PHILADELPHIA – Pedro Feliz hit a grand slam as the Philadelphia Phillies moved closer toward third straight National League East title with a 7-4 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday.
The defending World Series champions reduced their magic number for winning the division to one after Atlanta lost.
J.A. Happ (12-4) allowed four runs – three earned – and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings, striking out six.
Jayson Werth hit a two-run homer and Philadelphia’s injury-plagued bullpen tossed 3 1-3 scoreless innings. Jamie Moyer got four outs and Ryan Madson pitched the last two innings for his 10th save in 16 chances.
At Atlanta, Jorge Cantu hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning as Florida damaged Atlanta’s playoff hopes and snapped the Braves’ seven-game winning streak with a 5-4 win.
Cameron Maybin’s two-run homer gave the Marlins a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning but Matt Diaz hit a tying three-run drive in the sixth for the Braves.
Florida went ahead for good in the seventh. Chris Coghlan led off with a double and advanced on Maybin’s sacrifice. Hanley Ramirez was intentionally walked before Cantu’s hit off Kenshin Kawakami (7-12) gave the Marlins the lead.
Renyel Pinto (4-1) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings to earn his first win since June 30, a span of 40 appearances.
At Cincinnati, Jay Bruce homered twice and had a career-high five RBIs as Cincinnati downed St. Louis, 7-2.
The Cardinals, who wrapped up the NL Central title with a 6-3 win at Colorado on Saturday, have lost four of five. Joel Pineiro (15-12) allowed seven runs and eight hits in six innings to fall to 1-3 in his last four starts.
Albert Pujols, who entered with NL record-tying five grand slams this season, just missed another one when he hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth that center fielder Willy Taveras caught just short of the track.
David Freese hit his first career homer for St. Louis in the ninth.
At Washington, pinch-runner Justin Maxwell scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning thanks to two wild throws as Washington edged New York, 4-3.
With the score tied at 3, Mike Morse walked with one out against Nick Green (1-4) and Maxwell ran for him. Cristian Guzman grounded to short, but former Nationals infielder Anderson Hernandez’s throw to first was off target, allowing Guzman to reach.
At Chicago, Ryan Dempster pitched a five-hitter for his third career shutout and Jeff Baker had a two-run double as Chicago blanked Pittsburgh, 6-0.
Derrek Lee added a two-run single for the Cubs, who have won seven of nine games.
The Cubs (82-74) guaranteed a winning record for the third straight season. It’s only the second time in the last 70 years the Cubs have had three or more consecutive winning seasons.
Dempster (11-8) struck out six and walked two in his first shutout since July 3, 2001, against the Montreal Expos when he was with the Marlins. (AP)