San Diego – Randy Winn hit a tying, two-out triple off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning, and J.T. Snow hit a go-ahead single two batters later as the San Francisco Giants stunned San Diego 3-2 on Monday night and pulled within three games of the West-leading Padres.
The Padres had been within one out of reducing their magic number for clinching the division title to two but Hoffman blew a save for the third time in 44 chances, and saw his streak of 38 consecutive saves end. Their magic number remains four, with six games to play.
This is the closest the Giants have been since May 14, when they were three games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Padres fell to 77-79, the latest in a season a team has led a division with a losing record.
Winn tied the game with his fourth hit, a flyball to center field. Brian Giles caught the ball just as he slammed into the fence, but the impact jarred the ball loose as he fell to the ground, allowing pinch-runner Jason Ellison to score from first base. Ellison ran for Mike Matheney who singled with one out.
Hoffman, thinking that Giles made the catch, began to raise his arms in celebration, but then saw the ball roll on the ground. Hoffman (1-6) walked Omar Vizquel before allowing Snow’s single.
Barry Bonds grounded out to end the inning, finishing 0-for-5.
Mets 6, Phillies 5
Philadelphia – Pat Burrell came to the plate with two runners on in the ninth but bounced back to the mound on a check-swing for the final out, dropping Philadelphia 1 1/2 games behind the idle Houston Astros in the wild-card race.
Philadelphia’s loss assured the Atlanta Braves of at least a tie for the East crown.
The Phillies came completely undone in the eighth inning. Ugueth Urbina (4-3) wasted Brett Myers’ stellar effort during the meltdown, putting the first two batters on before Miguel Cairo’s RBI double made it 5-3. Carlos Beltran followed with a slow roller to second that a charging Chase Utley briefly had in his mitt before it popped out. Utley tried to recover but wildly threw past first for an error, and two runs scored to tie it.
Ryan Madson came in and struck out David Wright, then hit Mike Piazza with a pitch. The left-handed hitting Mike Jacobs sent a sacrifice fly to deep center off the righty reliever – with left-handed closer Billy Wagner not even warming up – to put the Mets ahead 6-5.
Jimmy Rollins homered on the first pitch to extend his hitting streak to 31 games and Burrell hit a solo homer, still desperately trying to set up what could be a thrilling final week between the Phillies (84-73) and Astros (85-71).
Nationals 4, Marlins 0
Miami – Cristian Guzman had three hits and three RBIs, Hector Carrasco pitched six strong innings and Washington put Florida on the brink of playoff elimination.
Florida has dropped four in a row and 10 of its past 12. Another loss, or a Houston victory, will knock the Marlins out of wild-card contention.
Carrasco (5-3), a former reliever making his fourth start this season, allowed two hits, three walks and struck out six. He has not given up a run in his past three starts, spanning 17 2/3 innings.
Jason Vargas (5-5) was the tough-luck loser. He yielded one run and five hits in seven innings.
Dodgers 9, Pirates 4
Los Angeles – Jason Repko drove in four runs with two triples, and Jose Cruz Jr. homered as Los Angeles sent Kip Wells to his major league-worst 18th loss. Wells (7-18) allowed four runs on six hits and four walks in eight innings. He is 1-14 with a 6.97 ERA in his past 19 starts.
Brewers 12, Reds 9
Milwaukee – Carlos Lee drove in two runs to match his career high with 113 RBIs, and Milwaukee (78-78) moved closer to attaining its first winning season since 1992.
