Padres Rookie Defeats Maddux

Heath Murray, a rookie making his first start in the majors, pitched 6-1/3 solid innings for his first career victory as the San Diego Padres defeated four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves 5-4 on Monday night in Atlanta.

The Padres, who broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the fifth inning, stretched their winning streak to four with the unlikely victory.

Murray was 1-4 with a 6.45 ERA in Triple-A before he was called up by the Padres on May 22.

“I just treated it like any other start,” said Murray, who pitched for the Spokane Indians as a Padres farmhand. “That’s what it is. You can’t control who you’re going against. You just do what you’re going to do and hope your team can score some runs.”

Rockies 11, Cardinals 7

St. Louis

Andres Galarraga hit his fifth home run in seven games and drove in four runs for Colorado.

Galarraga’s opposite-field, three-run homer in the fifth inning was measured at 426 feet, 103 feet shorter than his tape-measure blast two days ago in Miami.

Marlins 4, Giants 2

Miami

Al Leiter pitched seven innings, his longest outing of the year, and Gary Sheffield homered to lead the way for Florida.

Cubs 3, Pirates 2

Chicago

Brant Brown went 3 for 3 with a solo home run, leading Chicago to a season-best third straight victory.

Astros 2, Dodgers 0

Houston

Donne Wall and Jose Lima combined on a six-hitter and Brad Ausmus hit a two-run double as Houston snapped a three-game losing streak.

Expos 10, Mets 0

New York

Carlos Perez pitched a six-hitter and Joe Orsulak and Henry Rodriguez hit three-run home runs for Montreal.

Reds at Phillies, ppd.

The game between Cincinnati and Philadelphia was postponed because of rain and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader Sept. 12.

Clearing the bases

Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, who was 14 for 24 with three homers, six RBIs and a 1.208 slugging percentage, was selected player of the week… .

John Mabry of the Cardinals has a career-best 13-game hitting streak… . Tony Gwynn is one homer away from joining Nate Colbert and Dave Winfield as the only players to hit 100 home runs for San Diego… .

Colorado’s Larry Walker has reached base in 26 consecutive games.