Braves enter break with shutout of Cubs

ATLANTA -- Greg Maddux pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed just three hits as the Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 Sunday.

The Cubs, playing their second game for interim manager Bruce Kimm, were without Sammy Sosa for the third straight game because of a family emergency.

The Braves, who have the best record in the major leagues, won for the 15th time in 18 games.

Going on three days rest, Maddux (8-2) got 11 groundball outs and threw just 82 pitches. John Smoltz pitched a perfect ninth for his 31st save.

Jon Lieber (6-6) gave up two runs -- one earned -- on five hits in seven innings.

Atlanta left fielder Chipper Jones, in a 4-for-37 slump, missed his first game of the season with a bruised knee.

Astros 6, Pirates 1

PITTSBURGH -- Jose Vizcaino's two-run double keyed the second five-run inning against Pittsburgh's Jimmy Anderson in as many starts, and Wade Miller held the Pirates to a run over six innings.

Miller struck out a season high nine as he and three relievers combined for 14 strikeouts. Roy Oswalt, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner pitched an inning each.

Houston outscored Pittsburgh 27-13 in winning three of four in a series that helped the Astros edge back into the NL Central race. Even with a depleted pitching staff, they went 7-2 on a pre-All-Star road trip and have won nine of 12.

Brewers 7, Reds 4

CINCINNATI -- Eric Young had three hits, and Paul Bako and Jeffrey Hammonds homered to lead Milwaukee over Cincinnati.

Milwaukee starter Ruben Quevedo left one out short of qualifying for the win. Valerio De Los Santos (2-2) got the final out of the fifth when Sean Casey flied to left field with the bases loaded.

De Los Santos allowed one hit in 1 1-3 innings.

Phillies 10, Expos 8

PHILADELPHIA -- Scott Rolen hit a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning as Philadelphia avoided a four-game sweep against Montreal.

Rolen connected on a 1-0 pitch from Matt Herges (2-3) for his 13th homer of the season, scoring Jeremy Giambi, who walked with two outs.

Rheal Cormier (4-4) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 28 chances.

Montreal's Brad Wilkerson, who had homered in his previous three games, went 2-for-4 with a single, triple and three runs scored.

Padres 7, Rockies 1

DENVER -- Rookie Oliver Perez allowed one hit over 6 2-3 innings and struck out a career-high 13, and Ryan Klesko hit two home runs as San Diego snapped a six-game losing streak.

The 20-year-old Perez (3-1) struck out the side in the second, fifth and sixth innings in winning for the first time in three starts. He fell two strikeouts short of the franchise single-game record of 15. He walked five and allowed only Larry Walker's two-out double in the third inning.

Perez also got his first major league hit in the second inning.

Mets 9, Marlins 3

MIAMI -- Jay Payton hit a three-run home run and drove in a career-high five runs as the New York Mets beat Florida in a game that was stopped four times because of rain.

The game was halted a total of 3 hours, 3 minutes -- 38 minutes in the first inning, 17 minutes in the third, 1 hour, 44 minutes in the fourth and 24 minutes in the sixth.

Reliever Grant Roberts (2-0) allowed a hit in 1 1-3 innings for the win, which gave the Mets a split in the four-game series. But Roberts left in the fifth with right biceps tendinitis.

Giants 5, Diamondbacks 2

PHOENIX -- Barry Bonds homered for the second game in a row as San Francisco beat Arizona to split their four-game series.

Bonds had gone 33 at-bats without a home run, his longest drought of the season, before hitting his first ever off Randy Johnson on Saturday night. He followed with a three-run shot off Rick Helling on Sunday, Bonds' 27th home run of the season.

He went 3-for-3 with two walks, reaching base every time he batted.

-- From wire reports