BRAVES 7, MARLINS 5

ATLANTA - John Smoltz's return to the mound as a closer didn't go exactly as he wanted. Still, the Atlanta Braves actually managed to win a close game.

Yunel Escobar hit the first game-ending homer of his career, a two-run shot in the 10th, as the Braves rallied for a 7-5 win over the Florida Marlins last night.

Pitching in relief for the first time since 2004, Smoltz came on in the ninth with a 4-3 lead, then gave up two runs.

But Jeff Francoeur hustled home on a wild pitch in the bottom half to get Smoltz off the hook. Escobar's shot in the 10th bounced off the top of the wall in right center and into the seats.

Florida 000 200 102 0–5 8 1

Atlanta 011 010 011 2–7 9 1

Florida AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Atlanta AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

HRamirez ss 5   0   0   0   .292      YEscobar ss 5   2   3   3   .301

Hermida rf 4   1   2   2   .267      Infante 2b-lf 4   0   0   0   .250

Gregg p 0   0   0   0   .000      CJones 3b 4   0   2   0   .407

Kensing p 0   0   0   0   .000      Teixeira 1b 4   1   2   2   .276

Cantu 3b 4   0   0   1   .266      Francoeur rf 4   2   1   1   .256

Jacobs 1b 4   0   0   0   .252      McCann c 3   0   0   0   .313

Uggla 2b 5   2   2   0   .297      2-Jurrjens pr 0   0   0   0   .130

LGonzalez lf 5   0   2   1   .302      CMiller c 0   0   0   0   .077

CRoss cf-rf 3   0   0   1   .210      Norton lf 4   0   0   0   .171

Treanor c 4   0   1   0   .274      Smoltz p 0   0   0   0   .000

1-Amez'ga pr-cf 0   1   0   0   .252      e-JAnderson ph 1   0   0   0   .200

Olsen p 1   0   0   0   .045      Ohman p 0   0   0   0   ---

a-JJones ph 0   0   0   0   .091      GBlanco cf 5   1   1   0   .273

Pinto p 0   0   0   0   .000      JoReyes p 2   0   0   0   .000

Lindstrom p 0   0   0   0   ---      Acosta p 0   0   0   0   .000

Nelson p 0   0   0   0   ---      b-Gotay ph 1   0   0   0   .229

d-Helms ph 1   1   1   0   .242      RSoriano p 0   0   0   0   ---

Rabelo c 0   0   0   0   .214      c-KJohn. ph-2b 0   1   0   0   .299

Totals 36   5   8   5         Totals 37   7   9   6      

No outs when winning run scored.a-walked for Olsen in the 7th. b-struck out for Acosta in the 7th. c-was intentionally walked for Soriano in the 8th. d-singled for Nelson in the 9th. e-grounded into fielder's choice for Smoltz in the 9th.1-ran for Treanor in the 9th. 2-ran for McCann in the 9th. E: Olsen (2), Infante (2). LOB: Florida 7, Atlanta 12. 2B: Uggla 2 (21), Treanor (5), GBlanco (5). 3B: Hermida (2). HR: YEscobar (5), off Kensing; Teixeira (9), off Olsen; Francoeur (7), off Olsen. RBIs: Hermida 2 (28), Cantu (28), LGonzalez (22), CRoss (21), YEscobar 3 (25), Teixeira 2 (42), Francoeur (34). SB: JAnderson (2). S: Olsen. SF: Cantu. RLSP: Florida 4 (HRamirez 2, Cantu, LGonzalez); Atlanta 8 (CJones 2, Francoeur 2, Norton 2, GBlanco, JoReyes). RA: HRamirez, Cantu.

Florida walks (4): Hermida, Jacobs, CRoss, JJones.

Atlanta walks (8): YEscobar, Infante, CJones, Teixeira, Francoeur, McCann, KJohnson 2.

Florida strikeouts (7): HRamirez 2, Hermida, Jacobs, Uggla, LGonzalez, Olsen.

Atlanta strikeouts (7): Infante, Francoeur, Norton, GBlanco 2, JoReyes, Gotay.

Florida IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Olsen 6   4   3   3   2   4   92   3.72

Pinto 1   2   0   0   1   2   23   1.53

Lindstrom 2/3   2   1   1   2   1   19   3.05

Nelson 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   3   2.08

Gregg(BS) 1   0   1   1   2   0   23   2.54

Kensing(L) 0   1   2   2   1   0   10   4.00

Atlanta IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

JoReyes 6   5   3   3   1   4   74   4.78

Acosta(BS) 1   0   0   0   1   1   18   2.73

RSoriano 1   0   0   0   2   1   18   2.57

Smoltz(BS) 1   3   2   2   0   0   12   2.57

Ohman(W) 1   0   0   0   0   1   9   2.70

W: Ohman, 2-0. L: Kensing, 3-1. . BS: Smoltz, 1. BS: Acosta, 1. BS: Gregg, 3.

Kensing pitched to 2 batters in the 10th, JoReyes pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. IR-S: Nelson 3-0, Acosta 2-1. IBB: off Lindstrom (KJohnson) 1, off RSoriano (Jacobs) 1. HBP: by Olsen (McCann). WP: Gregg, Kensing. Umpires: Home, Greg Gibson; First, Brian Runge; Second, Charlie Reliford; Third, Adrian Johnson.

T: 3:01. A: 20,896 (49,743).

PIRATES 5, CARDINALS 4

ST. LOUIS - Jason Michaels hit a tying pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh and Jason Bay drove in the winning run an inning later as Pittsburgh rallied past St. Louis.

Michaels, batting for Raul Chavez, hit his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from starter Adam Wainwright. The two-out blast landed in the Pirates' bullpen and was just the second hit of the inning. It was his first homer with the Pirates.

St. Louis 202 000 000–4 9 0

Pittsburgh AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      St. Louis AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

McLouth cf 4   1   2   0   .312      Miles 2b 5   1   1   0   .316

JaWilson ss 3   0   1   0   .281      Mather rf 4   2   2   0   .286

FSanchez 2b 4   0   0   0   .238      Pujols 1b 4   1   2   2   .366

Bay lf 4   1   2   1   .296      Glaus 3b 4   0   0   0   .264

Nady rf 3   1   0   0   .322      Ludwick cf-lf 3   0   2   2   .321

AdLaRoche 1b 4   0   0   0   .215      YMolina c 2   0   1   0   .292

JBautista 3b 3   1   1   0   .261      BBarton lf 3   0   0   0   .258

RChavez c 2   0   0   0   .217      Schumaker cf 1   0   0   0   .292

a-Michaels ph 1   1   1   4   .324      Wainwright p 2   0   1   0   .189

RPaulino c 1   0   0   0   .218      ChPerez p 0   0   0   0   ---

Gorzelanny p 2   0   1   0   .125      c-Ankiel ph 1   0   0   0   .264

b-ChGomez ph 1   0   0   0   .322      Izturis ss 4   0   0   0   .257

Osoria p 0   0   0   0   .400      Totals 33   4   9   4      

DMarte p 0   0   0   0   ---

Capps p 0   0   0   0   .000

Totals 32   5   8   5      

a-homered for Chavez in the 7th. b-grounded out for Gorzelanny in the 7th. c-lined out for Perez in the 9th. LOB: Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 6. 2B: Bay (10), Miles (5), Pujols (15). HR: Michaels (1), off Wainwright. RBIs: Bay (29), Michaels 4 (11), Pujols 2 (39), Ludwick 2 (42). SB: Ludwick (3). S: JaWilson. SF: Ludwick. GIDP: FSanchez, RPaulino, Miles, Izturis. RLSP: Pittsburgh 1 (JaWilson); St. Louis 3 (YMolina, BBarton, Schumaker). RA: Glaus. DP: Pittsburgh 2 (Gorzelanny, JaWilson and AdLaRoche), (JBautista, FSanchez and AdLaRoche); St. Louis 2 (Izturis, Miles and Pujols), (Miles, Pujols, Izturis and Miles).

Pittsburgh walks (2): Nady, JBautista.

St L. walks (3): YMolina 2, Wainwright.

Pittsburgh strikeouts (4): JaWilson, Nady, RChavez, Gorzelanny.

St L. strikeouts (4): Mather, Glaus, BBarton, Izturis.

Pittsburgh IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Gorzelanny 6   7   4   4   3   2   90   7.22

Osoria(W) 12/3   2   0   0   0   1   24   4.29

DMarte(H) 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   7   4.10

Capps(S) 1   0   0   0   0   1   9   2.45

St. Louis IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Wainwright(L) 8   7   5   5   2   4   103   3.12

ChPerez 1   1   0   0   0   0   8   1.13

W: Osoria, 3-1. L: Wainwright, 5-3. S: Capps, 11. H: DMarte, 10.

IR-S: DMarte 2-0.PB–YMolina. Balk–Gorzelanny. Umpires: Home, Ed Rapuano; First, Ed Hickox; Second, C.B. Bucknor; Third, Joe West.

T: 2:31. A: 42,129 (43,975).

BREWERS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3

MILWAUKEE - Prince Fielder homered to lead off the eighth and helped scratch across another run with an unlikely steal of third to lift Milwaukee over Arizona.

Fielder, who went 3 for 4, drove a fastball by Arizona reliever Doug Slaten (0-2) deep to left-center field, where it bounced off a stadium support below a "Vote Brewers" all-star banner to give Milwaukee its first lead, 4-3.

It was Fielder's third homer in the last four games and ninth this year.

Arizona AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Milwaukee AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

SDrew ss 4   1   1   0   .268      Weeks 2b 4   0   1   0   .207

Young cf 4   0   1   0   .239      MCameron cf 3   0   1   0   .226

OHudson 2b 4   0   0   0   .303      Braun lf 4   0   1   0   .297

Tracy 1b 4   0   0   0   .250      Fielder 1b 4   2   3   1   .280

Reynolds 3b 4   0   2   1   .242      Hart rf 4   0   0   0   .292

Upton rf 4   1   1   0   .275      BHall 3b 3   1   1   1   .227

CSnyder c 3   1   2   2   .268      Hardy ss 3   1   0   0   .245

CBurke lf 2   0   1   0   .173      Torres p 0   0   0   0   ---

DDavis p 3   0   0   0   .250      Kendall c 1   0   0   0   .254

Qualls p 0   0   0   0   ---      Suppan p 2   0   0   0   .045

Slaten p 0   0   0   0   ---      a-Kapler ph 1   0   0   0   .302

TPena p 0   0   0   0   ---      Mota p 0   0   0   0   ---

b-Ojeda ph 1   0   0   0   .339      Counsell ss 0   0   0   0   .235

Totals 33   3   8   3         Totals 29   4   7   2      

a-safe on fielder's choice and error for Suppan in the 7th. b-popped out for Pena in the 9th. E: Reynolds (10), Qualls (2), BHall (13), Kendall (3). LOB: Arizona 7, Milwaukee 6. 2B: CSnyder (14), Weeks (9). HR: Fielder (9), off Slaten; CSnyder (5), off Suppan. RBIs: Reynolds (33), CSnyder 2 (29), Fielder (30), BHall (23). SB: Fielder (1). CS: SDrew (1). S: CSnyder, Kendall. SF: BHall. GIDP: Braun. RLSP: Arizona 3 (SDrew 2, DDavis); Milwaukee 2 (Braun, Hart). RA: Tracy. DP: Arizona 1 (SDrew, OHudson and Tracy); Milwaukee 1 (Kendall and Weeks).

Arizona walks (3): SDrew, CBurke 2.

Milwaukee walks (3): MCameron, Hardy, Kendall.

Arizona strikeouts (8): SDrew 2, Young, OHudson, Tracy, Upton, DDavis 2.

Milwaukee strikeouts (4): Weeks, MCameron, Braun, BHall.

Arizona IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

DDavis 6   6   3   1   2   3   92   3.90

Qualls(BS) 1   0   0   0   1   1   17   2.89

Slaten(L) 0   1   1   1   0   0   2   3.78

TPena 1   0   0   0   0   0   10   3.38

Milwaukee IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Suppan 7   7   3   3   2   6   96   3.93

Mota(W) 1   0   0   0   0   1   11   3.04

Torres(S) 1   1   0   0   1   1   31   2.62

W: Mota, 2-3. L: Slaten, 0-2. S: Torres, 6. BS: Qualls, 4.

DDavis pitched to 2 batters in the 7th, Slaten pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. IR-S: Qualls 2-2. WP: DDavis. Umpires: Home, Gerry Davis; First, Scott Barry; Second, Bruce Dreckman; Third, Brian Gorman.

T: 2:43. A: 27,562 (41,900).