Maddux Is Masterful in 5-0 Victory

Greg Maddux pitched a six-hitter for his first complete game in a year and his first shutout in three years, earning his 297th victory and leading the Chicago Cubs over the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-0, Saturday at Chicago.

Maddux took advantage of unseasonably cool weather and a 15-mph wind.

“As far as a day to pitch on, this was as easy it gets,” he said. “It was cool, the wind was blowing in and all the mistakes were hit at guys.”

Maddux (8-7) got his 35th shutout, his first since a six-hitter against Tampa Bay on July 17, 2001. The 38-year-old right-hander pitched his 104th complete game, his first since an eight-hitter against the New York Mets last year -- also on July 17. Maddux retired eight of his first nine batters and struck out the side in the eighth.

“He said ordinarily he doesn’t go that far, but he said he felt great,” Cub Manager Dusty Baker said. “Some days, your limits are higher than others, and today was a high-limit day for him.”

Maddux got seven consecutive groundouts starting in the fifth inning.

“There were a lot of balls down the middle, but they were hit right at people,” Maddux said. “A few of the double plays today were mistake pitches. Sometimes the ball bounces your way.”

Sammy Sosa hit his 556th homer and Moises Alou also homered for the Cubs.

Ben Sheets (9-6), who came in with 16 scoreless innings and three consecutive victories, gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts.

“All day was bad location,” Sheets said. “I got away with plenty of mistakes.”

San Francisco 4, Colorado 0 -- Jason Schmidt gave up four hits in eight innings for his 12th consecutive victory as the Giants won at Denver.

The Giants managed only three hits, but Barry Bonds had a two-run double in the eighth after being walked twice.

That was more than enough for Schmidt (12-2), who struck out eight and walked two in combining with Jim Brower and Scott Eyre on a four-hitter.

San Diego 7, Houston 4 -- Mark Loretta hit a two-run homer to spark a five-run fifth inning and David Wells (5-5) won his third decision in a row as the Padres won at Houston.

The Astros (44-46) have dropped four in a row and eight of 10, falling two games below .500 for the first time since they were 0-2 on April 6. They remained a season-high 12 games behind National League Central-leading St. Louis.

Philadelphia 8, New York 2 -- Jim Thome hit his major league-leading 30th homer and Jimmy Rollins drove in two runs with a double in a three-run third inning as the Phillies won at New York.

Reliever Rheal Cormier pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth for the first-place Phillies, who have won two in a row after losing the series opener.

Atlanta 6, Montreal 2 -- Marcus Giles hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning and Russ Ortiz (11-6) continued his domination of the Expos, helping the Braves to victory at Atlanta.

Ortiz is 4-0 this season against the Expos. He gave up only one hit -- an RBI single by Carl Everett in the first -- and pitched around five walks in 7 2/3 innings.

Cincinnati 7, St. Louis 5 -- Adam Dunn hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the eighth inning, the first home run by a left-handed hitter off Steve Kline this season, and the Reds cooled off the Cardinals with a victory at Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh 4, Florida 2 -- Tike Redman’s tying single sparked the Pirates’ three-run rally in the eighth inning against All-Star pitchers Carl Pavano and Armando Benitez (2-1), who gave up Tony Alvarez’s sacrifice fly and Jack Wilson’s RBI single later in the inning at Pittsburgh.