Giants 4, Pirates 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tim Lincecum looked like his old self, pitching a four-hitter and bouncing back from a rough outing with a career-high 15 strikeouts in the San Francisco Giants' 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.
The reigning NL Cy Young Award (11-3) winner provided the Giants with a much-needed boost on the heels of a disappointing 3-7 road trip. The hard-throwing right-hander earned his fourth complete game this season and sixth of his career.
Lincecum, the All-Star starter for the National League earlier this month, dazzled on a night the Giants paid tribute to late owner Sue Burns, who died July 19 of complications from lung cancer only nine days after being diagnosed.
Pittsburgh starter Paul Maholm (6-5) was tagged for eight hits and four runs in six innings.
Reds 6, Padres 4
CINCINNATI (AP) - Brandon Phillips hit the first of Cincinnati's four homers, a three-run shot that helped end the Reds' longest losing streak of the season at six games.
The teams combined for seven homers, six of them solo shots.
Jonny Gomes and Edwin Encarnacion also had solo homers off Josh Geer (1-7), a 26-year-old rookie who has yet to win a game on the road. Gomes added another solo shot off Edward Mujica, helping the Reds win a matchup of teams that have fallen apart in July.
Homer Bailey (2-2) gave up a pair of solo homers, but held on for 7 1-3 innings to get his first victory since June 27.
Mets 7, Rockies 3
NEW YORK (AP) - Fernando Tatis hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth inning, and the Mets salvaged an otherwise miserable day by rallying past Colorado.
It was the third straight win for the Mets, who have been struggling most of the season on the field and had to deal with issues off it when they fired vice president Tony Bernazard during an awkward news conference hours before the first pitch.
The Rockies bullpen had gone 9 2-3 innings without allowing a hit before Tatis connected off Franklin Morales with one out in the eighth. Juan Rincon (2-2) had loaded the bases with three walks - one intentionally - before Tatis deposited an 0-2 pitch into the seats in left field.
Brian Stokes and Pedro Feliciano (3-3) pitched three innings of shutout ball for New York, and All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez worked a perfect ninth.
Cardinals 6, Dodgers 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Chris Carpenter wrapped up an undefeated month and Brendan Ryan matched a career high with four hits for St. Louis.
Matt Holliday lined an RBI double off the base of the center-field wall in his first home at-bat and Mark DeRosa homered for the fifth time in 13 games with St. Louis. The third newcomer to the lineup, Julio Lugo, had an RBI infield hit in the second to help the Cardinals shake off a 2-5 trip that knocked them out of the NL Central lead.
Carpenter (9-3) worked around nine hits in seven-plus innings, allowing only Rafael Furcal's third-inning sacrifice fly. Manny Ramirez hit two of the Dodgers' four double-play balls against the right-hander.
Randy Wolf (5-5) worked six or more innings for the sixth straight start and allowed two runs on seven hits.
Nationals 14, Brewers 6
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Josh Willingham hit two grand slams and tied a franchise record with eight RBIs to lead Washington.
Willingham became the 13th player to hit two grand slams in a game and first since Boston's Bill Mueller hit one from each side of the plate on July 29, 2003, against Texas. Willingham's eight RBIs were the most in Nationals history and tied the franchise mark, accomplished last by Tim Wallach for Montreal against San Diego in 1990.
Willingham hit his 15th homer off Jeff Suppan (5-8) with two out in the fifth. Then he connected again in the sixth off Mark DiFelice.
Jason Bergmann (1-1) pitched 1 1-3 innings after rookie Craig Stammen was pulled one out short of qualifying for the win.
Cubs 5, Astros 1
CHICAGO (AP) - Alfonso Soriano redeemed himself for an earlier mental miscue by hitting a game-ending grand slam in the 13th inning to lead the Cubs past Houston.
Reliever Chris Sampson (4-2) gave up a leadoff walk on four pitches to Derrek Lee in the 13th, and Aramis Ramirez followed with a single to put runners on first and third. After an intentional walk to Milton Bradley loaded the bases, Soriano followed with a long homer - his fourth career slam - over the center-field wall to end it.
Jeff Samardzija (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings in relief and Lee also homered as the Cubs won their fifth straight and maintained their half-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.
Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 2
PHOENIX (AP) - Jamie Moyer pitched 6 2-3 shutout innings, Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and Philadelphia beat Arizona.
Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez, Pedro Feliz and Paul Bako each drove in a run as the Phillies stretched their lead in the NL East to a season-high seven games over Atlanta and Florida, which were idle. The defending world champions improved to a majors-best 30-15 on the road.
Baffling the weak-hitting Diamondbacks with a mix of 80 mph fastballs and even softer changeups, the 46-year-old Moyer (10-7) worked out of jams in each of the first three innings.
Jon Garland (5-10) lasted six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out two.