Burnett Is Too Tough for Giants

The strikeouts, the shutouts and the complete games are starting to pile up for A.J. Burnett. So are the wins.

Burnett pitched a three-hitter for his major league-leading fifth shutout as the Florida Marlins beat San Francisco, 3-0, Sunday at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, handing the Giants their fourth consecutive loss.

Burnett helped the Marlins to their fourth consecutive victory and knocked the Giants another game back in the NL wild-card race. They are four games behind the Dodgers.

“I’m getting pretty confident out there with myself and being able to throw that pill where I want to,” Burnett said. “I don’t get caught up in all the other stuff around me. You’ve got to do your job, and five days later, do your job again.”

Burnett (12-9) struck out nine, walked two and set a career high for wins. He also tied Montreal’s Bartolo Colon with seven complete games, most in the majors.

The hard-throwing right-hander retired 12 of his final 13 batters, yielding only a walk to Barry Bonds in the seventh inning.

Burnett is third in the league in innings pitched (191) and strikeouts (183), trailing only Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling of Arizona.

Chicago 3, Arizona 2--Joe Girardi hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cubs the victory despite losing right fielder Sammy Sosa in an outfield collision. The loss ended Arizona’s eight-game winning streak.

Alex Gonzalez led off the ninth with a single off Matt Mantei (2-2) and stole second. After missing a bunt, Girardi singled to center.

Sosa and second baseman Mark Bellhorn collided when chasing a fly ball hit by Damian Miller in the sixth inning. Sosa held up at the last second, trying to avoid the collision.

The ball nicked Bellhorn’s glove in fair territory as of their shoulders collided. Sosa and Bellhorn were down for several minutes, while Miller scored on an inside-the-park home run, giving Arizona a 2-1 lead in the sixth.

Sosa and Bellhorn remained in the game for the rest of the inning before being removed with headaches.

Montreal 9, San Diego 2--A crowd of 24,872 on Vladimir Guerrero bobblehead day raised the Expos’ attendance through 63 home games to 653,203, surpassing their total of 642,748 for the 2001 season.

They watched Jose Vidro hit two homers and Jose Macias hit a three-run shot to lead the Expos.

The fourth-largest crowd of the season at Olympic Stadium saw Guerrero, who sat out Saturday’s game because of a strained left shoulder, make a shoestring catch in right-center to end the game.

St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 1--Edgar Renteria hit his first grand slam, leading Matt Morris and the Cardinals before a sellout crowd of 58,493 at Veterans Stadium.

The Phillies honored Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas and fans got dual bobblehead dolls featuring the popular announcer and Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn.

The crowd did not get another chance to boo former Phillie star Scott Rolen. The third baseman, traded to the Cardinals on July 29, did not play because of a sore left shoulder.

Cincinnati 2, Houston 1--Sean Casey hit a one-out homer in the bottom of the 10th inning, the fourth time this season that the Reds have ended a game with a home run.

Austin Kearns hit a solo homer in the second inning and the Astros’ Jeff Bagwell matched it in the seventh in a game dominated by pitching.

Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 2--Adam Hyzdu homered and drove in two runs and Mike Williams set a team record with his 35th save, preserving the Pirates’ win at Pittsburgh.

Williams pitched a perfect ninth inning to break the club mark of 34 saves set by Jim Gott in 1988. Williams has blown only two chances this season.