Cramps to Card, Bennett's home run part of win

Sunday, August 27, 2006 Dontrelle Willis pitched seven innings to help Florida win its sixth straight game. ASSOCIATED PRESS ST. LOUIS — Chris Carpenter pitched eight sharp innings before leaving because of cramping, and seldom-used Gary Bennett hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth that sent the St. Louis Cardinals over the Chicago Cubs 2-1 Saturday. Carpenter held the Cubs to two hits, struck out five and walked one. He threw 100 pitches, and took the mound to start the ninth. But after throwing a few warmups, the Cardinals ace consulted with trainer Barry Weinberg and manager Tony La Russa and left. The problem Carpenter said his toes, forearms and calves were locking up even though it was not an especially warm day with the gametime temperature at 78 degrees. He had troubles with dehydration earlier in the season, leaving a game with cramps in his fingers. Bennett also homered in his second straight three-hit game for the NL Central-leading Cardinals. Preston Wilson singled off Roberto Novoa (2-1) with one out in the ninth and stole second. After Ronnie Belliard fouled out, Bennett singled to left-center field and Wilson scored easily. Randy Flores (1-1) allowed a hit in the ninth. Carpenter held the Cubs without a hit until Phil Nevin's opposite-field single to right with two outs in the fifth. The Cubs didn't advance a runner past first base until Nevin's 12th homer tied it at 1 with one out in the eighth. Cubs reliever Bob Howry escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth that featured the second single of the game by Carpenter, a .132 hitter. Scott Rolen fouled out for the third out after Albert Pujols was intentionally walked. Bennett hit his third homer, all coming in the last eight games, off Rich Hill with one out in the first. CHICAGOST. LOUIS abrhbiabrhbi Pierre cf4010Miles ss4010 Bynum 2b4000Duncan lf3000 ARmrz 3b3000Tguchi lf0000 Barrett c3000Edmnd cf1000 JJones rf2000Pujols 1b3000 Nevin 1b3121Rolen 3b4000 Murton lf3000JEcrcn cf4010 Cedeno ss3000PrWlsn rf4110 RHill p2000Blliard 2b4000 Howry p0000GBnntt c4132 Pagan ph1000Crpnter p2020 Novoa p0000Flors p0000 Totals28131Totals33282 Chicago000000010—1 St. Louis001000001—2 Two outs when winning run scored. DP—St. Louis 2. LOB—Chicago 1, St. Louis 7. HR—Nevin (12), GBennett (3). SB—PrWilson (8). S—Carpenter. IPHRERBBSO Chicago RHill741102 Howry120011 Novoa L,2-12-321100 St. Louis Carpenter821115 Flores W,1-1110000 WP—RHill. Umpires—Home, C.B. Bucknor; First, Adam Dowdy; Second, Wally Bell; Third, Mark Carlson. T—2:23. A—46,036. Giants 4, Reds 1 SAN FRANCISCO — Shea Hillenbrand homered for the second straight game for No. 100 in his career and Noah Lowry won back-to-back starts for the first time all season for the Giants. Hillenbrand hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning to help San Francisco win for the 10th time in 13 games. The Giants pulled within three games of the Reds in the NL wild-card race. David Ross hit his 18th home run in the sixth, snapping a stretch of 161/3 scoreless innings by San Francisco starters. Cincinnati trails first-place St. Louis by two games in the NL Central. Bronson Arroyo (10-9) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings for the Reds. Lowry (7-7) gave up six hits and walked three in eight innings. Mike Stanton pitched the ninth for his third save in five chances. CINCINNATISAN FRAN abrhbiabrhbi Freel rf4000Winn rf5110 Clayton ss4010Vizquel ss4110 Grf Jr. cf4010Hlnbrn 1b4122 EEcrcn 3b3010Drham 2b3010 Dunn lf4000MaSwy lf4100 Aurilia 1b4010Stanton p0000 Ross c3111SFinley cf3010 BPhllps 2b3010Feliz 3b3021 Arroyo p3000TGreen c3000 Bray p0000Lowry p3000 Belisle p0000Linden lf0000 Crmier p0000 JCastro ph1000 Totals33161Totals32483 Cincinnati000001000—1 San Francisco00011020x—4 E—Griffey Jr. (5), EEncarnacion (20), Durham (9), Feliz (15). DP—Cincinnati 1. LOB—Cincinnati 9, San Francisco 9. 2B—BPhillips (25), Winn (28). HR—Ross (18), Hillenbrand (5). CS—Freel (10). S—Ross. IPHRERBBSO Cincinnati Arroyo L,10-9684446 Bray100001 Belisle2-300010 Cormier1-300000 San Francisco Lowry W,7-7861133 Stanton S,3100001 Arroyo pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. Umpires—Home, Laz Diaz; First, Rick Reed; Second, Chris Guccione; Third, Ted Barrett. T—2:37. A—41,362. Braves 10, Nationals 1 ATLANTA — John Smoltz allowed one run and three hits in eight innings for the Braves. Smoltz (12-6) won his sixth straight home start. Of the Braves' 11 home wins since July 3, six belong to Smoltz. The Braves are only 27-34 at Turner Field for the second-worst home record, only slightly better than the Cubs' 27-36 mark. Chipper Jones hit his 20th home run and Marcus Giles had three hits, stole a base and drove in two runs for Atlanta. Brian McCann had a two-run double in a four-run first inning. Pedro Astacio (3-4) gave up six runs and eight hits with five walks in 22/3 innings for the Nationals. WASHINGTONATLANTA abrhbiabrhbi ASrano lf3000MGiles 2b5132 RWgnr p0000Rnteria ss4010 Grybsk p0000TPena ss1100 Ward ph1000CJones 3b3222 FLopez ss2000Wckmn p0000 HMateo ss2110AJones cf2200 Zmrmn 3b4010McCnn c5112 NJhnsn 1b2000Frncur rf4011 MrAnd 1b1001Diaz lf1000 Kearns rf3010LaRche 1b3121 Vidro 2b3000Lngrhn lf3201 Church cf3010Smoltz p3010 Fick c3000Prado 3b0000 Astacio p1000 Schrder p0000 BCstro lf2000 Totals30141Totals3410119 Washington000000100—1 Atlanta40201003x—10 E—HMateo (1), NJohnson 2 (12). DP—Washington 1. LOB—Washington 3, Atlanta 10. 2B—HMateo (1), Church (11), MGiles (27), Renteria (29), McCann (23), LaRoche 2 (30). 3B—Kearns (2). HR—CJones (20). SB—MGiles (9). S—Smoltz. SF—MarAnderson, Langerhans. IPHRERBBSO Washington Astacio L,3-42 2-386651 Schroder2 1-311012 RWagner100001 Gryboski223123 Atlanta Smoltz W,12-6831107 Wickman110002 PB—Fick. Balk—Astacio. Umpires—Home, Mike Muchlinski; First, James Hoye; Second, Brian Runge; Third, Mike Winters. T—2:46. A—38,610. Marlins 7, Brewers 2 MIAMI — Dontrelle Willis pitched seven innings to help Florida win its sixth straight game. Miguel Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez drove in two runs apiece to help Florida pull within four games of NL wild-card leader Cincinnati. Cabrera doubled home two runs in the first to tie the team record for RBIs in a month with 30. Mike Jacobs hit his 17th home run for the Marlins. Willis (9-10) limited Milwaukee to seven hits and two runs, giving him back-to-back victories for only the second time this season. Milwaukee's Doug Davis (9-8) allowed seven runs in 32/3 innings, hiking his road ERA to 6.46. MILWAUKEEFLORIDA abrhbiabrhbi BClark cf4120HaRmz ss4212 Cirillo 1b3021Uggla 2b3111 Grffnno 2b3110MiCbr 3b3112 BHall ss4010Wlnhm lf4000 Mench lf2001Herges p0000 Hllng p0000Mssngr p0000 Fildr ph1000Jacobs 1b3111 Gnzlz p0000Amzga cf0000 CHart rf4020CRoss cf3011 DaBell 3b4010Hrmida rf3210 Rivera c4000Tranor c3020 DDavis p1000Willis p2000 Turnbw p1000Helms 1b1000 Jenkins rf2000 Totals33292Totals29787 Milwaukee000101000—2 Florida31120000x—7 E—BClark (5), Hermida (8). DP—Florida 1. LOB—Milwaukee 7, Florida 6. 2B—BClark (12), CHart (5), HaRamirez (29), Uggla (23), MiCabrera (44), Hermida (19). 3B—BClark (2). HR—Jacobs (17). SB—Amezaga (12). CS—CHart (5). S—Willis. SF—Cirillo, Mench, HaRamirez. IPHRERBBSO Milwaukee DDavis L,9-83 2-387723 Turnbow1 1-300021 Helling200012 Gonzalez100001 Florida Willis W,9-10772217 Herges110001 Messenger110001 HBP—by Turnbow (MiCabrera). WP—Turnbow 2. Umpires—Home, Greg Gibson; First, Scott Barry; Second, Paul Nauert; Third, Larry Vanover. T—2:50. A—30,017. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.