Phillies pound Cubs 12-5

PHILLIES 12, CUBS 5

CHICAGO (AP) - Pedro Martinez made a successful return to the majors Wednesday night, going five innings in Philadelphia's victory.

The 37-year-old, three-time Cy Young Award winner got plenty of support as Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez homered as the World Series champs sent the Cubs to their fourth straight loss.

Martinez (1-0) allowed seven hits and three runs with a walk and five strikeouts, throwing 99 pitches. His fastest pitch was clocked at 92 mph.

Martinez's 215th career win was his first since last Aug. 31, against Florida while with the New York Mets. He signed with the NL East leaders on July 15.

Rollins and Ibanez connected for three-run homers off reliever Sean Marshall during an eight-run fourth inning.

Jeff Samardzija (1-2) got roughed up in his first major league start after 42 relief appearances the last two seasons.

Padres 6, Brewers 5

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Adrian Gonzalez hit a go-ahead double in a four-run seventh inning for San Diego.

Prince Fielder reached 100 RBIs in the shortest amount of games in Brewers' history, but it was overshadowed by the flurry of moves the team made earlier in the day, including sending shortstop J.J. Hardy to the minors to give top prospect Alcides Escobar a chance.

The Padres have won 11 of 15 and are 4-1 against Milwaukee this year. The Brewers have lost 23 of 36 since starting July with a two-game lead in the NL Central.

The Brewers twice squandered one-run leads against Padres starter Kevin Correia (8-9) and the beleaguered bullpen gave up the four runs in the seventh to make it 6-3. Todd Coffey (4-2) took the loss.

Fielder's two-run double in the seventh were his 99th and 100th RBIs and made it 6-5.

Heath Bell got his 29th save in 30 chances for San Diego.

Cardinals 5, Reds 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Chris Carpenter won his seventh straight decision and beat Cincinnati for the third consecutive time, and Albert Pujols homered for the second game in a row for St. Louis.

The first four hitters in the Cardinals' lineup had at least two hits, with Matt Holliday going 3 for 4 and contributing an RBI double to a three-run first.

Pujols hit his major league-leading 38th homer in the third.

Carpenter (12-3) matched his season high with 10 strikeouts and was dominant most of his seven innings, allowing two runs and eight hits. He is 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA in three outings against the Cincinnati this year.

Brandon Phillips had a two-run single and Chris Dickerson had three hits for the Reds, who have lost nine of their last 12 in St. Louis and 11 of 14 on the road overall. Homer Bailey (2-4) allowed singles to all three batters he faced and is 0-3 with a 9.82 ERA in four career starts against the Cardinals.

Rockies 8, Pirates 0

DENVER (AP) - Ubaldo Jimenez pitched three-hit ball for eight innings and Carlos Gonzalez homered for Colorado.

Jimenez (10-9) won his fourth straight decision. He became the fourth member of the Rockies' rotation with double-digit victories, joining Jason Marquis, Aaron Cook and Jorge De La Rosa.

The Pirates had four hits and lost for the ninth time in 10 games.

Kevin Hart (3-2), in his second start since being acquired by the Pirates from the Cubs on July 30, allowed five runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Seth Smith singled to open the Colorado first and Gonzalez followed with his second homer in as many days.

In the eighth, Chris Iannetta hit a two-run double and pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs had an RBI double.

Mets 6, Diamondbacks 4

PHOENIX (AP) - Cory Sullivan tripled twice and Gary Sheffield had two singles in his return to the lineup, helping the Mets avoid a three-game sweep.

Luis Castillo's pinch-hit single with two outs off Rauch Jon (2-1) brought in the go-ahead run, then Sullivan tripled to the right-center gap to make it 5-3. A wild pitch by Arizona reliever Daniel Schlereth allowed a run in the ninth.

Rauch and manager A.J. Hinch were thrown out of the game by plate umpire Mike Everitt after the Mets scored twice with two outs in eighth to take the lead.

Pedro Feliciano (5-4) got two outs for the victory as the Mets finished their trip 2-5 in just their fourth win in 14 games. Francisco Rodriguez allowed Josh Whitesell's second RBI single of the game, with two outs in the ninth, but fanned Miguel Montero for his 25th save.

Braves 6, Nationals 2

ATLANTA (AP) - Adam LaRoche gave the Braves the lead with a seventh-inning homer, his second of the game, as Atlanta continued its second-half surge.

LaRoche snapped a 2-2 tie with his seventh-inning homer off Jorge Sosa (1-1). He had a second-inning homer off Craig Stammen and drove in a third run with a bases-loaded walk.

Garret Anderson and Martin Prado hit homers for the Braves, who have won five straight. Their 17-9 record since the All-Star break is the best in the National League.

Derek Lowe (12-7) gave up two runs, seven hits and four walks in seven innings. He has won his last five decisions.

Astros 14, Marlins 6

MIAMI (AP) - Hunter Pence hit two three-run homers for a career-high six RBIs to power Houston. Pence's home runs highlighted a five-run first inning and a seven-run fourth that chased Ricky Nolasco (8-8). Florida had won five straight.

Lance Berkman hit two RBI doubles in his first game in almost three weeks. He was activated earlier in the day after being on the disabled list with a strained left calf. Carlos Lee added three RBIs for the Astros.

Bud Norris (3-0) struck out six in five innings. He became the first pitcher to win his first three starts with Houston since Roger Clemens won his first seven in 2004.

NL batting leader Hanley Ramirez hit his 17th homer and added a double for the Marlins.