NL roundup: Colorado rallies past Giants

DENVER (AP) - Ian Stewart and Todd Helton homered in Colorado's seven-run sixth inning and the Rockies rallied to beat the San Francisco Giants 14-11 on Saturday night to take a two-game lead in the NL wild-card race.

Dexter Fowler tripled twice and Jorge De La Rosa pitched six innings for Colorado, which scored a combined 11 runs in the sixth and seven innings to even the important four-game series with San Francisco at a game apiece.

Ryan Garko hit a pair of two-run shots for his first homers since the Giants acquired him from Cleveland on July 27. Nate Schierholtz and Aaron Rowand also went deep.

De La Rosa (12-8) allowed six runs and eight hits, struck out five and walked two. Justin Miller (2-2) got the loss.

The Rockies trailed 6-3 before sending 11 men to the plate in a wild sixth inning.

Dodgers 2, Cubs 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Charlie Haeger baffled the Cubs with his knuckleball, Matt Kemp and Casey Blake homered, and the Dodgers won their third game in a row.

The NL West leaders haven't been on this kind of roll since taking five straight from July 18-22. All three wins have come against the struggling Cubs, who lost for the 10th time in 13 games.

Chicago managed four hits a day after getting one-hit on the road for the first time in more than 23 years.

Jonathan Broxton struck out Kosuke Fukudome with the potential tying runs in scoring position in the eighth. George Sherrill pitched the ninth for his first save with the Dodgers.

Haeger (1-1) allowed three hits in seven-plus innings, struck out seven and walked four.

Ted Lilly (9-8) gave up two runs and three hits in six innings for Chicago.

Cardinals 7, Padres 0

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Chris Carpenter pitched seven crisp innings and Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer for St. Louis.

Carpenter (14-3) won his ninth consecutive decision and moved into a tie for the major league lead in victories. He allowed three hits, walked three and struck out six.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals moved eight games ahead of the Chicago Cubs, who lost 2-0 at Los Angeles. It's the largest margin for any division leader in baseball.

Holliday connected in the first inning against Kevin Correia (8-10), hitting his sixth homer since he was acquired from Oakland on July 24. Holliday, who also had an infield single and walked twice, is hitting .400 with 25 RBIs in 27 games with St. Louis.

Colby Rasmus and pinch-hitter Rick Ankiel added solo homers as St. Louis won for the 18th time in 24 games.

Astros 4, Diamondbacks 2

HOUSTON (AP) - Brian Moehler won for the first time in more than a month and Houston won its season-best fourth straight.

The Diamondbacks have lost seven straight, their longest skid since dropping seven in a row in June 2006.

Carlos Lee had two hits and a go-ahead sacrifice fly to help Moehler (8-9) end his four-game losing streak. LaTroy Hawkins earned his 11th save by pitching a scoreless ninth.

Max Scherzer (7-8) gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings for Arizona. He struck out seven.

Braves 4, Marlins 3

ATLANTA (AP) - Rookie Tommy Hanson won his fourth straight start in August, combining with two Braves relievers on a four-hitter.

The Braves, powered by home runs by Yunel Escobar and Omar Infante, took a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Hanson (9-2) gave up four hits and three runs in seven innings. He walked three and struck out seven to improve to 4-0 in August. Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano, who pitched the ninth for his 19th save, combined for two perfect innings in relief of Hanson.

Chris Volstad (9-10) gave up six hits and four runs in four innings.

Phillies 4, Mets 1

NEW YORK (AP) - Chase Utley hit a two-run homer as part of a three-run sixth inning for Philadelphia.

After Mets starter Tim Redding held the Phillies to one hit through five shutout innings in a spot start, Philadelphia broke out against relievers Pat Misch and Sean Green.

Misch (0-1), recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Buffalo, walked Shane Victorino leading off the sixth and then gave up a long homer to right to Utley - the All-Star second baseman's 26th of the season.

Rookie left-hander J.A. Happ (10-2) settled down after allowing Omir Santos' RBI single in the second inning that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. Happ has won three straight decisions.

Brad Lidge got three outs for his 24th save in 32 chances. Lidge earned his 700th major league strikeout when he fanned Daniel Murphy leading off the ninth.

Brewers 11, Nationals 9

WASHINGTON (AP) - Mike Cameron homered and drove in three runs, Casey McGehee singled in the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning and Milwaukee recovered after blowing a seven-run lead.

Cameron started the decisive rally with a one-out infield single off Jason Bergmann (2-2) and advanced when second baseman Ronnie Belliard threw wildly to first. After Prince Fielder was intentionally walked, McGehee blooped a single to left-center for a 9-8 lead.

Chris Narveson (1-0) worked 2 2-3 innings of scoreless relief for his first major league victory.

Belliard hit a grand slam and Willie Harris added a pinch homer in the eighth for the Nationals, who have dropped five straight.

Trevor Hoffman worked the ninth for his 27th save in 29 tries.

Pirates 12, Reds 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Ryan Doumit homered, doubled and drove in three runs to give Zach Duke some unaccustomed run support and Pittsburgh Cincinnati into last place in the NL Central.

After honoring 22 members of the World Series-winning 1979 Pirates before the game, a team headed for the franchise's 17th consecutive losing season turned back the clock - if only for one night - with '79-like power, pitching and defense to win its fifth in a row, matching a season high.

Duke (10-11) matched his career high for wins set in 2006, giving up two runs and eight hits in seven innings for his second victory since June 24. The Pirates scored only 10 runs while he was on the mound during his 11 losses.

The Pirates jumped on Reds starter Justin Lehr (2-1) for three runs in the first with the help of four singles.