The rookie strikeout sensation beat the crafty veteran in one of the best pitching matchups of the season.
Kerry Wood outdueled Greg Maddux, pitching 72/3 shutout innings and striking out 11 as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Atlanta Braves 3-0 Tuesday night before a sellout crowd at Turner Field in Atlanta."I just went out and turned it up a little," said Wood (9-5), who held the Braves to five hits and reached double figures in strikeouts for the sixth time in 18 major league starts.
Maddux (13-4), a four-time Cy Young winner whose forte is placement rather than power, lost for the first time to his former team. Maddux, who was 7-0 with a 1.51 ERA against the Cubs, allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings.
PHILLIES 3, EXPOS 2: Mark Portugal pitched a four-hitter as Phil-a-del-phia won its third straight.
BREWERS 6, MARLINS 4: Mark Loretta snapped a tie with an RBI double in the ninth as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a season sweep of the Marlins.
METS 4, PIRATES 0: Rick Reed pitched eight shutout innings and drove in a run as the Mets snapped Pittsburgh's four-game winning streak.
ROCKIES 5, ASTROS 0: Mark Brownson pitched five no-hit innings in his major league debut and finished with a four-hitter as Colorado snapped a nine-game road losing streak.
PADRES 6, CARDINALS 3: Kevin Brown held Mark McGwire hitless and won his ninth straight decision.
DODGERS 4, REDS 2: Ismael Valdes won consecutive starts for the first time since last August and rookie Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, GIANTS 3: Devon White's bases-loaded single capped a three-run rally in the seventh inning lifted Arizona.
American League
RANGERS 15, ROYALS 5: Juan Gonzalez, who went nine games without driving in a run after the All-Star break, homered twice and drove in five runs to raise his major league-leading RBI total to 110 as Texas routed Kansas City.
Through 99 games, Gonzalez is actually ahead of the 1930 pace set by Hack Wilson, who set the major league record with 190 RBIs. Wilson had 103 RBIs in 99 games.
MARINERS 8, DEVIL RAYS 3: Ken Griffey Jr. hit his AL-leading 40th homer and Russ Davis drove in four runs as Seattle won for the seventh time in eight games.
Griffey, who began the night four behind Mark McGwire in their quest to break Roger Maris' single-season record of 61, broke a week-long homer drought with a 407-foot solo shot off Wilson Alvarez (4-8) in the fourth inning.
ORIOLES 7, ATHLETICS 1: Rafael Palmeiro hit his 30th homer and Scott Erickson (11-7) pitched a six-hitter for his AL-high seventh complete game as Baltimore won for the 11th time in 12 games.
YANKEES 5, TIGERS 1: David Cone became the first 14-game winner in the majors and remained unbeaten at home.
WHITE SOX 6, BLUE JAYS 3: Albert Belle went 4-for-5 with his 30th homer and 13th in July, and Toronto's poor defense led to three unearned runs for Chicago.
Belle, who appeared in court Monday to face charges of domestic violence against a 25-year-old woman, is 5-for-8 with two home runs since the alleged incident.
TWINS 4, ANGELS 2: Paul Molitor moved into a tie for 10th place on the career hit list with three hits, including the go-ahead, two-run double in the fifth inning.
Coming off a 1-for-18 road trip during which he was activated from the disabled list, Molitor had a hit in each of his first three at-bats to tie Eddie Murray with 3,255 hits.
RED SOX 10, INDIANS, 7, 1st game; INDIANS 4, RED SOX 2, 2nd game, 71/2 innings: Nomar Garciaparra hit a three-run home run to lead Boston and Pedro Martinez (13-3) in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
The Indians salvaged a split and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Red Sox, who are 8-2 against their possible first-round playoff opponent, when the night game was finally called at 12:48 a.m. after a second rain delay.