NEW YORK (AP) -Aramis Ramirez hit a grand slam and Carlos Zambrano pitched eight sharp innings, sending the Chicago Cubs to a 10-1 rout of the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
Cliff Floyd had three hits and an RBI in his first start at Shea Stadium since spending the previous four seasons with the Mets, and Chicago handed John Maine (5-1) his first loss of the year.
Daryle Ward hit a two-run double in the first, Michael Barrett doubled twice and drove in two runs, and left fielder Alfonso Soriano threw out a runner at the plate in the second to keep the score 3-0.
Ramirez’s seventh career slam, off Scott Schoeneweis, broke it open in a six-run sixth. Barrett added a run-scoring double and Jacque Jones had an RBI single in Chicago’s largest victory of the season. The Cubs finished with 15 hits.
Zambrano (4-3) allowed six hits, walked three and struck out three. He has won three of his past four starts.
Shawn Green hit his fifth home run for the Mets, who had won five of six and nine of 12. Carlos Delgado left in the seventh, one inning after he was hit on the left hand by Zambrano’s pitch. X-rays were negative and he is day to day with a bruised pinky.
Phillies 4, Brewers 3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Carlos Ruiz hit a solo homer with two outs in the ninth to lift the Phillies.
Brett Myers allowed Johnny Estrada’s tying solo homer in the ninth for his first blown save, but Ruiz connected off Derrick Turnbow (1-2) for his first career game-winning homer.
Estrada led off the ninth with his fifth homer. Myers (1-2) had converted his first four save opportunities since replacing injured closer Tom Gordon, and hadn’t allowed a run since his first relief appearance. Myers, who was the opening-day starter, has a 1.08 ERA in 16 2-3 innings as a reliever.
Turnbow, the losing pitcher Monday night, retired the first two batters in the ninth. But Ruiz drove a 2-1 pitch into the left-center field seats for his third homer.
The Phillies have won five of six.
Braves 6, Nationals 2
WASHINGTON (AP) – Edgar Renteria hit two home runs, Tim Hudson allowed three hits over seven innings, and the Braves ended the Nationals’ four-game winning streak.
Renteria went 3-for-5, homering in the first and seventh innings as the Braves snapped a two-game losing streak. Atlanta has won six of its last eight.
Hudson (5-1), inducing ground ball after ground ball, had a perfect game through 4 2-3 innings and lowered his ERA to 1.77. Hudson walked one and struck out four before leaving for a pinch hitter in the eighth.
The Braves punished Nationals starter Jerome Williams (0-5), who failed again to get his first win since 2005. Renteria’s home runs were his fifth and sixth of the season and the Braves had more consecutive hits in the third inning (4) than they did in the entire game against Washington on Monday (3).
Marlins 9, Pirates 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Dan Uggla drove in four runs while hitting two of Florida’s four homers, helping Sergio Mitre win for the first time in more than a year.
Hanley Ramirez also homered while reaching base five times for Florida, which snapped a four-game losing streak. Jeremy Hermida hit a solo shot as the Marlins won for only the fifth time in their last 18 games in Pittsburgh.
Mitre (1-2), coming off eight shutout innings in a no-decision against the Dodgers, wasn’t quite as sharp, giving up three runs – two earned – and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings. But he ended a six-game losing streak that spanned 19 appearances since April 4, 2006.
Florida had a four-run sixth against Paul Maholm (2-5) highlighted by Uggla’s go-ahead, two-run homer.
Diamondbacks 3, Rockies 0
DENVER (AP) – Randy Johnson allowed one hit over six innings and outdueled Jason Hirsh.
For the second straight start, Johnson (1-2) looked like the Big Unit who won five Cy Young awards. Johnson, who underwent back surgery last October, struck out nine and walked none in winning for the first time since his return to Arizona after two frustrating seasons with the New York Yankees.
Johnson didn’t come out for the seventh after 79 pitches on a crisp evening, giving way to right-hander Tony Pena. Pena gave up one hit in two scoreless innings and Jose Valverde finished the three-hitter with his 13th save in 15 chances.
Jason Hirsh (2-4) allowed three earned runs and seven hits in eight innings, walking none and striking out four.
Conor Jackson was the first to solve Hirsh’s changeup with his first home run since Oct. 1. Eric Byrnes made it 3-0 when he led off the seventh by stroking a fastball over the wall in left-center for his sixth home run.
Astros 6, Giants 5, 10 innings
HOUSTON (AP) – Carlos Lee hit a solo home run, his second of the game, in the 10th inning off Jonathan Sanchez to lift the Astros.
The Giants rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but Hunter Pence tied it with a two-run drive off Armando Benitez. Lee then won it with his ninth homer of the season.
Lee went 4-for-4, scored four runs and finished with two RBIs and Pence was 3-for-3 with three RBIs for Houston.
Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with two walks for the Giants and stayed stuck on 745 career homers, 10 shy of Hank Aaron’s career record. He hasn’t homered at Minute Maid Park since opening day in 2004.
Sanchez (1-1) came on in the 10th and struck out Lance Berkman before Lee homered off the facade in left-center field.
Houston starter Woody Williams also homered and Chad Qualls (4-1) pitched a scoreless 10th.
Reds 2, Padres 1, 12 innings
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Ken Griffey Jr. hit a leadoff homer in the 12th inning to snap a four-game losing streak for Cincinnati.
Griffey hit his eighth of the season and career homer No. 571 off Heath Bell (0-2) on a full-count fastball. Griffey has hit all of his home runs this season in the last 18 games.
The Reds won for just the third time in 14 games and also broke a six-game road losing streak,
David Weathers (1-2) pitched the final three innings to finish off the two-hitter.
Griffey’s big hit came after the Padres tied it in the eighth on a balk by Cincinnati’s Aaron Harang. The right-hander had allowed just two hits when he committed the balk.
Dodgers 9, Cardinals 7
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Rafael Furcal continued his extraordinary offensive surge with four hits to help the Dodgers snap a 10-game losing streak to the Cardinals.
Furcal has four hits in three straight games, the first major leaguer to do it since Marcus Giles for the Braves in 2003. The only other players with three straight four-hit games in the last 55 years are Brett Butler, Mike Benjamin and Tim Salmon.
The major league record for consecutive four-hit games is four, set by Brooklyn’s Milt Stock in 1925.
Furcal had hits off Adam Wainwright (3-3) in each of the first three innings, and another off Russ Springer in the seventh. Furcal’s bases-loaded triple in the third snapped a 4-4 tie and was the big blow in a six-run rally.
The Dodgers’ switch-hitting shortstop has 14 hits in his last 16 at-bats, raising his average from .214 to .297 in the four-game stretch.
Derek Lowe (4-4) earned the victory despite a shaky performance, allowing eight hits and four runs in 5 1-3 innings. Takashi Saito, the fifth Dodgers’ pitcher, worked the ninth for his 12th save. He has converted 22 straight save opportunities dating to last year.
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