NL roundup: Smoltz debuts, Pujols homers

ST. LOUIS (AP) - John Smoltz struck out six and allowed one run in six innings in his first home start for St. Louis, and Albert Pujols hit his 41st homer leading off the bottom of the ninth to give the Cardinals a 3-2 victory over Washington.

Pujols homered off Jason Bergmann (2-4) for his eighth career walkoff homer and first since July 13, 2006. Bergmann has allowed seven runs in 2 1-3 innings in his last five appearances.

The NL Central leaders have won 16 of 20.

Khalil Greene's first career pinch-hit homer tied it at 2 in the eighth against Nationals starter John Lannan, who allowed two runs and four hits in eight innings.

Jason Motte (4-4) worked around a one-out double by Elijah Dukes in the ninth.

Josh Bard, a .385 career hitter against St. Louis, put the Nationals ahead 2-1 with an RBI double off Blake Hawksworth in the seventh. Dukes doubled twice and went 3 for 4.

Smoltz, released by Boston earlier this month after going 2-5 with an 8.33 ERA, struggled only in the third, allowing two hits and a sacrifice fly by Pete Orr.

Giants 2, Rockies 0

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tim Lincecum struck out eight in eight innings to end a four-start winless stretch, and Pablo Sandoval homered for San Francisco.

Sandoval hit a solo home run in the fifth to break up a scoreless game. He was back in the lineup after missing three straight starts, two with tightness in his right calf and then Thursday's 11-0 loss to Arizona with the flu.

Lincecum (13-4) earned his first victory in five starts since beating Philadelphia on Aug. 1. He allowed four hits and walked three. Brian Wilson finished the Giants' majors-leading 17th shutout for his 31st save.

Ubaldo Jimenez (12-10) had his career-best winning streak snapped at six with his first loss in nine outings since July 10.

Todd Helton was the lone Colorado player with more than one hit in the Rockies' third straight defeat.

Reds 4, Dodgers 2

CINCINNATI (AP) - Homer Bailey gave the best performance of his career, holding the NL's top team scoreless for eight innings, and Cincinnati won their season-high fifth straight.

Bailey (4-4) allowed only seven singles and had a career-high seven strikeouts while going eight innings for the first time in his career.

Nick Masset gave up a solo homer to James Loney, starting a wild ninth. Closer Francisco Cordero came on and loaded the bases with two outs, let in a run on a wild pitch and got Ramirez on a called third strike to end it.

Jonny Gomes had an RBI single and a solo homer off Chad Billingsley (12-8), who lasted five-plus innings.

Phillies 4, Braves 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Ryan Howard homered twice during a perfect night at the plate, and Jamie Moyer pitched effectively in relief of Pedro Martinez for Philadelphia.

Howard gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with a homer in the second off Tommy Hanson (9-3).

In the fourth, Howard drove a two-run shot to center off Kris Medlan for his 22nd career multihomer game and fifth this season. He had a double and walked to finish 3 for 3 with three RBIs.

Howard has 11 home runs and 29 RBIs in his last 15 games, with a .339 batting average.

Martinez allowed one hit and one walk in two innings. He didn't return after the second stoppage.

Moyer (12-9) worked 4 1-3 innings, allowing one run and four hits with five strikeouts. Brad Lidge, who leads the majors with nine blown saves, worked the ninth for his 26th save.

Matt Diaz drove in Atlanta's first run in the fifth with the second of his three doubles.

Diamondbacks 14, Astros 7

PHOENIX (AP) - John Hester hit a towering homer in his first major league at-bat, and Arizona scored seven runs in the third inning.

Alex Romero and Miguel Montero homered for Arizona, which won for the third time in 12 games.

Pinch-hitting in the sixth, the 25-year-old Hester hit a 2-2 delivery from Wilton Lopez, also making his first appearance in the majors, an estimated 420 feet off the batter's eye in center field.

Hester became the 101st player to homer in his first major league at-bat - and the second Diamondback this season. Gerardo Parra homered in his first game on May 13 against Cincinnati.

Jeff Keppinger and Hunter Pence homered for the Astros.

The Diamondbacks rolled up 10 runs in the first three innings. Starter Yorman Bazardo (0-1) gave up eight runs, eight hits and three walks in two-plus innings.

Houston led 2-0 after a half inning when Lance Berkman hit a two-run double off Arizona's Max Scherzer (8-8).

Cubs 5, Mets 2

CHICAGO (AP) - Alfonso Soriano made up for several miscues in the outfield with a tie-breaking three-run homer in the eighth inning for Chicago.

Milton Bradley, who like Soriano has been booed by frustrated Cubs fans, led off the inning with a double, his third hit. He scored on Aramis Ramirez's single, tying the game 2-all.

After reliever Brian Stokes (1-3) walked Jeff Baker, Soriano hit an 0-2 pitch for his 20th homer of the season and first since July 29.

Kevin Gregg (5-5) got the win for the Cubs, who have won seven of 21 since Aug. 7.

Making his first start of the season, Pat Misch allowed six hits in a career-high seven innings for the Mets, who have lost six of seven.

Brewers 8, Pirates 6

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Jason Bourgeois homered and Milwaukee snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Brewers have won 19 consecutive games over Pittsburgh at Miller Park, last losing to the Pirates in Milwaukee on May 3, 2007.

Manny Parra (9-10) won for the fifth time in seven starts, allowing six runs and 10 hits in six innings.

Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 28th save and upped his all-time record total to 582.

Zach Duke (10-12) had his shortest outing of the year, allowing seven runs and 11 hits in three innings.

Pittsburgh rookie Andrew McCutchen went 3 for 5 with four RBIs and fell a triple shy of a cycle.

Fielder hit a three-run homer in the first inning for the consecutive second game. His 36th homer gave him a major-league leading 118 RBIs.

Padres 9, Marlins 5

MIAMI (AP) - Will Venable had two RBI singles and Kyle Blanks added a two-run homer in San Diego's six-run second inning.

David Eckstein was 3 for 6 with two RBIs for the Padres. Everth Cabrera drove in two runs and Chase Headley - who replaced Blanks in that second inning - added three hits for San Diego, which is 3-1 on its six-game trip to Atlanta and Florida.

Chris Coghlan was 3 for 5 and Wes Helms went 2 for 5 with two RBIs for Florida, which has dropped six of nine.

Blanks' two-run homer was a costly shot for both the Padres and Marlins. Blanks aggravated a sore right foot as he rounded the bases, and neither he nor Florida starter Chris Volstad finished the inning.

San Diego sent 12 batters to the plate in the second. Volstad (9-11) was charged with six runs in 1 2-3 innings, his shortest outing in 41 career starts.

Kevin Correia (9-10) gave up 11 hits and four runs in 6 2-3 innings for San Diego.