Eric Milton turned his head, saw center fielder Doug Glanville stumble and knew his bid for a no-hitter was over.
Two outs later, Milton lost his shutout and a chance for his 12th win. Pat Burrell made sure the Philadelphia Phillies didn't lose the game.
Milton pitched eight hitless innings before Michael Barrett blooped a double just in front of Glanville's outstretched glove, and the Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 Sunday on Burrell's run-scoring single in the ninth.
"I thought it would be trouble," Milton said of Barrett's hit. "I saw Dougie stumble there. I had a pretty good idea it would drop. I still had three outs to get. That's a tough task. I'm seeing the replay in my head."
Philadelphia led 2-0 when Barrett was jammed by an 0-1 fastball leading off the ninth, Milton's 98th pitch of the game. Glanville, who entered as a defensive replacement for Ricky Ledee in the eighth, at first broke back on the ball, then charged in and just missed an attempt for a diving catch.
"I think I froze," said Glanville, who was booed by the sellout crowd of 44,539 as he came off the field in the ninth and when he batted in the bottom of the inning. "It hung up there a little bit. I thought I had a chance. Unfortunately, I fell short."
Milton then fanned pinch-hitters Jose Macias and Alex Gonzalez, giving him a season-high 12 strikeouts, but Mark Grudzielanek singled and Corey Patterson doubled off the wall in left-center, tying the score and chasing the left-hander.
Ryan Madson (7-2) relieved and retired Sammy Sosa on a grounder. Milton received another standing ovation as he walked off the mound, but put his head down and didn't acknowledge the crowd. He watched the rest of the game while icing his shoulder and arm in the clubhouse.
"I was upset, but I'm happy we got the win," Milton said.
LaTroy Hawkins (2-3) walked Jim Thome leading off the bottom of the ninth and Glanville sacrificed. Burrell then drove the next pitch to deep right-center, giving the Phillies their second straight win and keeping them a half-game behind NL East-leading Atlanta.
"This game had a lot of lows, some highs at the end, and then back to lows," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.
Mark Prior, pitching for the first time since leaving a game July 15 because of a tender elbow, allowed two runs and five hits in six innings for Chicago, which fell 10 games behind first-place St. Louis in the NL Central.
"I felt really good. I threw the ball well," Prior said. "In the third inning, I made a few bad pitches."
Milton, who pitched a no-hitter for Minnesota against Anaheim on Sept. 11, 1999, faced the minimum 24 batters through eight innings. After Grudzielanek walked leading off the game, Patterson flied out to Bobby Abreu at the right-field wall, and Abreu doubled up Grudzielanek at first.
That was Chicago's only runner before the ninth. In the eighth, Derrek Lee had one of the few hard-hit balls against Milton, a drive into the left-field upper deck that was foul by about 50 feet.
Milton, acquired from Minnesota in a trade last December, threw 108 pitches in his first outing of more than seven innings since Aug. 1, 2002, when he shut out the Chicago White Sox for Minnesota. He hasn't had a decision in four starts since beating Baltimore 5-2 on July 4 to improve to 11-2.
"He had extra life on his fastball. It was kind of exploding," catcher Mike Lieberthal said. "He had a great changeup and his location was outstanding."
Chase Utley drove in Philadelphia's first two runs with a sacrifice fly in the third and a home run leading off the sixth.
EXPOS 6, MARLINS 4: At Montreal, Livan Hernandez threw six hitless innings and came within two outs of his second straight complete game, leading Montreal past Florida.
Hernandez (7-10) was perfect through two outs in the sixth, retired the first 17 batters he faced before walking pinch-hitter Josh Willingham. He didn't allow a hit until Mike Lowell's double on the first pitch of the seventh.
Hernandez then gave up two more hits in that inning — including Hee Seop Choi's RBI single — to lose his shutout. Hernandez allowed three more hits in the ninth, leaving to a standing ovation from the crowd of 9,688 after allowing Choi's run-scoring single with one out in the ninth.
The right-hander allowed four runs on six hits, and struck out six and walked two. Hernandez, who leads the majors with five complete games, also got a standing ovation when he doubled over right fielder Miguel Cabrera with two outs in the eighth.
BRAVES 4, METS 3: At New York, fielding errors by rookies David Wright and Kaz Matsui led to three unearned runs for Atlanta, and Mike Hampton threw six strong innings to lead the Braves over New York.
J.D. Drew hit his 24th homer for the Braves, who have taken over first place in the NL East with 12 wins in their last 16 games.
Wright, called up Wednesday from Triple-A Norfolk, made his second error in four games at third base and the Braves took advantage by scoring twice in the second against Steve Trachsel (9-7). Matsui's 20th error in the fifth allowed the Braves to score another run.
Hampton (6-8) won his fourth straight game this month and limiting the Mets — his former team — to five hits. He walked two and struck out two.
PIRATES 6, REDS 5: At Pittsburgh, pinch-hitter Rob Mackowiak drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI double in the fifth, helping Pittsburgh come from behind and complete a three-game sweep of Cincinnati.
Tike Redman hit a three-run homer for the Pirates, who rallied from a 5-1 deficit to win for the eighth time in their last 10 games. Pittsburgh has also won 14 of its last 15 at home.
Sean Burnett (5-2) won his fifth straight start despite struggling through 5 1-3 innings. He allowed five runs and seven hits after allowing just three earned runs in his previous 28 innings.
Jose Mesa, the fifth Pirates' pitcher, worked the ninth for his 29th save in 30 opportunities.
ASTROS 9, BREWERS 1: At Houston, Pete Munro pitched seven shutout innings and Mike Lamb drove in three runs with a pair of doubles to lead Houston over Milwaukee.
Houston has won four of its last five games, improving to 5-5 since Phil Garner replaced Jim Williams as manager at the All-Star break. The Astros had 12 hits, five of them doubles.
After giving up a pair of singles to lead off the second inning, Munro (2-2) settled down and retired 13 of his next 15 batters. He allowed six hits, struck out a season-high five and walked none.
Doug Davis (9-9) gave up six runs and nine hits in six innings for Milwaukee, 3-8 since the All-Star break.
CARDINALS 6, GIANTS 0: At St. Louis, Matt Morris threw a seven-hitter for his seventh career shutout, and St. Louis took advantage of Jerome Williams' wildness in a victory over San Francisco.
The Cardinals avoided a sweep after losing the first two games of the three-game series, and beat the Giants for only the second time in seven games at home the last two seasons.
The Nl Central leaders have won 16 of 20 overall and 13 of 16 at home.
Morris (11-6) threw his 15th career complete game to bounce back from his worst start of the season, when he lasted 1 2-3 innings and gave up seven runs in the Cardinals' 11-8 comeback victory over the Cubs on Tuesday. He helped himself by inducing double plays to end the fourth, fifth, sixth, and ninth innings.
PADRES 3, DODGERS 0: At Los Angeles, Adam Eaton allowed one hit in seven innings, Phil Nevin and Brian Giles homered and San Diego beat Los Angeles to avert a three-game sweep by the NL West leaders.
The loss was only the third in 20 games for the Dodgers, who had won 11 of their previous 15 meetings with the Padres. Los Angeles leads San Diego and San Francisco by 3 1/2 games.
Eaton (6-8) allowed only Alex Cora's single in the fourth to win his fourth straight road start. He struck out three in seven innings and walked two.
Akinori Otsuka pitched a perfect eighth, and Trevor Hoffman gave up Cesar Izturis' double in the ninth before earning his 26th save in 29 attempts and completing the two-hitter.
ROCKIES 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2: At Phoenix, Randy Johnson struck out a season-high 14 in what could be his final start for Arizona, and the Diamondbacks wasted a ninth-inning lead in a loss to Colorado that extended their team-record losing streak to 14.
Arizona has had preliminary talks with teams about possible trades for Johnson, who is making $16 million this year and is due $16 million in 2005. The New York Yankees and Anaheim are thought to be the top candidates to land for the five-time Cy Young Award winner, who has a no-trade clause and says he would approve a deal only to a team that has a chance to play in the World Series.
The deadline for trades without waivers is July 31.
Johnson allowed six hits and walked none in eight innings, allowing just three batters to reach second base and leaving with a 1-0 lead. The 40-year-old left-hander lowered his Era to 2.68 and raised his major league-leading strikeout total to 174. Johnson has 198 games with 10 or more strikeouts, 17 shy of Nolan Ryan's record.