SAN DIEGO — Tim Stauffer threw six sparkling innings, Yorvit Torrealba homered and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 on Saturday to stay in first in the NL West.
The Padres (80-61) snapped a virtual tie for the top spot in the division, taking a one-game lead over the Giants (80-63) after dropping the first two in the four-game set. San Francisco pulled within one percentage point of San Diego with Friday night's 1-0 win.
Stauffer, the club's long reliever, made just his third start of the season but was sensational. He yielded three hits and pitched out of his only jam in the second.
Torrealba's fifth homer in the third landed in the right-field porch and helped San Diego win for just the fourth time in 16 games.
Madison Bumgarner (5-5) pitched seven innings for San Francisco, surrendering three hits.
Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams and Heath Bell each pitched a hitless inning in the Padres' 18th shutout of the season. Bell earned his 40th save in 43 chances.
BRAVES 6, CARDINALS 3, 12 INNINGS: At Atlanta, AlexGonzalez hit a three-run homer in the 12th inning and the Braves moved into a tie for the NL East lead. With runners on first and third and the outfielders playing shallow to guard against a sacrifice fly, Gonzalez hit the winning shot off MitchellBoggs (2-3) into the left-field seats. The Braves improved their major league-best home record to 51-20 and grabbed a share of the division lead with the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost to the New York Mets 4-3. AlbertPujols had three RBIs for St. Louis, which is facing an uphill climb to return to the playoffs. Rookie CraigKimbrel (3-0) struck out two in a perfect 12th to get the win.
METS 4, PHILLIES 3: At New York, MikePelfrey was dominant into the eighth inning to earn his career-high 14th victory, and the Mets stopped the Phillies' four-game winning streak. IkeDavis kept up his big September with four hits and three RBIs and JoseReyes homered for the Mets. Pelfrey (14-9) allowed two runs and six hits. HisanoriTakahashi worked the ninth for his sixth save in six chances. KyleKendrick (9-9) lasted just five innings for the Phillies, yielding two runs and five hits.
MARLINS 4, NATIONALS 1: At Washington, Florida's AnibalSanchez remained unbeaten against Washington, allowing four hits in 7 2-3 innings to beat the Nationals for the fifth straight time. EmilioBonifacio hit a two-run single to back Sanchez (12-9), who gave up one run, struck out four and walked none. He has a 2.29 career ERA against the Nationals, going 2-0 this year. ClayHensley pitched the ninth inning for his second save. JasonMarquis (2-8) gave up two runs and five hits in six innings for the Nationals.
DODGERS 6, ASTROS 3: At Houston, BrandonLyon's threw away a bunt for a tiebreaking two-run error in a three-run ninth inning, giving the Dodgers a win over the Astros. Dodgers manager JoeTorre was ejected in the first inning by plate umpire PaulEmmel. Torre complained from the dugout after CaseyBlake was called out on strikes, then left the dugout following the ejection to speak with Emmel. With the score 3-3, TrentOeltjen singled off Lyon (6-6) and ReedJohnson reached on a bunt single down the first-base line. A.J. Ellis bunted, and Lyon picked up the sacrifice, then hesitated and threw wildly to first as two runs scored. Ellis went to third on the error and scored on pinch-hitter JamesLoney's double.
REDS 5, PIRATES 4, 10 INNINGS: At Cincinnati, JoeyVotto led off the bottom of the 10th with his 33rd homer, sending the Reds to a wild victory over the Pirates that extended their NL Central lead to a daunting seven games. Votto hit the fourth pitch from JustinThomas (0-1) into the seats in left, touching off chants of "MVP" with his first career game-ending homer. EdinsonVolquez dominated for seven innings, allowing one hit and fanning 10 before turning a 3-0 lead over to the Reds bullpen. NeilWalker's two-run single past hard-throwing AroldisChapman completed Pittsburgh's rally to a 4-3 lead in the eighth. JoelHanrahan blew the save chance, giving up a tying double by ChrisHeisey in the ninth.
CUBS 1, BREWERS 0: At Milwaukee, RyanDempster struck out eight in seven crisp innings, earning his 100th career win and helping the Cubs beat the Brewers. XavierNady homered for Chicago, which got an outstanding outing from CarlosZambrano in a 4-0 victory in the series opener Friday night. Dempster (13-10) allowed three hits and walked two, improving to 15-2 with a 2.90 ERA in 22 career starts against the Brewers. The right-hander retired 21 of the first 26 batters on his way to his 50th victory with Chicago. RandyWolf (11-11) pitched eight innings for Milwaukee, yielding four hits and one walk.
ROCKIES 2, DIAMONDBACKS 1: At Denver, Pinch-hitter JonathanHerrera's sacrifice fly off MikeHampton broke a seventh-inning tie and the Rockies rallied past the Diamondbacks for their ninth straight victory. Rookie MattReynolds (1-0) picked up his first major league win by working one scoreless inning and the Rockies stayed 2 1/2 games behind San Diego in the NL West race. The Padres beat San Francisco 1-0. Diamondbacks right-hander RodrigoLopez cruised along until the seventh, when he gave up three straight hits, including MiguelOlivo's RBI single that tied it at 1 and took UbaldoJimenez off the hook for a hard-luck loss. Jimenez had allowed just one run over six stellar innings.