Padres Turn Mistake Into Victory

Miguel Olivo missed the sign for a suicide squeeze, swung away and hit a triple to give the San Diego Padres the lead.

“I missed the sign, it was my fault,” Olivo said. “I saw the runner coming and it was too late to bunt, so I gave a swing at it.

“It worked out for the best.”

Instead of squaring to bunt as Mark Loretta broke for home from third, Olivo tripled to deep center in the sixth inning to break the game’s final tie and lead the Padres to a 4-2 victory over the Florida Marlins on Tuesday night at Miami.

Padre Manager Bruce Bochy gladly accepted Olivo’s mistake.

“Sometimes you’re better off missing a sign,” Bochy said. “You hit a triple and get another run in.”

Brian Lawrence (7-12) gave up six hits and a run in five innings for San Diego, escaping a two-on, none-out jam in his last inning.

Trevor Hoffman got his 31st save despite giving up a run-scoring double to Jeff Conine in the ninth.

“We don’t do anything easy -- it was a little scary in the ninth,” Bochy said

Hoffman’s save was his 424th, tying him with John Franco for second on the all-time list. Lee Smith is the career leader with 478.

Chicago 4, Houston 1 -- Greg Maddux outdueled Andy Pettitte for seven innings, and Aramis Ramirez homered and doubled twice to help the Cubs end a six-game road skid.

Maddux (10-9) gave up three hits -- his fewest since May -- and shut down the Astros after Houston scored 12 runs and got 16 hits the previous night.

Kerry Wood pitched a perfect eighth for his sixth scoreless relief appearance, and Ryan Dempster worked the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.

It was only the second loss since June for Pettitte (10-9), who gave up eight hits and tied his season high with eight strikeouts.

San Francisco 10, Cincinnati 8 -- Deivi Cruz and Pedro Feliz set career highs with five hits, and the Giants came from behind at Cincinnati.

Cruz fell a triple short of the cycle and tied a career high with five runs batted in, and Feliz scored four runs and was a home run shy of the cycle.

San Francisco overcame a 7-4 deficit and a pair of two-run homers by former Giant Rich Aurilia and a ninth-inning solo shot by Ken Griffey.

Jeff Fassero (3-6) got the win with 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief. Tyler Walker earned his 22nd save.

St. Louis 8, Arizona 2 -- So Taguchi matched career highs with four hits and three RBIs, and Jeff Suppan pitched seven strong innings to win for the third time in four starts in the Cardinals’ victory at St. Louis.

Suppan (12-8) matched his season best with seven strikeouts and walked none.

New York 6, Pittsburgh 2 -- Kris Benson (9-4) hit a two-run single and yielded seven hits in seven innings against his former team at New York.

Cliff Floyd hit his 27th homer for the Mets, who hung right fielder Mike Cameron’s jersey in their dugout during the game. Cameron is recovering from facial surgery after a head-to-head collision with teammate Carlos Beltran in San Diego last week.

Mark Redman (5-13) lost for the ninth time in 10 decisions.

Milwaukee 6, Colorado 4 -- Victor Santos (4-11) earned his second win in 14 starts, and Wes Helms homered and drove in two runs at Denver to lead the Brewers to their seventh win in eight games against the Rockies dating to last year.

Washington at Philadelphia -- The game was rained out and rescheduled for a day-night doubleheader Thursday.