By The Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - With the Montreal Expos on the verge of winning their fifth straight game at their new home, Gary Sheffield homered leading off the ninth inning and Marcus Giles hit another starting the 10th to give the Atlanta Braves a 2-1 victory Tuesday night.

Both drives came off Dan Smith (1-1), trying to close it out because Rocky Biddle was unavailable after pitching three days in a row against the Mets.

The Expos appeared ready for another island party. Tony Armas Jr. pitched seven shutout innings and Orlando Cabrera homered in the seventh inning, but Montreal, which had won five straight overall, dropped to 4-1 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, where it plays 22 home games this season.

Jung Keun Bong (1-0) pitched the ninth for his first major league win, and John Smoltz finished for his fourth save.

Shane Reynolds, cut loose by Houston in spring training, allowed five hits, struck out three and walked none, throwing 47 of 72 pitches for strikes in his first start since last June 8.

Mets 3, Pirates 1

PITTSBURGH - Tom Glavine's third consecutive strong start and Jeromy Burnitz's two-run homer led New York past Pittsburgh, ending their six-game losing streak.

Struggling closer Armando Benitez, who blew three leads in the last nine days, worked a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.

Glavine (2-1) limited the Pirates to three singles over 6 1-3 innings, striking out five and walking three. Glavine, improving to 19-12 against Pittsburgh, even struck out Jason Kendall - the first time he's done that in 28 at-bats.

Burnitz was 3-for-4 with a pair of singles off Josh Fogg (1-2) as the Mets bounced back after being outscored 22-8 during Montreal's four-game weekend sweep in Puerto Rico.

Phillies 4, Marlins 3

PHILADELPHIA - Jimmy Rollins hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning, leading Philadelphia over Florida.

David Bell and Jim Thome preserved the victory with a stellar defensive play. With two outs and runners on second and third in the ninth, Alex Gonzalez hit a smash to third that Bell backhanded. He one-hopped his throw to first, but Thome made a sensational pickup to end it.

The Phillies have won four straight and six of eight, while Florida has lost three in a row after winning four straight.

The benches emptied in the seventh after Marlins starter Josh Beckett (1-2) hit Placido Polanco on the right hand with a 2-1 fastball that followed Rollins' homer. No punches were thrown, and Polanco stayed in until the inning ended. He left with a bruised right ring finger.

Carlos Silva (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win.

Brewers 6, Cardinals 1

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Brewers won their first home game under manager Ned Yost, defeating St. Louis behind eight sharp innings from ace Ben Sheets.

Sheets (1-2) allowed one run on six hits, walked three and struck out six. He held the Cardinals' top four batters hitless in 14 at-bats with two walks.

The right-hander got ample support from his teammates, who scored six runs on nine hits in four-plus innings against Cardinals starter Garrett Stephenson (1-1).

Both Royce Clayton and Richie Sexson hit their fourth homers as the Brewers snapped a seven-game home losing streak, including their final three games at Miller Park last season.

Giants 8, Astros 4

SAN FRANCISCO - Marquis Grissom doubled twice and scored two runs San Francisco Giants won for the 13th time in 14 games.

The Giants capitalized on Orlando Merced's error in right field during a five-run second inning. San Francisco won its sixth straight and improved to 7-1 on a nine-game homestand.

While former teammate Jeff Kent went 0-for-4, the Giants improved their best start since moving to California - and the best start in franchise history since 1918, when the New York Giants went 18-1.

Grissom and Rich Aurilia had run-scoring doubles in the second, which was extended when Merced failed to make a running catch in right. The Giants got two more runs on a wild pitch by Jeriome Robertson (1-2) and catcher Gregg Zaun's subsequent throwing error.

Rookie Kurt Ainsworth (3-0) allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings, striking out four in just his seventh major league start. Felix Rodriguez got the final five outs for his first save.

Rockies 12, Diamondbacks 1

PHOENIX - Shawn Chacon allowed four hits over seven-plus innings and hit his first major league home run as Colorado improved to 5-0 against the reeling Diamondbacks this season.

Chacon (2-0) beat Arizona for the second time this season. He allowed one unearned run, struck out two, walked two and hit two batters - one of them leading to the ejection of the Diamondbacks' Danny Bautista in the third inning.

Bautista was tossed by home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth after making a threatening gesture to Chacon with a bat. The gesture came after Chacon hit Bautista in the back with a pitch in the third.

Bautista exchanged words with the Colorado pitcher as he walked toward first, then raised the bat like a club in one hand. Culbreth grabbed the bat as he motioned Bautista out of the game. Both dugouts and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown.

The Rockies' 9-5 start is their best since they went 10-4 in 1997. The two-time defending NL West champion Diamondbacks fell to 3-11, the worst record in the National League and second-worst in baseball, behind only Detroit's 1-11.

Padres 3, Dodgers 2

LOS ANGELES - Jake Peavy pitched shutout ball over the first six innings, and Rondell White homered for the fourth time in six games for San Diego.

Peavy (3-0) was charged with a run and five hits over six-plus innings, striking out three and walking one. The right-hander fanned a career-high 11 Dodgers in his season debut April 3.

Hideo Nomo (1-3) allowed three runs, nine hits and six walks in 5 2-3 innings. The 34-year-old right-hander, bidding for his 100th major league victory, has lost three straight after going 15-1 over his previous 27 starts - including an 8-0 complete-game victory at Arizona on opening day.

White, who went hitless in his first 14 at-bats this season, extended his hitting streak to 10 games with one out in the fourth when he drove a 1-2 pitch into the left field pavilion to open the scoring. The Padres made it 2-0 in the fifth on one-out singles by Mark Loretta, Mark Kotsay and Ryan Klesko.