Thursday’s N.L. results
At New York, the Mets’ lead is gone, leaving them on the brink of an historic collapse.
Free-falling New York managed just three hits off Joel Pineiro and Jason Isringhausen in a 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, dropping the Mets into a first-place tie with Philadelphia in the East.
Not even Pedro Martinez could save New York, which had led the division alone every day since May 16. The Mets were ahead by seven games on Sept. 12 with 17 remaining but have lost 10 of their last 14, a monumental tailspin for a team that counted on being in the playoffs.
No major league team has failed to finish first after having at least a seven-game advantage with 17 remaining. But with three games remaining in the regular season – a weekend series at home against Florida – the Mets might fail to even make the postseason.
Phillies 6, Braves 4: At Philadelphia, Ryan Howard hit his 44th homer, Pat Burrell also connected and the Phillies roughed up John Smoltz, before hanging on for a victory over Atlanta. It was the Phillies’ 11th win in 14 games.
Rockies 10, Dodgers 4: At Los Angeles, Garrett Atkins had four hits, including a home run, and Brad Hawpe and Todd Helton homered as Colorado beat the Dodgers to sweep the three-game series and extend its franchise-record winning streak to 11 games.
Marlins 6, Cubs 4: At Miami, struggling to avert another collapse, Chicago stranded 10 runners and lost to last-place Florida for the third game in a row.
Chicago remained two games in front of Milwaukee in the Central.
Padres 9, Brewers 5: At Milwaukee, the Brewers made five errors, their most in eight years, and Scott Hairston hit a tiebreaking three-run double to lead San Diego over the Brewers.
San Diego maintained its one-game lead in the wild-card race and stayed one game back of Arizona in the West.
Diamondbacks 8, Pirates 0: At Pittsburgh, last-minute replacement Micah Owings pitched 6 1/3 innings and went 4 for 4 with three doubles and three RBIs to help Arizona stop a three-game losing streak.
Astros 4, Reds 3: At Cincinnati, Carlos Lee’s RBI single in the ninth inning broke a tie and Houston beat the Reds to complete a three-game sweep.
Associated Press