Associated Press
The National League roundup …
PHILADELPHIA ó Ross Gload rounded first base and stopped before a mob of teammates swarmed him. Gload has struggled lately, so the playful punches were most welcome.
Gload hit a pinch RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep and extend their lead to 101/2 games in the NL East.
“For me, it’s huge because I haven’t had many,” said Gload, who was 4 for 33 before the at-bat. “I’ll take it. It’s big for me, bigger for the team.”
The major league-leading Phillies (91-48) reduced their magic number to 12 for clinching their fifth straight division title. They are 43 games above .500 for the first time in franchise history.
Second-place Atlanta still should reach the postseason barring a late collapse. The Braves entered 71/2 games ahead of St. Louis and San Francisco in the wild-card race.
“Right now, they’re just playing really good baseball and we’re not scoring any runs,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “It’s just not happening for us right now.”
Ryan Madson (4-2) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win after Roy Oswalt tossed seven strong innings.
The Phillies are cruising toward October in a season when only a World Series title would be considered a success. They need 11 wins in the last 23 games to set a single-season franchise record
Padres 3, Giants 1
SAN DIEGO ó Aaron Harang threw seven strong innings and Cameron Maybin had two hits and an RBI as the Padres dealt a big blow to the Giants’ fading playoff hopes.
The Giants, who have 19 games left, came into the game trailing NL West-leading Arizona by six games.
Mets 1, Marlins 0
MIAMI ó R.A. Dickey made an early run stand up, blanking Florida for seven innings and pitching the Mets past the Marlins.
Jose Reyes led off the game with a single and scored on a one-out double down the left-field line by Lucas Duda.
Pirates 5, Astros 4
PITTSBURGH ó Andrew McCutchen homered twice, pinch-hitter Jason Jaramillo singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Pirates beat the Astros.
Cardinals 2, Brewers 0
ST. LOUIS ó Chris Carpenter pitched a four-hitter to record his first shutout in two years and Rafael Furcal hit a solo home run as the Cardinals defeated the Brewers.