Astros Win, Pad Wild-Card Lead

Eric Bruntlett’s daring dashes on the basepaths seemed symbolic of a Houston Astros team making a hard charge up the NL wild-card standings.

Bruntlett delivered as a pinch-runner, stealing second and third then scoring the go-ahead run on Jason Lane’s RBI single in the ninth inning to lift the wild-card-leading Astros to a 2-1 victory over the Phillies on Tuesday night at Philadelphia.

“We made it happen tonight,” Astro Manager Phil Garner said.

The Astros moved one game ahead of Florida and 1 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia in the wild-card standings with their 11th consecutive win over the Phillies. The Phillies lost their fourth in a row overall.

Bruntlett’s steals helped make a winner out of Roy Oswalt (17-11), who struck out eight, gave up six hits and one earned run in eight innings.

With one out in the ninth, Lance Berkman was walked by former Houston All-Star closer Billy Wagner (4-2).

Bruntlett stole second and third with huge jumps, though catcher Todd Pratt seemed to have trouble getting the ball out of his mitt each time. Lane then ripped a single to left for a 2-1 lead.

Atlanta 3, New York 1 -- John Smoltz outpitched Pedro Martinez, and Andruw Jones drove in two runs at Atlanta.

Facing Martinez for the third time this season, Smoltz (14-6) won his second in a row in the matchup of former Cy Young Award winners. Smoltz gave up seven hits and one run in seven innings. Martinez (13-7) pitched six innings, gave up five hits and three runs for New York, which has lost six of seven.

Colorado 6, San Diego 5 -- Todd Helton reached base five times and scored twice, and Padre catcher Miguel Olivo committed two critical errors at San Diego. The Padres (68-69) again dropped below .500, making this the latest in a season a team has led a division with a losing record.

Chicago 5, St. Louis 2 -- Glendon Rusch was perfect for six innings at St. Louis and pitched into the eighth for his first win in more than two months. Derrek Lee hit his 40th homer and drove in two runs for the Cubs.

Florida 4, Washington 2 -- Luis Castillo went three for four with a homer and two RBIs at Washington and Ismael Valdez won for the first time in more than a month.

Arizona 4, Pittsburgh 2 -- Rookie catcher Ryan Doumit’s errant throw on a rundown play in the 12th inning got Pete Mackanin’s managerial run off to a losing start at Pittsburgh.

Cincinnati 2, Milwaukee 1 -- Javier Valentin’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Reds the win.