NATIONALS 1, METS 0

NEW YORK - Willie Harris' diving catch in the ninth inning saved Washington, and the slick-fielding Nationals beat the New York Mets, 1-0, yesterday behind the pitching of Jason Bergmann.

Washington won an unlikely duel between Bergmann and Mike Pelfrey, who carried a no-hit bid into the seventh. Harris' bunt set up Felipe Lopez's sacrifice fly in the eighth, helping the Nationals take three of four at Shea Stadium.

The Mets put a runner on third with one out in the ninth, but first baseman Aaron Boone snared Carlos Delgado's low liner and threw across the diamond to double off Carlos Beltran.

Beltran opened the inning with a single, and Ryan Church hit a high fly down the left-field line that looked like trouble right off the bat. But the speedy Harris, who stayed in the game after batting for Bergmann in the eighth, sprinted a long way and laid out for a highlight-reel catch.

Beltran then stole second and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Jesus Flores before Delgado lined into the game-ending double play.

Pelfrey (2-4) allowed one run and three hits in 72/3 winnings, the longest outing of his career.

But he was outdone by Bergmann (1-1), recalled from triple-A Columbus before the game. He had made two previous starts for the Nationals this season, the most recent on April 9, and came in with a 10.45 ERA.

Bergmann pitched seven sharp innings, giving up three hits and striking out nine, one shy of his career high. He didn't allow a runner past second.

New York 000 000 000–0 5 0

Washington AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      New York AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

FLopez 2b 2   0   0   1   .269      JReyes ss 4   0   1   0   .258   

CGuzman ss 4   0   1   0   .295      LCastillo 2b 2   0   2   0   .259   

Zimmerman 3b 4   0   0   0   .234      DWright 3b 4   0   0   0   .268   

Boone 1b 4   0   2   0   .327      Beltran cf 4   0   1   0   .246   

Milledge cf 4   0   0   0   .238      Church rf 3   0   0   0   .310   

Kearns rf 3   0   0   0   .192      Delgado 1b 4   0   0   0   .222   

Mackowiak lf 3   0   0   0   .176      RCastro c 3   0   0   0   .000   

Ayala p 0   0   0   0   ---      MAnderson lf 3   0   1   0   .243   

b-Belliard ph 0   0   0   0   .194      Pelfrey p 3   0   0   0   .000   

Rauch p 0   0   0   0   .000      Wise p 0   0   0   0   ---   

Flores c 2   1   1   0   .360      Totals 30   0   5   0      

Bergmann p 2   0   0   0   .000                     

a-WHarris ph-lf 0   0   0   0   .191                     

Totals 28   1   4   1                        

a-sacrificed for Bergmann in the 8th. b-walked for Ayala in the 9th. E: Kearns (2), Flores (1). LOB: Washington 7, New York 6. 2B: Flores (5). RBIs: FLopez (15). SB: CGuzman (2), Beltran (4), MAnderson (2). CS: Boone (1). S: WHarris, LCastillo. SF: FLopez. RLSP: Washington 3 (CGuzman, Zimmerman, Flores); New York 2 (DWright, Beltran). RA: Milledge, Kearns. DP: Washington 2 (Zimmerman, Boone and CGuzman), (Boone and Zimmerman).

Washington walks (4): FLopez, Belliard, Flores 2.

New York walks (2): LCastillo, Church.

Washington strikeouts (6): Zimmerman 2, Boone, Kearns, Flores, Bergmann.

New York strikeouts (9): JReyes, Church, Delgado 2, RCastro, MAnderson, Pelfrey 3.

Washington IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Bergmann(W) 7   3   0   0   2   9   103   7.45   

Ayala(H) 1   1   0   0   0   0   9   5.63   

Rauch(S) 1   1   0   0   0   0   11   2.61   

New York IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Pelfrey(L) 72/3   3   1   1   3   4   100   4.17   

Wise 11/3   1   0   0   1   2   25   5.40   

W: Bergmann, 1-1. L: Pelfrey, 2-4. S: Rauch, 9. H: Ayala, 11.

IR-S: Wise 1-0. HBP: by Pelfrey (Kearns). Umpires: Home, Lance Barksdale; First, Doug Eddings; Second, Ted Barrett; Third, Dana DeMuth. 

T: 2:22. A: 51,769 (57,365).

MILWAUKEE - Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent and Gary Bennett homered during a six-run seventh inning, leading Chad Billingsley and Los Angeles over Milwaukee.

Milwaukee 000 000 020–2 6 0

Los Angeles AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Milwaukee AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Pierre lf 5   0   2   0   .298      Weeks 2b 2   0   0   0   .187   

AJones cf 4   1   1   1   .182      Hardy ss 4   0   0   0   .246   

Ethier rf 5   0   1   0   .297      Braun lf 4   1   1   1   .286   

Kent 2b 3   1   1   1   .244      Fielder 1b 2   0   1   0   .255   

Hu ss 1   0   0   0   .200      Hart rf 3   0   0   0   .302   

Loney 1b 3   1   1   0   .285      McClung p 0   0   0   0   .000   

Martin 3b 4   1   2   1   .308      a-Counsell ph 1   0   0   0   .235   

Maza ss-2b 3   2   1   0   .333      Stetter p 0   0   0   0   ---   

GBennett c 4   1   2   4   .211      Shouse p 0   0   0   0   ---   

Billingsley p 3   0   0   0   .071      Dillon 3b 4   0   1   0   .250   

Broxton p 0   0   0   0   ---      Gwynn cf 4   0   0   0   .250   

b-Kemp ph 0   0   0   0   .309      Sheets p 2   0   1   0   .111   

Wade p 0   0   0   0   ---      Kapler rf 2   0   1   0   .284   

Totals 35   7   11   7         Kendall c 4   1   1   0   .283   

                  Totals 32   2   6   1      

a-grounded out for McClung in the 8th. b-walked for Broxton in the 9th. E: Maza (1). LOB: Los Angeles 5, Milwaukee 7. 2B: GBennett (1). 3B: Loney (3), Kendall (1). HR: Braun (10), off Broxton; GBennett (1), off Sheets; Kent (4), off Sheets; AJones (2), off Sheets. RBIs: AJones (7), Kent (20), Martin (16), GBennett 4 (4), Braun (30). GIDP: Ethier, Maza, Hardy, Kapler. RLSP: Los Angeles 2 (Kent, Martin); Milwaukee 2 (Hart, Kendall). RA: AJones, Braun. DP: Los Angeles 2 (Hu, Maza and Loney), (Martin, Maza and Loney); Milwaukee 2 (Weeks, Hardy and Fielder), (Weeks, Hardy and Fielder).

Los Angeles walks (4): AJones, Loney, Maza, Kemp.

Milwaukee walks (4): Weeks 2, Fielder 2.

Los Angeles strikeouts (9): Pierre, Ethier 2, Hu, Loney, Martin, Billingsley 3.

Milwaukee strikeouts (5): Weeks 2, Hardy, Braun, Dillon.

Los Angeles IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Billingsley(W) 7   3   1   1   4   5   105   4.34   

Broxton 1   2   1   1   0   0   24   5.29   

Wade 1   1   0   0   0   0   15   1.69   

Milwaukee IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Sheets(L) 61/3   9   6   6   0   5   89   3.25   

McClung 12/3   1   0   0   1   3   41   3.63   

Stetter 1/3   1   1   1   3   1   26   3.09   

Shouse 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   4   2.77   

W: Billingsley, 3-5. L: Sheets, 4-1. .

Billingsley pitched to 2 batters in the 8th. IR-S: Broxton 2-1, Shouse 3-0. IBB: off Billingsley (Fielder) 1. Umpires: Home, Ed Hickox; First, C.B. Bucknor; Second, Joe West; Third, James Hoye.

T: 3:03. A: 30,444 (41,900).

CUBS 4, PADRES 0

CHICAGO - Ryan Dempster struck out a career-high 12 and hit a go-ahead single against Greg Maddux during a four-run fifth inning, leading Chicago over punchless San Diego.

Jim Edmonds singled in his debut with the Cubs, who won three of four from the team with the worst record in the major leagues (15-27). NL Central-leading Chicago has won six of seven overall.

San Diego batters struck out 14 times in all, a day after whiffing 15 times against Ted Lilly and the Cubs' bullpen. It was the most strikeouts in a span of two nine-inning games since Texas batters had 30 last Aug. 19 and 21, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Chicago 000 040 00x–4 13 0

San Diego AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Chicago AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Gerut cf 3   0   1   0   .207      ASoriano lf 5   1   2   0   .257   

Iguchi 2b 4   0   0   0   .253      Theriot ss 3   0   0   1   .329   

Giles rf 4   0   3   0   .272      DLee 1b 4   0   2   2   .310   

AdGonzalez 1b 4   0   0   0   .283      ArRamirez 3b 4   0   3   0   .294   

Kouzmanoff 3b 4   0   1   0   .272      Fukudome rf 2   0   1   0   .324   

Greene ss 4   0   0   0   .208      Edmonds cf 4   0   1   0   .181   

McAnulty lf 2   0   0   0   .211      Cedeno 2b 3   1   2   0   .350   

Henn p 0   0   0   0   ---      HBlanco c 4   1   1   0   .320   

a-TClark ph 1   0   1   0   .267      Dempster p 3   1   1   1   .167   

Germano p 0   0   0   0   .375      KWood p 0   0   0   0   ---   

b-Bard ph 1   0   0   0   .214      Totals 32   4   13   4      

Carlin c 3   0   0   0   .167                     

Maddux p 1   0   0   0   .067                     

Hairston lf 2   0   0   0   .225                     

Totals 33   0   6   0                        

a-singled for Henn in the 8th. b-struck out for Germano in the 9th. LOB: San Diego 7, Chicago 9. 2B: Giles (10), DLee (11), ArRamirez (12). RBIs: Theriot (11), DLee 2 (29), Dempster (1). S: Dempster. SF: Theriot. GIDP: Theriot, Edmonds. RLSP: San Diego 4 (Iguchi, Greene, Bard 2); Chicago 5 (ASoriano, Edmonds, Cedeno 2, HBlanco). RA: AdGonzalez, Fukudome. DP: San Diego 2 (Greene, Iguchi and AdGonzalez), (Greene, Iguchi and AdGonzalez).

San Diego walks (1): Gerut.

Chicago walks (3): Fukudome 2, Cedeno.

San Diego strikeouts (14): Iguchi 2, Giles, AdGonzalez 3, Kouzmanoff, Greene 2, Bard, Carlin 3, Hairston.

Chicago strikeouts (5): ASoriano 2, Theriot 2, Edmonds.

San Diego IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Maddux(L) 41/3   11   4   4   0   1   62   3.98   

Henn 22/3   2   0   0   3   3   45   10.38   

Germano 1   0   0   0   0   1   14   5.49   

Chicago IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Dempster(W) 81/3   6   0   0   1   12   115   2.35   

KWood(S) 2/3   0   0   0   0   2   11   3.92   

W: Dempster, 5-1. L: Maddux, 3-4. S: KWood, 8.

IR-S: Henn 1-0, KWood 2-0. IBB: off Henn (Fukudome) 1. Umpires: Home, Brian Knight; First, Marvin Hudson; Second, Tom Hallion; Third, Hunter Wendelstedt.

T: 2:20. A: 40,629 (41,160).

PIRATES 11, CARDINALS 5

ST. LOUIS - Pinch-hitter Jason Bay's three-run homer off Jason Isringhausen snapped an eighth-inning tie and capped Pittsburgh's rally from an early four-run deficit in a victory over St. Louis.

Nate McLouth added his 11th homer for the Pirates, who outscored the sagging Cardinals, 10-0, the last five innings to take two of three in the series. The finale was played in 56-degree chill accompanied by steady rain throughout the comeback, with nearly 10,000 no-shows in the paid attendance of 41,244.

St. Louis 101 300 000–5 14 1

Pittsburgh AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      St. Louis AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

FSanchez 2b 6   0   1   2   .250      Schumaker rf 5   1   1   0   .286   

McLouth cf 3   1   1   1   .304      CDuncan lf 5   2   2   2   .258   

Michaels lf 5   0   1   2   .286      Pujols 1b 5   0   2   0   .357   

AdLaRoche 1b 4   0   0   0   .197      Ankiel cf 4   1   1   1   .293   

Nady rf 5   0   0   0   .320      Glaus 3b 4   0   3   1   .264   

Mientkiewicz 3b 3   3   3   0   .237      YMolina c 3   0   2   1   .302   

RPaulino c 5   2   2   0   .224      AKennedy 2b 5   0   1   0   .283   

ChGomez ss 5   3   3   1   .288      Pineiro p 2   0   0   0   .063   

Snell p 1   0   0   0   .067      b-BBarton ph 1   0   0   0   .262   

a-Rivas ph 1   0   0   0   .226      McClellan p 0   0   0   0   .000   

Osoria p 0   0   0   0   .500      Flores p 0   0   0   0   ---   

c-JBautista ph 1   0   0   0   .228      d-Miles ph 1   0   0   0   .284   

SBurnett p 0   0   0   0   ---      Isringhausen p 0   0   0   0   ---   

Grabow p 0   0   0   0   ---      Villone p 0   0   0   0   .000   

e-Bay ph 1   1   1   3   .268      g-Ludwick ph 1   0   0   0   .330   

DMarte p 0   0   0   0   ---      BRyan ss 5   1   2   0   .302   

f-Chavez ph 1   1   1   1   1000      Totals 41   5   14   5      

Capps p 0   0   0   0   ---                     

Totals 41   11   13   10                        

a-struck out for Snell in the 5th. b-struck out for Pineiro in the 5th. c-struck out for Osoria in the 6th. d-flied out for Ra.Flores in the 7th. e-homered for Grabow in the 8th. f-doubled for Marte in the 9th. g-popped out for Villone in the 9th. E: Isringhausen (1). LOB: Pittsburgh 9, St. Louis 13. 2B: Mientkiewicz (5), Chavez (1), CDuncan (4). HR: Bay (8), off Isringhausen; McLouth (11), off Pineiro. RBIs: FSanchez 2 (21), McLouth (33), Michaels 2 (2), ChGomez (10), Bay 3 (17), Chavez (1), CDuncan 2 (11), Ankiel (21), Glaus (26), YMolina (14). SB: McLouth (4), BRyan (2). SF: Ankiel. RLSP: Pittsburgh 5 (AdLaRoche, Nady, ChGomez, JBautista 2); St. Louis 7 (Pujols, AKennedy 3, Pineiro, BRyan 2). RA: Ankiel, AKennedy.

Pittsburgh walks (6): McLouth 3, AdLaRoche, Mientkiewicz 2.

St Louis walks (3): Glaus, YMolina 2.

Pittsburgh strikeouts (6): Michaels, AdLaRoche 2, RPaulino, Rivas, JBautista.

St Louis strikeouts (6): CDuncan, Pujols, AKennedy, Pineiro, BBarton, BRyan.

Pittsburgh IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Snell 4   11   5   5   1   2   81   5.05   

Osoria 1   0   0   0   0   1   11   5.40   

SBurnett 11/3   0   0   0   2   2   27   4.50   

Grabow(W) 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   3   1.45   

DMarte(H) 1   1   0   0   0   0   12   4.35   

Capps 1   2   0   0   0   1   19   2.41   

St. Louis IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Pineiro 5   6   4   4   1   2   70   4.46   

McClellan(H) 11/3   1   0   0   1   2   26   2.61   

Flores(H) 2/3   0   0   0   2   1   20   1.64   

Isringhausen(L)(BS) 1/3   2   4   3   2   0   20   8.00   

Villone 12/3   4   3   3   0   1   34   4.76   

W: Grabow, 3-1. L: Isringhausen, 1-5. H: Flores, 7. H: McClellan, 13. H: DMarte, 8. BS: Isringhausen, 6.

IR-S: Grabow 2-0, Villone 1-0. WP: Snell, McClellan, Flores, Villone. Umpires: Home, Marty Foster; First, Angel Campos; Second, Angel Hernandez; Third, Eric Cooper.

T: 3:32. A: 41,244 (43,975).

ASTROS 8, GIANTS 7

SAN FRANCISCO - Lance Berkman splashed his major-league-leading 15th home run into McCovey Cove, breaking a ninth-inning tie and helping Houston rally past San Francisco. The Astros came back from a 6-0 deficit to take three of four from the Giants.

San Francisco 204 100 000–7 12 0

Houston AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      San Fran. AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Bourn cf 5   0   0   0   .181      FLewis lf 4   1   1   0   .286   

KMatsui 2b 4   1   3   0   .283      e-BMolina ph 1   0   0   0   .275   

Pence rf 4   1   1   0   .286      Ortmeier lf 0   0   0   0   .292   

Berkman 1b 4   2   2   3   .391      Vizquel ss 5   3   3   0   .444   

CaLee lf 5   1   3   1   .289      Winn rf 5   2   3   1   .294   

Blum 3b 5   1   0   0   .205      Rowand cf 5   1   2   2   .333   

Loretta ss 5   1   3   1   .233      Bowker 1b 4   0   1   3   .281   

Valverde p 0   0   0   0   .000      Aurilia 3b 4   0   1   0   .245   

Towles c 3   0   0   0   .151      Chulk p 0   0   0   0   ---   

b-Erstad ph 1   1   1   3   .304      Holm c 4   0   0   0   .275   

Geary p 0   0   0   0   .000      Burriss 2b 3   0   0   0   .250   

Byrdak p 0   0   0   0   .333      d-Durhm ph-2b 1   0   1   0   .273   

f-Tejada ph-ss 1   0   0   0   .343      Lincecum p 3   0   0   0   .235   

Sampson p 2   0   0   0   .067      Taschner p 0   0   0   0   ---   

a-Cruz Jr. ph 1   0   0   0   .122      TWalker p 0   0   0   0   ---   

Borkowski p 0   0   0   0   ---      Hinshaw p 0   0   0   0   ---   

c-Ausmus ph-c 1   0   0   0   .235      JCastillo 3b 0   0   0   0   .257   

Totals 41   8   13   8         Totals 39   7   12   6      

a-flied out for Sampson in the 7th. b-homered for Towles in the 8th. c-walked for Borkowski in the 8th. d-singled for Burriss in the 8th. e-flied out for Lewis in the 8th. f-flied out for Byrdak in the 9th. E: Loretta 2 (2). LOB: Houston 10, San Francisco 7. 2B: KMatsui (8), Pence (10), Winn 2 (11), Bowker (3). HR: Berkman (15), off Chulk; Erstad (1), off TWalker; CaLee (9), off TWalker. RBIs: Berkman 3 (43), CaLee (29), Loretta (10), Erstad 3 (9), Winn (14), Rowand 2 (20), Bowker 3 (15). SB: KMatsui (8), Berkman (7), CaLee (2). SF: Bowker. RLSP: Houston 6 (Pence 2, Berkman, Loretta, Towles, Ausmus); San Francisco 5 (Vizquel, Bowker, Burriss, Lincecum). RA: Blum, Aurilia, Holm, Burriss. DP: Houston 1 (Berkman).

Houston walks (4): KMatsui, Pence, Berkman, Ausmus.

San Francisco walks (1): JCastillo.

Houston strikeouts (13): Bourn 2, Pence, Berkman, CaLee 2, Blum, Loretta, Towles 3, Sampson, Ausmus.

San Francisco strikeouts (5): Vizquel, Rowand, Bowker, Holm, Burriss.

Houston IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Sampson 6   10   7   5   0   3   92   6.46   

Borkowski 1   1   0   0   0   0   8   4.41   

Geary 1/3   1   0   0   1   0   9   1.47   

Byrdak(W) 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   12   0.00   

Valverde(S) 1   0   0   0   0   2   15   4.15   

San Francisco IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Lincecum 6   5   3   3   3   10   105   1.92   

Taschner 2/3   1   0   0   0   0   12   4.11   

TWalker 2/3   3   4   4   1   1   28   5.82   

Hinshaw 1/3   1   0   0   0   1   10   0.00   

Chulk(L) 11/3   3   1   1   0   1   32   2.81   

W: Byrdak, 2-0. L: Chulk, 0-2. S: Valverde, 11.

IR-S: Byrdak 2-0, Chulk 2-0, TWalker 1-0, Hinshaw 1-0. WP: Lincecum 2, TWalker. Umpires: Home, Bruce Dreckman; First, Scott Barry; Second, Sam Holbrook; Third, Gerry Davis.

T: 3:24. A: 33,771 (41,907).