Cubs' playoff hopes suffer another blow

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh opened a 12-run lead in the third inning over the reeling Chicago Cubs as Aramis Ramirez homered and Craig Wilson drove in three runs, and the Pirates went on to a 13-1 romp Tuesday night.

The Cubs followed up consecutive 7-6 losses to the Astros and Pirates with their fourth straight loss, one that further damaged their fast-fading playoff hopes.

Jason Bere (11-10) retired only one batter in a five-run first inning.

Brian Giles, Rob Mackowiak and Wilson had run-scoring singles in the first, while Kevin Young had a sacrifice fly and Jason Kendall drew a bases-loaded walk.

Winning pitcher Jimmy Anderson (8-17) helped himself with RBI singles in the second and third, while Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the third and Wilson had an RBI single and a double.

BRAVES 5, MARLINS 2

MIAMI -- The Atlanta Braves escaped jams in the ninth and 10th innings, then scored three times in the 11th to beat Florida and take a one-game lead in the NL East.

The Braves moved ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 8-1 to Cincinnati. The New York Mets beat Montreal 2-0 and remained four games back.

Chipper Jones singled with one out in the 11th against Vic Darensbourg (1-2). Brian Jordan singled off Ricky Bones, and B.J. Surhoff singled home the tiebreaking run. Andruw Jones followed with a two-run triple, giving him four RBIs.

Atlanta's Steve Karsay and Steve Reed pitched out of a ninth-inning jam. Dave Berg led off with a triple, but Karsay got Derrek Lee to ground out, and after a pair of intentional walks, Reed retired Mike Lowell on a popup and Kevin Millar on a flyout.

Kerry Ligtenberg (3-3) was the winner, and John Smoltz pitched a perfect 11th for his eighth save in nine chances.

REDS 8, PHILLIES 1

PHILADELPHIA -- Ken Griffey Jr. had three hits and two RBIs, and Joey Hamilton pitched five shutout innings, leading Cincinnati to victory over Philadelphia.

The Phillies entered tied with the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East.

Hamilton (1-1) allowed two hits and won for the first time since beating the Phillies 4-2 on July 14 when he pitched for Toronto.

David Coggin (5-6) allowed four runs and four hits in five innings.

Griffey, who had four hits in his last 26 at-bats, was 3-for-4, missing the cycle by a triple. He also scored three runs.

METS 2, EXPOS 0

MONTREAL -- Kevin Appier pitched a four-hitter for his first complete game of the season and Mike Piazza hit his 35th homer to lead New York over Montreal.

Appier (9-10) last went the distance in a 6-0 win for Oakland at Los Angeles on June 11, 2000.

Appier struck out three and walked one in his 12th career shutout. He's 3-0 with a 2.29 ERA over his last six starts.

Piazza hit a solo shot off Carl Pavano (1-5) with one out in the sixth to put the Mets up by two.

-- From wire reports