Wood Sharp in His Return for Cubs

Kerry Wood returned, and the Chicago Cubs won again.

Wood threw six sharp innings in his first start in two months, and Todd Hollandsworth hit a run-scoring single in the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday at Chicago.

Wood, who had not pitched since April 30 because of a strained right shoulder, gave up one run and two hits in six innings. He struck out nine, walked two and left after 91 pitches with a 2-1 lead.

“I wasn’t trying to do too much,� said Wood, whose velocity reached 97 mph. “I was putting my fastball pretty much where I wanted to. My slider was good early, and I dropped in a couple of good curveballs.�

Wood threw first-pitch strikes to 16 hitters and was consistently ahead in the count in outdueling Brewer ace Ben Sheets.

Houston 7, Colorado 1 -- Craig Biggio homered and set the modern record for being hit by pitches, and Roy Oswalt pitched seven scoreless innings for his fourth win in a row to lift the Astros at Denver.

Biggio was hit on the left elbow in the fourth inning by Byung-Hyun Kim (2-7), breaking Don Baylor’s post-1900 record of 267.

Florida 6, Atlanta 5 -- Juan Encarnacion’s single to right field with two out in the 13th inning drove home Miguel Cabrera with the winning run at Miami.

Andruw Jones hit his major league-leading 25th home run to lead off the 13th inning.

Washington 3, Pittsburgh 2 -- Jose Guillen hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning to lift the Nationals at Washington.

Chad Cordero pitched the ninth for his 27th save. It was his 24th in a row, breaking the franchise’s consecutive saves record established by Montreal’s Mel Rojas in 1996.

St. Louis 11, Cincinnati 3 -- Fortified by a cortisone shot in his ailing neck, Larry Walker returned to the Cardinal lineup and hit two-run homers in his first two at-bats in a victory at St. Louis.

Philadelphia 6, New York 3 -- Chase Utley hit a three-run homer at New York, and the Phillies ended a five-game losing streak. David Bell drove in two runs for the Phillies.

San Francisco 4, Arizona 2 -- Moises Alou and Omar Vizquel each had three hits for a combined three runs batted in, and the Giants won at Phoenix.