ATLANTA — Brian McCann hit a game-winning homer with help from video replay, giving the Atlanta Braves a stunning 7-6 victory over the Florida Marlins on Sunday.
It was the first time a game ended using a video review.
McCann hit a ball that bounced back onto the field, and the umpires initially ruled it was still in play. McCann stopped at second and began arguing that he should have more than a double.
The umpires conferred, then headed toward the Florida dugout to look at a replay that clearly showed the ball struck the top of the wall — right over McCann's name on an auxiliary scoreboard — and went over. It ricocheted back onto the field off a back wall.
Crew chief Tim McClelland returned to the field, pointed toward McCann with a slight grin — and gave the universal signal for homer. The review took a relatively quick 1 minute, 26 seconds.
REDS 7, CUBS 5: At Cincinnati, Kosuke Fukudome's homer tied it in the top of the eighth, but his throwing error in the bottom half of the inning helped Cincinnati rally for a win that completed the Reds' season-long domination of the Chicago Cubs. The Reds took a five-game lead in the NL Central, their biggest edge since early in the 2002 season, when second-place St. Louis lost to Washington 4-2. Cincinnati won 12 of its 16 games against Chicago this season, its best showing since going 12-5 in 2002. The NL Central leaders have won 11 of their last 15 games overall. Fukudome's two-run homer off Arthur Rhodes tied it at 5. His throw from right field skipped into a photographers' booth behind third base in the bottom of the inning, letting in the go-ahead run off Sean Marshall (6-5). Logan Ondrusek (4-0) stopped the Cubs' rally in the eighth. Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 35th save in 41 chances, including 11 in a row.
PHILLIES 5, PADRES 0: At San Diego, Cole Hamels shut down his hometown Padres on four singles in eight innings to win for the first time in nine starts, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a three-game sweep of bumbling NL West-leading San Diego. The Padres have lost four straight games for the first time this season and were swept for just the second time. The Padres, who led the majors in fielding percentage (.989) coming in, committed a season-high four errors. After being swept at home in four games by Houston, the wild card-leading Phillies had their usual success at Petco Park. They won their seventh straight game at the downtown ballpark, where they're 18-4 since it opened in 2004. The Phillies, who hold a 1 1/2-game lead over San Francisco in the wild card race, remained two games behind Atlanta in the NL East. Mike Sweeney, starting in place of slumping Ryan Howard against left-hander Clayton Richard, and Jayson Werth homered. Hamels (8-10) prevailed over Richard (12-6) in a duel of lefties to win for the first time since July 11 against Cincinnati. He had gone 0-3 despite a 2.83 ERA in his previous eight starts.
NATIONALS 4, CARDINALS 2: At Washington, Adam Wainwright struggled for five innings and the St. Louis Cardinals lost again, falling to Washington and dropping five games behind Cincinnati in the NL Central. Wainwright (17-9) failed in his third bid to become the NL's first 18-game winner. The Nationals tagged him for four runs on six hits and three walks in five innings. In his last three starts, Wainwright's ERA has increased from a league-leading 1.99 to 2.30. John Lannan (6-6) drove in two early runs, then pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning to leave the Cardinals at 2-5 — all against last-place teams — on their 10-game road trip. Drew Storen got the final four outs for his third save, despite allowing Pedro Feliz's ninth-inning solo homer. Michael Morse hit a two-run homer as the Nationals posted consecutive wins for the first time since July 30-31. Morse had seven straight hits, one short of tying the franchise record, before a flyout his next time up.
GIANTS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 7: At San Francisco, Jose Guillen hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks. Freddy Sanchez added three hits and two RBIs for the Giants, who avoided being swept by the last-place Diamondbacks and pulled within five games of San Diego in the NL West. Stephen Drew had four hits for Arizona, including his 11th home run of the season. Jeremy Affeldt (3-3) got two outs for the win while Brian Wilson recorded the final five outs for his 36th save in 38 tries. Esmerling Vasquez (1-5) took the loss.
BREWERS 8, PIRATES 4: At Milwaukee, Trevor Hoffman earned his 599th career save and Ryan Braun homered as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The all-time saves leader entered the game with one out in the ninth and two runners on base, and retired both batters he faced to convert his eighth save in 13 chances this year. The right-hander lost his closer's job to John Axford earlier in the season, but manager Ken Macha in recent weeks has allowed him to close games with leads of three runs or more in an effort to get him to 600 saves. The Brewers roughed up Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton (1-10) for eight runs in just 3 1-3 innings on a day where, for the first time, the retractable roof at Miller Park was positioned in an effort to diminish the shadows on the field. Dave Bush (7-11) got the win. The Pirates have lost 13 consecutive road games.
ROCKIES 10, DODGERS 5: At Denver, Dexter Fowler hit two triples to set a Colorado record and had three RBIs. Carlos Gonzalez homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Rockies beat Los Angeles for their first series win over the Dodgers in two years. Jason Hammel (9-7) hung on for his first win in four starts since Aug. 6. Fowler has 12 triples this year, the most in a season by a Rockies player. Dodgers pinch-hitter Manny Ramirez argued a called first-pitch strike and was ejected in the sixth inning. Ted Lilly (8-9) yielded seven runs in four innings, including five with two out in the fourth.
METS 5, ASTROS 1: At New York, R.A. Dickey flustered the Astros with knuckleballs and foiled them with his bat, leading the New York Mets over Houston. Josh Thole homered and Dickey (9-5) keyed a second-inning rally with a two-run single that helped the Mets end a four-game winning streak by Bud Norris (6-8).