Miami – Rickie Weeks started the go-ahead rally in the opener, then provided most of the offense in the second game.
Weeks scored on Prince Fielder’s 13th-inning single as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Florida Marlins 3-2 in the completion of a suspended game. He then homered, tripled and scored three runs in a 5-2 victory in Wednesday night’s scheduled game.
Milwaukee had lost nine in a row to the Marlins before winning two straight.
Tuesday’s game was suspended with the score 2-2 after 10 innings and three rain delays that totaled 1 hour, 42 minutes. Before this year, it would have become an official tie game and would have been replayed from the start. But under a rules change made during the offseason, it was picked up where the teams left off.
“It’s good rule, it really is,” Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “I would have hated to come out here with the way the pitching is and played two games.”
BRAVES 8, NATIONALS 3 at Atlanta: Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones homered in the same game for the 56th time as Atlanta won its fourth straight game.
At 7-1, the Braves are off to their best start since 1995, when they won their only World Series title in Atlanta.
Washington fell to 1-8, the franchise’s worst start since the Montreal Expos had the same record through nine games in 1998. The Nationals have been outscored 61-21 and have yet to score in the first three innings of a game. In every game, they have fallen behind by at least 3-0.
PHILLIES 5, METS 2 at New York: Adam Eaton pitched seven steady innings and Philadelphia took advantage of seven early walks by Oliver Perez and avoided starting 1-7 for the first time since 1987.
Still looking for their big bats to bust out, the Phillies drew 11 free passes, but stranded 14 runners. Philadelphia batters began the night leading the major leagues with 40 walks.
CARDINALS 3, PIRATES 2 at Pittsburgh: Chris Duncan, pinch hitting for So Taguchi, who had gone 3-for-3 with two doubles, homered off Salomon Torres in the ninth inning to give St. Louis a three-game sweep.
The Cardinals are 36-15 against the Pirates since 2004 and have won 31 of their last 40 against their NL Central rivals, but had not swept a three-game series in PNC Park since Aug. 27-29, 2004.
PADRES 4, GIANTS 0 at San Diego: Pitching three days before his 41st birthday, Greg Maddux earned his first victory with San Diego.
He combined on a six-hitter with Cla Meredith, Scott Linebrink and Doug Brocail, and the quartet retired San Francisco’s final 13 batters. The Padres bullpen extended its season-opening scoreless streak to 28 1/3 innings.
REDS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2 at Phoenix: Josh Hamilton homered for the second straight game and Javier Valentin hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning as Cincinnati defeated Arizona.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
