NL Wrap: Padres Edge Giants, Astros Soar to Wild-Card Lead
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Mark Loretta hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th to lift the San Diego Padres a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants in National League action on Wednesday.
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Jeff Bagwell hit a two-run homer and the Houston Astros overcame a sloppy start, remaining atop the NL wild-card standings with a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.
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Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman sparked a testy 10-3 victory Sunday over the Chicago Cubs, and Houston took three of four at Wrigley Field to move within four games of Chicago and San Diego for the NL wild-card lead.
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Barry Bonds hit his 699th home run, and the San Francisco Giants regained the NL wild-card lead with a 5-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.
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Pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and the San Francisco Giants took over the NL wild-card lead with their fifth straight victory, 8-5 over the Montreal Expos on Monday night.
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The Houston Astros capped a remarkable  late-season turnaround by capturing the National League wild  card playoff berth on Sunday with a 5-3 win over the Colorado  Rockies.
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The San Diego Padres got the ball to Trevor Hoffman, and baseball's career saves leader did the rest. Chris Young shut down the Cardinals' offense for 6 2-3 innings, Russell Branyan's two-run double gave the NL West champions their first lead of the series and the Padres beat St. Louis 3-1 on Saturday, pulling to 2-1 in their NL playoff.
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SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants continue to battle for a berth in the National League playoffs when the teams conclude a three-game series at PETCO Park on Thursday.
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Roger Clemens won his 327th career game with seven strong innings, and the Houston Astros kept pace in the NL wild-card race by holding on for a 7-5 victory over the St.
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The Giants batted around to score six runs in the fourth and held on for a 7-5 win over the Padres on Tuesday in front of 35,529 to open the three-game series.
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Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants can reach the playoffs two ways. They certainly boosted both chances Tuesday night. Brett Tomko won his sixth consecutive decision and San Francisco beat the visiting Houston Astros 9-2 to maintain their wild-card lead and move within 1 1/2 games of first-place Los Angeles in the NL West.
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The San Diego Padres swept back to   the top of the National League West on Tuesday with a 5-2 win   over the Arizona Diamondbacks at PETCO Park.
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The Houston Astros used a Jeff Bagwell home run and a gutsy pitching effort by its bullpen to beat the Colorado Rockies 4-2 Friday and hold on to its lead in the National League wild card race.
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Brad Hawpe drove in two runs and the Colorado Rockies matched a season-high with their seventh straight win, closing on the wild card-leading San Diego Padres with a 6-2 victory Saturday night.
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Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer off Dustin Hermanson in the ninth inning, and the Houston Astros rallied from a late three-run deficit for a 7-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.
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David Wells pitched well in his return to his hometown, Josh Bard hit a bases-loaded single in the eighth to bring in the go-ahead run, and the San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1, yesterday to retain the National League wild-card lead.
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HOUSTON - The Houston Astros took over the lead in the National League wild card race Wednesday night as they beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 while the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs both lost extra-inning games...