ATLANTA — Bobby Cox wants to make sure the attention being paid to his final regular-season games as Atlanta’s manager takes a back seat to the Braves’ pursuit of their first playoff berth since 2005.
Cox deflected questions about his retirement after the Braves beat the Florida Marlins 5-1 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep behind Derek Lowe’s fifth victory of the month and Brooks Conrad’s three-run home run.
Atlanta moved two games ahead of San Diego in the NL wild-card race. The Padres hosted Chicago on Wednesday night.
The 69-year-old Cox announced his retirement plans one year ago. The Braves will honor Cox on Saturday. His focus is on the wild-card race.
“These games are so important I’m going to put that on the back burner,” Cox said when asked about Saturday’s ceremony.
Atlanta reached 90 victories for the 15th time in 25 years under Cox. The Braves won 14 division titles in a row under Cox but have missed out on the playoffs for four consecutive seasons.
Atlanta closes at home against NL East champion Philadelphia with a threegame series starting Friday night.
“We win two more games, I don’t care what the Padres do,” Braves closer Billy Wagner said. “We win two more games, we’re going to the playoffs, and that’s what we’ve fought for.”
Added Lowe: “You figured it would come down to this last series and we did what we had to do.”
The Braves’ focus on the playoffs was obvious to the Marlins.
“Those guys are hungry,” said Florida’s Chad Tracy, who had three hits. “They can taste it.”
Pitching on three days’ rest, Lowe (16-12) gave up 1 run and 7 hits in 5 2 /3 innings and struck out 9. He is 5-0 with a 1.17 ERA this month with 29 strikeouts and 3 walks in 30 2 /3 innings. His 16 victories matched Tim Hudson for the team high.
“His last four starts or so have been dominating,” Cox said, adding the short rest “didn’t affect him at all. He was fired up.”
Peter Moylan, Mike Dunn, Craig Kimbrel and Wagner combined for 3 1 /3 scoreless innings.
“These games are playoff-atmosphere type games,” Wagner said. “You know it. You feel it in your body. That anxiety, that nervousness,that excitement.
“You know what’s on the line. Now the big thing is controlling it and getting through it and doing it.”
Conrad, a 30-year-old rookie, homered in the third off Andrew Miller (1-5). Conrad made his second consecutive start after Martin Prado sustained a torn oblique muscle and a bruised hip Monday. Prado, an All-Star with a .307 batting average, will miss the playoffs if the Braves advance.
Conrad, usually a pinch-hitter and defensive substitute, has eight home runs - all before Wednesday were from the seventh inning on.
“The guys have been giving me a hard time about that,” Conrad said.
David Ross, starting because catcher Brian McCann was resting, had three doubles and an RBI.
Miller gave up 4 runs, 4 hits and 4 walks in 3 innings as the Marlins lost their fourth in a row.
“Too many walks,” Miller said. “I threw far too many balls today. I have to find that consistency.”
ASTROS 2, REDS 0
Carlos Lee had three hits and visiting Houston took advantage of a Cincinnati lineup missing all of its regulars. Manager Dusty Baker rested every one of his starting position players on the day after the Reds clinched their first division championship and postseason berth since 1995.
PHILLIES 7, NATIONALS 1
Ben Francisco hit two of visiting Philadelphia’s four home runs and a lineup filled with reserves led the NL Eastchampion Phillies to a victory over Washington. Only two regulars started for Philadelphia as Manager Charlie Manuel gave key cogs such as Ryan Howard and Chase Utley the night off.
BREWERS 8-3, METS 7-1
Dave Bush pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning and helped his own cause with an RBI single, Ryan Braun hit a two-run double and visiting Milwaukee held on for a victory over New York to complete a doubleheader sweep. Prince Fielder’s RBI single in the eighth inning of the first game rallied the Brewers for a victory after they squandered a six-run lead.
CARDINALS 4, PIRATES 1
P.J. Walters pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and Allen Craig hit a solo home run to help host St. Louis beat Pittsburgh.
DODGERS 7, ROCKIES 6
Matt Kemp hit a grand slam and visiting Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of Colorado.
American League ORIOLES 2, RAYS 0 Kevin Millwood allowed two hits over seven innings, Felix Pie hit a tworun triple and visiting Baltimore beat Tampa Bay before a capacity crowd of 36,973 at Tropicana Field. The Rays gave away 20,000 tickets for the regular-season home finale. Fans begin lining up outside the domed stadium several hours before gametime.
BLUE JAYS 8, YANKEES 4
Aaron Hill hit a three-run home run, John Buck and Travis Snider added solo home runs and host Toronto gave retiring manager Cito Gaston a winning send-off in his home finale, beating New York. The Yankees remained a half-game behind Tampa Bay in the AL East race.
TWINS 4, ROYALS 2
Delmon Young homered and drove in two runs as visiting Minnesota snapped a season-long five-game losing streak.
WHITE SOX 5, RED SOX 2
Omar Vizquel hit a go-ahead single in host Chicago’s three-run seventh inning as the White Sox beat Boston.
INDIANS 4-4, TIGERS 0-3
Mitch Talbot and Josh Tomlin both finished their rookie seasons with victories as host Cleveland swept a doubleheader against Detroit. Tomlin (6-4) went five innings to beat Tigers ace Justin Verlander (18-9) after Talbot (10-13) pitched seven innings for only his third victory in his past 13 starts to beat Max Scherzer (12-11) in the opener.
RANGERS 6, MARINERS 5 Mitch Moreland raced home from first base with the winning run after a wild pitch and a throwing error on a strikeout with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting host Texas over Seattle.
ANGELS 2, ATHLETICS 1 Torii Hunter (Pine Bluff) hit an RBI single in the 11th inning, and host Los Angeles beat Oakland in its home finale.
Wednesday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 1 LA Dodgers 7, Colorado 6 Milwaukee 8-3, NY Mets 7-1 Atlanta 5, Florida 1 Philadelphia 7, Washington 1 Houston 2, Cincinnati 0 Chicago Cubs at San Diego, (n) Arizona at San Francisco, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Texas 6, Seattle 5 LA Angels 2, Oakland 1, 11 innings Cleveland 4-4, Detroit 0-3 Toronto 8, NY Yankees 4 Baltimore 2, Tampa Bay 0 Chicago White Sox 5, Boston 2 Minnesota 4, Kansas City 2
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/30/2010