PHILADELPHIA — Chase Utley hit an RBI single off Billy Wagner in the ninth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies completed a huge sweep of the first-place New York Mets by rallying for an 11-10 victory Thursday in one of the wildest games of the season.
By winning four straight against the Mets, Philadelphia moved within two games of the NL East leaders and suddenly set up an exciting September pennant race.
Mets nemesis Pat Burrell homered twice. Ryan Howard and Aaron Rowand also connected for the Phillies, who wasted leads of 5-0 and 8-5 before falling behind 10-8 in the eighth. That's when the Mets called on the struggling Wagner, who hadn't pitched since last Friday after experiencing a tired arm.
Looking for his first six-out save in eight years, Wagner (2-2) gave up Burrell's solo shot in the eighth and pinch-hitter Tadahito Iguchi's tying single in the ninth.
Jayson Werth sparked the rally by stealing second and third on consecutive pitches with one out. Iguchi also had a key stolen base before Utley's hit ended a game that lasted exactly 4 hours.
It was Philadelphia's first four-game sweep over any team since doing it against the Mets in September 2003 at old Veterans Stadium.
ASTROS 2, CARDINALS 1: At Houston, Matt Albers pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, Lance Berkman homered for the second consecutive game and Houston beat St. Louis. Albers (4-6) shut down the Cardinals for the second time this season. He earned his first major league victory in St. Louis on May 5, giving up three hits in 7 1/3 innings for a 13-0 win. Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 14th save.
REDS 5, PIRATES 4: At Pittsburgh, Alex Gonzalez scored from first on Ken Griffey Jr.'s pop-fly single that fell among three Pirates fielders in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds overcame Adam Dunn's baserunning mistake that cost them two runs. Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips nailed Josh Phelps at the plate for the final out after hustling to retrieve Nate McLouth's single into short right.
CUBS 5, BREWERS 4: At Chicago, Matt Murton and Alfonso Soriano hit back-to-back homers off Chris Capuano in the sixth inning and Chicago beat Milwaukee to push the Cubs lead in the NL Central back to 2 1/2 games. Chicago took two of three in their final series of the season with the second-place Brewers. St. Louis, which lost to Houston on Thursday, is three games behind.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, PADRES 7: At San Diego, Mark Reynolds had three hits and a career-high five RBIs to lift Arizona over San Diego, regaining the NL West lead from the Padres. The Diamondbacks, who trailed San Diego by one percentage point coming into the game, held on for the win after taking an 8-0 lead into the seventh inning.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 5, RED SOX 0: At New York, Chien-Ming Wang took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, Robinson Cano homered twice off Curt Schilling and the New York Yankees beat Boston for their third straight win over the Red Sox. Wang (16-6) and a pair of rookie relievers combined on a two-hitter in a game that included two ejections. Derek Jeter went 4-for-4. Boston manager Terry Francona was ejected in the seventh inning after umpires reversed a call and ruled Kevin Youkilis out for running out of the basepaths to elude a tag by third baseman Alex Rodriguez on J.D. Drew's sharp grounder. The Yankees closed within five games of the AL East leaders and put themselves in position to possibly end the day in the wild-card lead.
TIGERS 6, ROYALS 1: At Kansas City, Mo., Curtis Granderson and Magglio Ordonez each homered and got three hits, and Jeremy Bonderman halted his six-game losing streak as Detroit avoided a sweep, Bonderman (11-7) went seven innings and gave up six hits and one run, his best outing since beating Seattle on July 13.
INDIANS 6, MARINERS 5: At Cleveland, Kenny Lofton drew a bases-loaded walk from Rick White to force home the winning run in the ninth inning, and Cleveland beat slumping Seattle for Indians sixth straight victory. The Indians maintained their 4 1/2-game lead over Detroit in the AL Central. The Mariners, who have lost six in a row, fell a game behind the New York Yankees in the wild-card race and 5 1/2 back of the first-place Los Angeles Angels in the AL West.
DEVIL RAYS 8, ORIOLES 6: At Baltimore, Tampa Bay completed its first road sweep in more than two years, getting a three-run homer from B.J. Upton to beat Baltimore and extend the Orioles' losing streak to nine games. Josh Wilson and Akinori Iwamura also homered for the Devil Rays, who trailed in all three games of the series.
RANGERS 5, WHITE SOX 1: At Arlington, Texas, Sammy Sosa hit his 606th home run and Texas completed a three-game sweep of the bumbling Chicago White Sox. Chicago made four errors in one inning and lost for the 16th time in 19 games — hours after manager Ozzie Guillen reiterated how frustrated he is with his team.