Braves Handle Willis This Time

Even Dontrelle Willis couldn’t stop the Atlanta Braves, at least not the second time around.

Marcus Giles homered and Atlanta spoiled Willis’ bid to become the first 13-game winner in the major leagues, beating the Florida Marlins, 9-1, Tuesday night at Miami.

Jorge Sosa (4-1) held Florida to four hits -- including Carlos Delgado’s 15th homer -- in six innings for his second win in four starts since moving into Atlanta’s rotation June 14.

Willis beat the Braves, 8-0, in Atlanta for his NL-leading 12th win last Thursday, but the Braves jumped on him early this time and finished with three triples.

“Obviously, it’s great to pick up a win against that quality of a pitcher, but the nice thing about it was that we made the adjustments,� Giles said. “He stuck it to us pretty good the last time in Atlanta.�

The left-hander gave up two runs in the first and fell behind, 4-0, by the fourth.

Willis gave up five runs and a season-high 11 hits in seven innings, raising his earned-run average from 1.76 to 2.04.

“I gave up a lot early and once we fell in the hole, that guy over there, Sosa, he threw the ball well,� Willis said.

Giles’ homer was the first given up by Willis (12-3) since April 23.

Colorado 6, Houston 5 -- Garrett Atkins hit a grand slam in the eighth inning off Russ Springer as the Rockies rallied at Denver to spoil a quality outing by Roger Clemens.

Clemens left with a 5-1 lead -- all of the runs were driven in by Morgan Ensberg, including a fifth-inning grand slam -- and had given up one run and four hits in seven innings. It was the third time this season that the Astro bullpen failed to hold a Clemens’ lead.

Houston’s Craig Biggio was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning against Jason Jennings, tying Don Baylor’s post-1900 major league record of 267 times getting hit.

Washington 2, Pittsburgh 1 -- Ryan Drese pitched eight strong innings, Wil Cordero hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly for his first RBI of the season and the Nationals won for the 15th time in 17 home games.

Chad Cordero pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 26th save, his 23rd straight. He tied the franchise record for consecutive saves set by Montreal’s Mel Rojas in 1996.

New York 8, Philadelphia 3 -- Mike Piazza drove in three runs with a single and his ninth home run of the season and Carlos Beltran had a double and triple to lead the Mets at New York.

Piazza hit a fifth-inning single that put the Mets ahead, 3-1, and homered in the sixth off Amaury Telemaco. With 387 homers, Piazza moved within two of Johnny Bench for 46th place.

St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 1 -- Mark Mulder ended a string of poor starts and Reggie Sanders backed him with a two-run homer, helping the Cardinals at St. Louis.

In 6 1/3 innings, Mulder (9-5) gave up seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks. He minimized damage despite giving up three hits in the first and third, benefiting from two double plays.

Chicago 2, Milwaukee 0 -- Carlos Zambrano gave up only three hits in eight innings at Chicago, and NL batting leader Derrek Lee hit his 23rd homer to lead the Cubs.

San Francisco 11, Arizona 3 -- Jason Schmidt outpitched Brad Halsey for the second time in six days, and the Giants ended their four-game losing streak with a win at Phoenix.