Braves 5, Rockies 2
Order was restored at Coors Field. The Atlanta Braves beat the Colorado Rockies, and Greg Maddux needed only 68 pitches to win.
A day after Brent Mayne, normally a catcher, beat the Braves by pitching a shutout inning, the efficient Maddux worked seven strong innings as Atlanta beat Colorado 5-2 Wednesday.
The Braves, who won the first 16 games they played against the Rockies, recovered from their embarrassment to defeat Colorado for the 54th time in 82 games.
"We had to bounce back. We let a catcher beat us, and we thought about that one hard," said Brian Jordan, who hit a three-run homer to give the Braves a 4-0 lead in the sixth. "We came back with Maddux pitching a great game, and we got him some big hits at the right time."
Maddux (14-7) won for just the second time in seven starts and needed no more than 13 pitches in any inning. The game lasted only two hours and 22 minutes compared with the 12-inning contest Tuesday night that took 4:26.
"That's Maddux," said Colorado's Todd Helton, who went 0-for-4, dropping his major league-leading average to .393. "What do you expect? No matter where that guy pitches, he's going to throw a good game."
The Atlanta right-hander left with a stiff neck after allowing two runs and seven hits.
"It bothered me a lot," Maddux said. "It got worse as the game went on. I was lucky I lasted as long as I did."
Mike Remlinger pitched two perfect innings for his 12th save.
GIANTS 5, MARLINS 0:Livan Hernandez, who didn't throw a shutout in his first 104 starts, pitched his second straight four-hitter, leading San Francisco over visiting Florida.
PHILLIES 4, REDS 3:Mike Lieberthal's eighth-inning homer started a rally from a 3-1 deficit as Philadelphia won at Cincinnati.
CUBS 15, ASTROS 5:Ruben Quevedo (2-5) took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before Julio Lugo's three-run homer at Enron Field.
CARDINALS 5, PIRATES 2:Rick Ankiel (8-7) won for the second time in 11 starts, allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings at home.
METS 4, PADRES 1:Al Leiter allowed three hits in eight innings and retired 14 straight batters as New York avoided a three-game sweep at San Diego.
BREWERS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 5:Mark Loretta and Luis Lopez homered off Curt Schilling (10-8) as Milwaukee won at Arizona, completing a three-game sweep.
DODGERS 5, EXPOS 1: Los Angeles ace Kevin Brown lost his bid for a perfect game when Peter Bergeron singled leading off the seventh inning.
Winning for the first time in six starts, Brown (11-5) allowed four hits in seven-plus innings. He struck out four, walked none and hit a batter. Retiring his first 18 batters, Brown allowed only two balls out of the infield.