Braves top Giants; Bonds has cool Atlanta welcome

Bobby Cox set a dubious record. Barry Bonds was in Hank Aaron's home city for the first time since breaking the Hammer's record. And, oh yeah, the Atlanta Braves pulled out a 5-4 victory Tuesday night over the visiting San Francisco Giants.

Chipper Jones doubled home the winning run in the ninth inning after Bob Wickman blew a save in the top half, though Cox wasn't around to see the thrilling finish.

Atlanta's cantankerous manager was tossed after the fifth for arguing a called third strike on Jones -- the 132nd ejection of his career to break the mark originally set by Hall of Famer John McGraw.

Steve Kline (1-1) walked Willie Harris leading off the Atlanta ninth, and Kelly Johnson reached on a throwing error by Kline while bunting the runner along. Randy Messenger came on to give up Jones' game-winning hit, which split the gap in left-center.

The Braves gave tepid recognition to Bonds for breaking Aaron's home run record last week, replaying a taped tribute from the Hammer that was initially shown on the video board in San Francisco after No. 756 last week.

Aaron, a senior vice president of the Braves, wasn't at the game. The team said he left Tuesday on a trip and wouldn't return until after the three-game series.

Bonds went 0-for-1 with 2 walks. He was replaced by Rajai Davis after grounding out in the fifth.

Cox was tossed by plate umpire Ted Barrett after Jones struck out to end the fifth with runners at second and third and the Braves trailing 3-0.

Cox already held the record for most ejections by a manager, since McGraw was thrown out 14 times as a player, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. The major leagues does not recognize ejections as an official statistic.

Wickman (3-2) couldn't hold the lead, costing John Smoltz his 11th win. Pinch hitter Daniel Ortmeier tripled with one out and wound up scoring on Dave Roberts' bases-loaded groundout. The Giants reloaded the bases, but Wickman struck out Ryan Klesko.

The Braves closer had been 9-for-9 in save chances at home, going 19¿ innings without allowing an earned run.

Marlins 14, D'backs 5: Dontrelle Willis earned his first win since May 29, striking out 11 in 7 innings. and Florida's bats do the rest in a victory over VISITING Arizona.

Willis (8-12) had gone 0-7 over his past 13 starts. His teammates came to the rescue, building a 14-1 lead by the time he took the mound in the fifth inning.

Byung-Hyun Kim (6-6) lasted only 17 pitches in his second start for the Diamondbacks since they claimed him off waivers from Florida. He retired one batter and gave up 4 runs, 3 earned, hiking his ERA with Arizona to 23.62.

Mets 5, Pirates 4: Moises Alou's 2-run single in the eighth inning put New York ahead, and the Mets finally figured out how to win in Pittsburgh.

Carlos Beltran, who doubled to set up the 2-run eighth, hit a solo homer and drove in 2 runs as the Mets won in PNC Park for only the second time in nine games. The Mets were swept by the last-place Pirates in a three-game series last September when they needed to win only once to clinch the NL East.

With the scored at 3-3, David Wright singled and Beltran doubled against reliever Salomon Torres (1-4), who faced only the two batters. Damaso Marte came on to walk Carlos Delgado to load the bases, and Alou, who stranded two runners in his previous at-bat, hit a single to center against Shawn Chacon that made it 5-3.

Jorge Sosa (9-6) got the win and Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 29 opportunities.

Phillies 3, Nationals 2: Russell Branyan's pinch-hit, 2-run homer keyed an eighth-inning rally and visiting Philadelphia beat Washington to remain 3 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.

Trailing 2-0 entering the eighth, Jayson Werth hit a one-out grounder to third which Ryan Zimmerman threw away for a two-base error. Carlos Ruiz followed with a single off Jon Rauch (8-3) to score Werth. Branyan, in his first at-bat with the Phillies after being acquired on Aug. 9 from Cleveland, lined a 1-0 pitch into the mezzanine in right field for his eighth home run of the year.

American League

Tigers 6, Indians 2 (10): Magglio Ordonez hit a 3-run homer in visiting Detroit's 4-run 10th inning, and the Tigers moved1 game ahead of Cleveland in the up-for-grabs AL Central by beating the Indians.

Ordonez's 22nd homer, a shot to left off Joe Borowski (2-5), broke it open for the Tigers, who were missing two regulars because of the flu and had been playing lately as if their whole roster had come down with something.

Fernando Rodney (2-5) struck the side in the ninth after allowing a leadoff double, and Todd Jones worked the 10th.

Red Sox 2, Devil Rays 1: Coco Crisp singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, three batters after Mike Lowell had tied the game with a homer, and host Boston beat Tampa Bay.

Eric Gagne (3-0) struggled in his two previous outings but he struck out the side in the ninth for his first win since being traded by Texas on July 31.

The dramatic rally finished a game dominated by strong performances by two 23-year-old left-handers, Jon Lester and Scott Kazmir.

Lowell's 16th homer of the season, on a 2-0 pitch from Al Reyes (1-2) with one out, saved Lester from his first loss in 8 starts and deprived Kazmir of his 10th win. After Reyes struck out Kevin Youkilis for the second out, Jason Varitek hit a ground rule double to right, then raced home on Crisp's sharp single to right.

Orioles 12, Yankees 0: Aubrey Huff hit a grand slam, Daniel Cabrera pitched 2-hit ball into the seventh inning, and visiting Baltimore cooled off New York.

Kevin Millar homered and reached base five times for the Orioles, who improved to 17-13 since the all-star break. Huff finished with 5 RBI, Melvin Mora went 3-for-4 and Jay Payton drove in two runs.

Hideki Matsui's fourth-inning single and Alex Rodriguez's infield hit in the sixth was all the Yankees could manage against Cabrera (9-12), who struck out five and tied a season high with 6 walks in 6¿ innings.

Blue Jays 4, Angels 1: Roy Halladay pitched his major-league-leading fifth complete game, and host Toronto took advantage of 4 errors to beat Los Angeles.

Halladay (14-5) won his third straight start and improved to 10-1 with a 3.36 ERA at home this season. He allowed 1 run and 5 hits, walked none and struck out two.