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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Carlos Lee’s three big swings helped the Houston Astros overcome a rare erratic outing from Roy Oswalt.
Lee hit three homers, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs, Morgan Ensberg had a three-run shot and the Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6 on Friday night.
Oswalt (2-0) lost his control early and his cool later. He was uncharacteristically wild, walking a career-high six batters while allowing six runs and seven hits in five innings on a chilly night.
Oswalt nearly got ejected after balking in a run in the fifth, but stayed in and struck out Jimmy Rollins to end the inning. Five Astros relievers pitched four scoreless innings. New closer Dan Wheeler struck out the side in the ninth for his second save.
Lee hit a solo homer off Brett Myers in the second inning, and his slam came off Myers in the third. Lee connected again to straightaway center field off Ryan Madson in the ninth for his first three-homer game.
Myers (0-2) hardly looked like an ace for the second straight start. He gave up seven runs and three hits in 3 1-3 innings.
Giants 8, Pirates 5
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Giants slugger Barry Bonds shook off an early season slump to hit his 736th and 737th career homers and Russ Ortiz ended a 12-game losing streak.
Bonds, hitting .192 with only one homer in 26 at-bats coming into the game, hit a two-run shot down the right-field line in the second inning off Zach Duke (1-1) and a deeper shot in the right-center stands in the fourth off Shawn Chacon. The 42-year-old Bonds needs 19 more homers to break Hank Aaron’s record.
With the Giants up 8-2 by the fourth, Bonds was lifted following his 70th career multihomer game, two short of Babe Ruth’s record of 72. He also singled in a run in the first.
Ortiz (1-1) allowed five runs and 10 hits in 8 2-3 innings to break his 20-month losing streak, which dated to an Aug. 29, 2005, victory against San Diego while with Arizona.
Reds 6, Cubs 5
CHICAGO (AP) – Josh Hamilton, Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. had consecutive RBI hits during a six-run fifth inning, helping the Reds overcome a 5-0 deficit against Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs.
Zambrano (1-2) doubled and homered and allowed just one hit through four innings, but failed to record an out in the fifth. He gave up six runs on six hits in four innings.
Aaron Harang, who beat Zambrano in the season opener at Cincinnati, allowed nine hits and five runs in four innings.
Todd Coffey (1-0) earned his first victory by pitching two scoreless innings of relief. David Weathers worked the ninth for his fourth save in four chances.
Mets 3, Nationals 2
NEW YORK (AP) – Pinch-hitter Julio Franco singled up the middle to drive in the go-ahead run, and the Mets beat the Nationals in Manny Acta’s first managerial matchup with his former boss, New York’s Willie Randolph.
Washington’s John Patterson left with a 2-1 lead but Carlos Delgado hit a tying single in the sixth, Ryan Wagner (0-1) gave up the lead in the seventh and the Nationals (2-9) lost for the seventh time in eight games.
New York got the go-ahead run after David Wright – who earlier extended his hitting streak to 22 games – singled leading off the seventh and stole second. Franco batted for Aaron Heilman (1-1) and grounded a single with two outs.
Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his third save.
Acta had been Randolph’s third-base coach for two years before the Nationals hired him during the offseason.
Marlins 11, Braves 4
ATLANTA (AP) – Dontrelle Willis pitched seven innings for another sharp April start to help the Marlins get the win.
It was also the first game and victory for Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez against the Braves, where he was the third-base coach the previous four seasons.
Willis (3-0) is 12-1 with a .923 winning percentage in April. That’s the second-best career percentage in April to the 13-1, .929 of Babe Ruth, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Hanley Ramirez had two hits and scored three runs for the Marlins, who had lost two straight. Cody Ross, Dan Uggla, Miguel Olivo and Joe Borchard drove in two runs apiece.
Willis allowed three earned runs and eight hits.
Mark Redman (0-2) allowed six hits and seven earned runs in 2 2-3 innings and Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer for Atlanta.
Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 3
PHOENIX (AP) – Brad Hawpe hit a tiebreaking two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning, and Todd Helton drove in two runs, including the 1,000th of his career, for Colorado.
The Rockies handed Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb his first April loss in 15 starts dating to April 17, 2004, in San Diego. Webb (1-1) allowed five runs and eight hits with four walks in seven innings. He struck out two.
Eric Byrnes drove in all three Arizona runs on a single and a two-run homer.
Four Rockies relievers combined to pitch four perfect innings. Jeremy Affeldt (1-0) pitched an inning and picked up the win and Brian Fuentes finished for his second save in two chances.
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