Ramirez slam gives Dodgers 6-2 win

By The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Manny Ramirez hit a tie-breaking pinch-hit grand slam on his bobblehead night Wednesday, sending Los Angeles to a 6-2 victory over Cincinnati, their 12th consecutive at home against the Reds.

Ramirez was kept out of the starting lineup for precautionary reasons with a sore left hand after being hit by a pitch a night earlier.

He sent the first pitch from reliever Nick Masset into the "Mannywood" section of lower left field seats for his 21st career grand slam, giving Los Angeles a 6-2 lead in the sixth inning and putting the crowd into a frenzy.

It was his 11th homer of the season and his first career pinch-hit homer.

It was Ramirez's first homer into the "Mannywood" section, which was resurrected after his 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug rules ended on July 3.

Ramirez pinch-hit for Chad Billingsley (9-6), who allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings, struck out seven and walked one.

Bronson Arroyo (10-9) gave up five runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings, struck out eight and walked four.

Braves 4, Giants 2

ATLANTA (AP) - Jair Jurrjens gave up three hits in 7 2-3 innings and Yunel Escobar hit a three-run homer for surging Atlanta.

Escobar's third-inning homer gave the Braves a 4-0 lead over Tim Lincecum, who lost for the first time in five weeks.

The Braves are 6-1 since the All-Star break and 10-3 in their last 13 games overall. Jurrjens (9-7) earned his third straight win and set a season high with nine strikeouts while allowing one run.

The Giants are 1-5 on their 10-game trip, including three straight losses to the Braves. Overall, they have lost six of seven.

Lincecum (10-3), the NL's All-Star starter, lost for the first time since June 17 and for the first time in six career starts against the Braves.

Lincecum pitched five innings, his second-shortest start of the season, allowing four runs and seven hits with nine strikeouts.

Astros 4, Cardinals 3

HOUSTON (AP) - Miguel Tejada singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning to help Houston complete a three-game sweep.

Tailing 3-2 entering the ninth, Ivan Rodriguez led off with a single against Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin and scored when Chris Coste, subbing for the injured Lance Berkman, doubled to center.

The win pulled the Astros within a game of the Central-leading Cardinals after trailing by six games a month ago.

The runs were the first allowed Franklin (2-1) in 18 innings. He gave up four hits.

Houston closer Jose Valverde (1-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.

Yadier Molina's RBI single in the seventh broke a 1-all tie and Brendan Ryan's sacrifice fly made it 3-1.

Kaz Matsui's bases-loaded single in the seventh pulled Houston to 3-2.

Cubs 10, Phillies 5

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Aramis Ramirez and Jeff Baker had two-run doubles and Chicago ended Philadelphia's 10-game winning streak.

Carlos Zambrano (7-4) won his third straight start for the Cubs, who avoided their first three-game sweep in Philadelphia since 1999.

The NL East-leading Phillies lost for only the second time in 16 games and fell to .500 at home (24-24), failing to extend their longest winning streak in 18 years.

Coming off his strongest outing of the season, 46-year-old Jamie Moyer (9-7) was tagged for five runs in five innings as his ERA jumped to 5.65.

Marlins 5, Padres 0

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Ricky Nolasco struck out 10 and combined with three relievers on a three-hitter, leading Florida to a victory that completed a three-game sweep.

Chris Coghlan hit a two-run homer off Heath Bell in the ninth and Jeremy Hermida connected leading off the second against Josh Geer. It was the major league-leading 24th home run allowed by Geer (1-6), who has allowed a homer in eight straight starts.

The Padres are 12-33 since June 1, the worst record in the majors over that stretch.

Nolasco (7-7) allowed two hits in 6 1-3 innings and walked three.

Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 3

DENVER (AP) - Todd Helton hit a go-ahead homer off Scott Schoeneweis (1-2) in the eighth inning and drove in a run with his 500th career double for Colorado.

Carlos Gonzalez, who's been mired in a slump that's cost him playing time, had two doubles and scored twice as the NL wild-card leading Rockies won two of three against the Diamondbacks.

Juan Rincon (2-1) pitched a perfect eighth and Huston Street closed out the ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances.

The Rockies longtime first baseman laced a shot off the right-field scoreboard in the third for the 500th double of his career. He becomes the 50th player in major league history to reach that milestone.

Pirates 8, Brewers 7

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Brandon Moss hit Pittsburgh's season-high fifth homer of the game leading off the ninth inning and the Pirates won a series against Milwaukee for the first time in nearly two years.

The Pirates had lost 17 games in a row to Milwaukee and their previous seven series against the Brewers before taking two of the three, including an 8-5 decision Monday that ended the longest losing streak by one major league team against another in 39 years. Milwaukee won 2-0 on Tuesday.

Ryan Doumit homered twice and Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen also went deep - all three connected in the third inning - as every Pirates homer was a solo shot. Matt Capps (2-5) got the victory.

Moss hit a 3-1 pitch by Mitch Stetter (2-1) over the center-field wall for his fifth homer.

Nationals 3, Mets 1

WASHINGTON (AP) - Craig Stammen pitched into the eighth inning and Josh Willingham hit a tiebreaking two-run homer for Washington in its second straight victory.

The Nationals lost their first five games under interim manager Jim Riggleman before beating the Mets 4-0 on Tuesday night.

Stammen (3-5) allowed one run and four hits over 7 1-3 innings. He retired the first 12 batters before David Wright led off the fifth with a single.

Willingham's 13th homer gave the Nationals a 3-1 lead in the sixth.

New York has scored one run or been shut out in 12 of 27 games since All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran went on the disabled list on June 22, going 10-17.

Mike Pelfrey (7-6) gave up three runs and six hits over seven innings, but lost for the third time in four starts. The Mets have dropped five of seven.