Nady, Padres Ruin Devine Effort

Joey Devine was one pitch away from a memorable big league debut.

Then Xavier Nady made it a day for the rookie to forget.

Nady hit his first grand slam off Devine with two out in the 13th inning to lead the San Diego Padres past Atlanta, 7-2, on Saturday, handing the Braves their third consecutive loss at Turner Field.

Devine (0-1), the Braves’ first-round pick in the June draft, was called up from double-A Mississippi, took an early-morning flight to Atlanta and got into his first game on 45 minutes’ sleep.

The right-hander pitched a scoreless 12th and was on the verge of escaping a bases-loaded jam in the 13th, pushing the count to 1-and-2 on Nady with a steady stream of fastballs clocked as high as 96 mph.

With the crowd roaring -- including Devine’s father, sitting behind home plate wearing a North Carolina State T-shirt -- the rookie left a fastball over the plate and Nady sent a 415-foot drive into the center-field seats.

“I knew I had hit it good,” said Nady, who was hitless in his first five at-bats. “I looked up as I rounded first base, and when I saw it was out, I was beside myself. The best part was looking in the dugout and seeing their reaction.”

Devine wanted to throw a high fastball to Nady.

“I didn’t get it up in the zone enough,” the rookie said. “It was pretty much right down Broadway. I felt strong. I was just one pitch away from getting out of that inning.” *

St. Louis 4, San Francisco 2 -- Matt Morris (13-5) earned his 100th win and Jim Edmonds scored twice, leading the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Mark Grudzielanek’s single ended a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning, and the Cardinals scored one more run with a successful suicide squeeze bunt.

Morris (100-57) is the first Cardinal pitcher to reach the 100-win mark since Bob Forsch in 1982.

*

New York 9, Washington 8 -- Chris Woodward’s pinch-hit single in the 10th inning drove in the winning run, and the Mets held off the Nationals at New York despite blowing an eight-run lead after Pedro Martinez left.

Gerald Williams walked with one out in the 10th against reliever Gary Majewski (2-3). After Kaz Matsui flied out, Jose Reyes walked. Woodward batted for winning pitcher Roberto Hernandez (6-5) and singled up the middle, scoring Williams from second.

Martinez pitched six innings of six-hit ball and left with an 8-0 lead.

*

Philadelphia 6, Pittsburgh 1 -- Brett Myers pitched his second complete game this season and Chase Utley and David Bell drove in two runs each as the Phillies took over the NL wild-card lead with a victory at home.

Myers (11-6) gave up six hits, including three infield singles, in his best outing since beating Colorado on July 29.

*

Milwaukee 3, Houston 2 -- Ben Sheets scattered eight hits in his fourth complete game of the season, and Geoff Jenkins hit a tiebreaking home run at Milwaukee.

Sheets (9-9) struck out eight and walked none.

*

Colorado 4, Chicago 2 -- Aaron Cook pitched seven strong innings and Dustan Mohr homered off Kerry Wood and drove in two runs, leading the Rockies at Denver.

Mike DeJean gave up a run in the eighth before Brian Fuentes worked the ninth for his 21st save in 24 opportunities. He retired Derrek Lee on a grounder with a runner on to end it.

*

Arizona 6, Cincinnati 2 -- Javier Vazquez (10-12) gave up one run in eight innings and Tony Clark hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the eighth to lead the Diamondbacks at Cincinnati.

Arizona improved to 4-7 on its 12-game trip. Cincinnati has lost five of seven.