NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cubs 5, Phillies 4; Mets 8, Brewers 5; Dodgers 6, Giants 4: The Chicago Cubs are going places. Barry Bonds is not.

Matt Murton raced home on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the ninth inning last night at Wrigley Field, sending the Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and to the top of the NL Central.

The Cubs, who were 8½ games behind on June 23, finally overcame the Brewers. Chicago’s win, coupled with the Mets’ 8-5 win at Milwaukee, puts the Cubs a percentage point ahead of the Brewers.

"You can’t make too much out of it on the first of August," Cubs Manager Lou Piniella said. "We’ve got a lot of baseball to play. We can’t get caught up in it."

Bonds, for once, seems to be caught up in the pursuit of a milestone.

The Giants slugger went 0 for 3 with an intentional walk in San Francisco’s 6-4 loss at Los Angeles, leaving him stuck for another frustrating night on 754 home runs.

Since moving within one of Hank Aaron’s record Friday night in San Francisco, Bonds is 1 for 12 with eight walks. His .186 average in July was his lowest in a month since April 1991, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That includes months in which he had at least 15 at-bats.

"I think without question he’s not seeing as many strikes, and they’re being very careful," Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. "He’s not getting a lot to hit right now."

● Diamondbacks 9, Padres 5 (11 innings): In San Diego, Eric Byrnes’ infield single with two outs in the 11th off Heath Bell (4-3) scored the go-ahead run and pinch-hitter Chad Tracy followed with a three-run homer. Arizona closer Jose Valverde (1-3) blew a save for the second straight appearance.

● Braves 12, Astros 3: In Atlanta, Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs in his Atlanta debut and Buddy Carlyle (6-3) got the win despite leaving the game after experiencing apparent discomfort while warming up in the sixth.

● Marlins 4, Rockies 3: In Miami, Byung-Hyun Kim (6-5) survived a 37-pitch first inning and had a career-high 10 strikeouts to lead Florida. Josh Fogg (5-7) allowed eight hits and four runs, three earned, in five-plus innings.

● Nationals 7, Reds 2: In Washington, rookie John Lannan (1-0) took a shutout into the sixth - quite a turnaround from his big-league debut last week, when he was ejected after hitting consecutive batters. Bronson Arroyo (4-12) was lifted after allowing seven runs in 12/3 innings, the shortest start of his eight-year career.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Mariners 8, Angels 7 (12 innings): In Seattle, the Mariners overcame a blown save by All-Star closer J.J. Putz to beat the first-place Angels. Yuniesky Betancourt grounded a single through the left side of a five-man infield to score the winning run for second-place Seattle, which beat Los Angeles two of three and moved to three games out of first in the AL West.

● Yankees 8, White Sox 1: In New York, Alex Rodriguez remained stuck at 499 career homers and matched the longest hitless streak of his big-league career at 21 at-bats. Jorge Posada homered twice and Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Shelley Duncan also connected to give the Yankees 13 home runs in two games, tying the team record for a two-game span set in 1939.

● Red Sox 5, Orioles 4: In Boston, David Ortiz scored the go-ahead run in a four-run seventh inning and Boston won in front of Kevin Garnett, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park on his first full day with the Celtics. Kevin Youkilis gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead with a two-run double.

● Athletics 3, Tigers 2: In Oakland, Calif., Mark Ellis hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning and the A’s handed Detroit its fourth straight series loss. The AL Central-leading Tigers dropped two straight to Oakland after winning the series opener. The Tigers have lost six of seven games overall.

● Devil Rays 6, Blue Jays 2: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Carl Crawford had three hits, including a two-run homer, to lead Tampa Bay. Crawford connected off Josh Towers (5-8) in the sixth to put Tampa Bay up 3-2.

● Rangers 9, Indians 6 (10 innings): In Cleveland, rookie reliever Jensen Lewis failed to get an out on consecutive bunts in the 10th inning and Texas took advantage to send the Indians to their fourth straight loss and seventh in nine games.

Advertisement