Pujols leads Cardinals to win

ST. LOUIS " Albert Pujols hit his second grand slam of the season and surpassed 1,000 career RBIs, sending St. Louis to an 8-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday and giving the surging Cardinals their ninth straight home win.

The Cardinals have won 10 of their 12 home games this season and are 13-5 overall, good for first place in the NL Central.

Pujols drove the first pitch from David Patton in the seventh inning an estimated 441 feet to left. It was the eighth career grand slam for Pujols, who is hitting .348 with 25 RBIs and seven homers already this season.

The four RBIs gave Pujols 1,002 in his career, making him the sixth Cardinals player to reach that milestone. The others are Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Jim Bottomley, Rogers Hornsby and Kenny Boyer.

The Cubs have lost their last four games, dropping to 8-8 on the season.

Mitchell Boggs (1-0) allowed an unearned run and six hits in 5 2-3 innings for St. Louis.

Sean Marshall (0-1) pitched six innings for the Cubs, allowing three runs and six hits.

Phillies 6, Marlins 4, 10 innings

MIAMI (AP) " Chase Utley hit a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning and Philadelphia handed the Marlins their fifth straight loss.

Shane Victorino got the winning rally started with a one-out single off Logan Kensing (0-1). Victorino stole second and scored when Utley lined a shot past shortstop Hanley Ramirez and into center field. Utley moved to third on Ryan Howard's base hit and scored on Jayson Werth's single to make it 6-4.

Ryan Madson (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth and Brad Lidge worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the 10th to earn his fourth save in five opportunities. Braves 10, Reds 2

CINCINNATI (AP) " Yunel Escobar drove in a career-high four runs and finished a triple short of the cycle, leading Atlanta to the victory.

Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer and also drove in four runs as the Braves jumped on Bronson Arroyo for six runs in the first two innings and handed the right-hander his first loss in four starts this season.

Escobar and Jones " the Braves' No. 2 and 3 hitters " went a combined 5-for-8 with two home runs, a double and eight RBIs in support of Derek Lowe (2-1), who struck out a season-high eight in seven innings to help the Braves to their second three-game winning streak of the season.

Arroyo (3-1) allowed nine runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings.

Mets 8, Nationals 2

NEW YORK (AP) " Mike Pelfrey gave the Mets a healthy and effective start, Ryan Church drove in three runs and New York took advantage of sloppy play by the stumbling Nationals.

Still struggling to get the big hit, New York scored four unearned runs off Daniel Cabrera to build an early cushion for Pelfrey, who missed his previous turn in the rotation due to forearm tendinitis.

Helped by solid defense, Pelfrey (2-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. Sean Green, Bobby Parnell and Brian Stokes finished up.

The Nationals played poorly behind Cabrera (0-2), who lasted only 2 1-3 innings. They committed three key errors while dropping to 0-8 on the road and 3-13 overall, the worst record in the majors.

Dodgers 6, Rockies 5

DENVER (AP) " Rusell Martin matched a career high with four RBIs to help James McDonald earn his first major league win.

McDonald (1-1) gave up five runs and four hits, but walked four in five innings to win in his third start.

Ramon Troncoso allowed one hit in four scoreless innings and earned his first major league save.

Los Angeles roughed up Ubaldo Jimenez (1-3) for the second time in a week. Jimenez gave up six runs and eight hits in four innings.

Brewers 9, Astros 8, 11 innings

HOUSTON (AP) " Ryan Braun had a go-ahead single in the 11th inning for his fourth hit, and Milwaukee beat Houston after blowing a lead in the ninth.

Prince Fielder hit two homers, including a two-run shot in the ninth that gave Milwaukee an 8-7 lead, and Bill Hall drove in four runs with a three-run drive and an RBI single. But Hall's throwing error in the bottom of the ninth allowed the Astros to tie it.

Corey Hart doubled to start the 11th off Jeff Geary (0-3), the last of five Houston pitchers, setting the stage for Braun, who is hitting .533 on the current road trip.

Mark DiFelice (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the victory. Pirates 10, Padres 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) " Left-hander Zach Duke was dominant into the ninth inning to win consecutive road starts for the first time in four years, Craig Monroe and Freddy Sanchez each had three hits and Pittsburgh beat San Diego.

Duke (3-1) allowed one run and six hits and struck out five while walking two in 8 1-3 innings. He also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth when the Pirates extended their lead to 5-0.

The last time Duke won back-to-back road games was during his rookie season in 2005 when he went 4-0 in seven road starts. He beat the Cardinals in St. Louis on April 8 in his first road start this season.

Shawn Hill (1-1) had to leave the game after two innings with soreness in his right biceps muscle. He gave up three runs and five hits. Giants 5, Diamondbacks 3

PHOENIX (AP) " Randy Winn rescued Randy Johnson's shaky return to Arizona, hitting a two-run homer to lead San Francisco.

Edgar Renteria added a two-run double and Emmanuel Burriss singled home a run for the Giants, who have won five straight.

Six days after beating the Diamondbacks for his 296th career win, the Big Unit walked seven and was gone after 3 1-3 innings.

Justin Miller (1-0) relieved Johnson and was credited with the win despite giving up a run in 1 2-3 innings. Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his third save in as many chances " all of them against the Diamondbacks.