, the Padres had 17 hits, one short of their season best.

The Padres sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning and got five hits, including Giles’ three-run homer to center and Klesko’s two-run shot to right.

Wells (7-7) yielded five hits and three runs, including solo home runs by Sean Casey in the first and Jason LaRue in the fifth, in five innings to earn his first win in his last four starts.

St. Louis 4, Atlanta 1 -- Woody Williams won his sixth consecutive decision, Albert Pujols and Larry Walker homered, and the Cardinals won the series opener between division leaders at Atlanta.

Williams (9-6) gave up only three hits and one run in seven innings as St. Louis extended its Central Division lead over the Cubs to 13 1/2 games.

Colorado 9, Pittsburgh 3 -- Luis Gonzalez, a late addition to the starting lineup, hit a three-run homer and Jeff Fassero (3-8) pitched seven strong innings to lead the Rockies at Pittsburgh.

The Rockies have won 13 of their last 17 road games and are one shy of last season’s win total of 25 away from Coors Field.

Gonzalez was added to the starting lineup when second baseman Aaron Miles was hit by a line drive in batting practice. Miles bruised his right hand and X-rays were negative.

New York 10, Arizona 6 -- The loss at New York was the eighth in a row for the Diamondbacks and their 82nd this season, guaranteeing the team that won the World Series in 2001 a sub-.500 season. Kris Benson (9-9) earned the victory, his first for the Mets after being acquired from Pittsburgh on July 30.

Montreal 6, Houston 5 -- Alex Gonzalez hit a tying homer in the bottom of the 12th inning and Terrmel Sledge singled in the winning run with two out, giving the Expos their sixth win in a row.

Morgan Ensberg hit a leadoff homer on the first pitch from Claudio Vargas (5-4) to give the Astros a 5-4 lead in the top of the 12th.

Gonzalez homered over the center-field wall on a 2-0 pitch from Chad Harville (0-2). Jose Vidro and Tony Batista then walked and Sledge lined a single to left-center.

Milwaukee 6, Florida 4 -- At Milwaukee, Wes Obermueller gave up two hits in seven shutout innings in an emergency start, earning his first win in almost 11 weeks.

Obermueller (4-6) took the place of Chris Capuano, who was scratched just before the game because of a sore left forearm. Russell Branyan and Lyle Overbay each hit two-run homers for the Brewers.

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Chicago Cub reliever LaTroy Hawkins began serving a three-game suspension Friday after his appeal was rejected. His fine was reduced from $3,000 to $2,000. After giving up a tiebreaking home run in the ninth to the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols on July 20 at Wrigley Field, Hawkins was ejected after he started yelling at plate umpire Tim Tschida as he walked to the dugout.... Shortstop Neifi Perez was released by the Giants, who recalled right-handed pitcher Kevin Correia from triple-A Fresno. Perez was batting .232 with two home runs and 33 RBIs.... The Phillies optioned right-hander Paul Abbott to triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre after he cleared waivers.