Braves Get Past Cardinals

Julio Franco showed that at 45 his memory is still as strong as his swing.

Facing Julian Tavarez as a pinch-hitter for the second time in as many days, Franco delivered a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning to lift the Atlanta Braves over the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-7, Saturday at Atlanta in a matchup of division leaders.

In the eighth inning Friday, Tavarez threw Franco an inside sinker, and he grounded out.

“I figured he would throw me the same pitch,” Franco said. “I was thinking if he threw the same pitch I could get inside of it and go the other way.”

Franco lined the first pitch from Tavarez into the right-field corner, driving in Nick Green and J.D. Drew to send St. Louis to only its third loss in 11 games.

Chipper Jones homered twice, and Andruw Jones and Rafael Furcal also homered for the Braves, who opened a season-high eight-game lead over second-place Philadelphia in the East Division.

Both teams are 21-7 since the All-Star break.

Albert Pujols homered twice for the Central Division-leading Cardinals, raising his total to 35.

St. Louis, 12 1/2 games ahead of second-place Chicago in the Central Division, took a 7-6 lead with an unearned run in the seventh off Antonio Alfonseca (6-4).

With runners on first and second and one out, pinch-hitter Roger Cedeno grounded to first baseman Adam LaRoche, whose throw was dropped at second base by Furcal for an error that allowed Edgar Renteria to score.

Cincinnati 11, San Diego 5 -- Wily Mo Pena homered twice and drove in four runs at Cincinnati, helping the Reds knock the Padres out of a share of the wild-card lead with the Cubs, who beat the Dodgers.

Pena and Darren Bragg hit home runs on consecutive pitches from Brian Lawrence to spark a six-run sixth inning. In the next inning, Pena followed Adam Dunn’s major league-leading 36th homer of the season with his 21st on consecutive pitches from Rod Beck.

Florida 11, Milwaukee 1 -- Jeff Conine’s third grand slam of the season highlighted a seven-run ninth inning at Milwaukee.

Dontrelle Willis threw seven strong innings, and Paul Lo Duca and Miguel Cabrera each drove in two runs for the Marlins, who had lost six of their last seven games on the road.

Willis (9-8) gave up one run and seven hits, struck out six and walked one for his second win in six starts since the All-Star break.

Pittsburgh 6, Colorado 1 -- Rookie second baseman Jose Castillo drove in three runs to back a wild Oliver Perez at Pittsburgh. Castillo and Craig Wilson homered for the Pirates, who had lost two straight after winning four in a row.

Pittsburgh is 16-6 when hitting two or more home runs.

Perez (8-6) matched his career high with seven walks but gave up only two hits and one run in six innings, striking out six.

New York 4, Arizona 3 -- Cliff Floyd homered and drove in three runs at Shea Stadium to help the Mets extend the Diamondbacks’ losing streak to nine games.

Al Leiter (9-4) worked into the seventh inning to earn the victory, the Mets’ third in a row and fourth in five games. The loss left Arizona with a 1-18 record on Saturdays.

Montreal 8, Houston 3 -- Nick Johnson hit a grand slam, and Tony Armas Jr. pitched five hitless innings at Montreal to help the Expos extend their season-best winning streak to seven. The Expos have won 10 of their last 13 games and 16 of 21.

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The Reds put starting pitcher Paul Wilson, who has lower back soreness, on the 15-day disabled list. Wilson (9-4) leads the Reds in wins but has yielded 14 runs in his last two starts, both losses. The Reds announced that Luke Hudson would be recalled to start today against the Padres. Hudson, a right-hander, was 2-1 with a 2.84 earned-run average at triple-A Louisville.

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NL Wild-Card Race

*--* W L GB Chicago 63 53 -- San Diego 62 54 1 San Francisco 63 55 1 Philadelphia 59 58 4 1/2

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