NL roundup: Cubs edge Braves in extras

ATLANTA (AP) " Pinch-hitter Micah Hoffpauir blooped an RBI single to left field in the 11th inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 Wednesday night.

Derrek Lee started the 11th by drawing a walk from Jeff Bennett (2-3), then pulled off a nifty bit of baserunning to reach second. On a routine fly to left, Lee caught Matt Diaz off guard by tagging up and just beating a delayed throw to the bag.

Lee stopped at third on a single by Reed Johnson but came home when Hoffpauir looped a single just over the head of third baseman Chipper Jones.

The Braves, who rallied from five runs down the previous night to win 6-5 in the 12th, couldn't pull off another comeback. Kevin Gregg bounced back from blowing that one to set down Atlanta in order, earning his ninth save in 11 chances.

Angel Guzman (2-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings. Both starters " Chicago's Ted Lilly and Atlanta's Derek Lowe " pitched seven strong innings.

Phillies 5, Padres 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) " Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer off Chris Young and Philadelphia won its sixth straight game.

It was Howard's second homer of the series and the sixth for the Phillies. Philadelphia swept this three-game series by scoring 20 runs on 33 hits, including 15 for extra bases.

J.A. Happ (4-0) held the Padres to four hits in seven scoreless innings, the longest of his eight career starts over two seasons.

Reliever J.C. Romero returned to the Phillies following his 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance. The left-hander pitched 1 1-3 innings, allowing an unearned run.

Young (4-4) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings.

Dodgers 1, Diamondbacks 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) " Chad Billingsley scattered four hits and struck out nine over six innings and Casey Blake hit a sacrifice fly to supply all the offense.

Billingsley (7-3) walked four, rebounding strongly after back-to-back losses against the Angels and Cubs.

Ramon Troncoso escaped a jam in the eighth when shortstop Rafael Furcal fielded Miguel Montero's sharp grounder with runners at the corners and stepped on second base before completing an inning-ending double play. Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save in 15 games, completing the combined seven-hitter.

Jon Garland (4-5) yielded one run and four hits and struck out six in his Dodger Stadium debut.

Reds 9, Cardinals 3

ST. LOUIS (AP) " Johnny Cueto beat St. Louis for the second time in less than a month and Laynce Nix homered twice with four RBIs for Cincinnati.

Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse (4-4) was taken out with none out in the third inning complaining of tightness in his right forearm, an injury from getting hit by a pitch that had forced him to skip a turn in the rotation.

Cueto (5-3) allowed one run on 6 1-3 innings.

Nix homered in the second for the Reds' first run and added a three-run shot, his sixth of the season, off Chris Perez in the eighth for a 7-1 cushion. He also made an outstanding leaping catch to rob Ryan Ludwick of extra bases and an RBI in the sixth.

Brandon Phillips was 3-for-5 with his 10th homer in the ninth, an RBI single and two steals for the Reds.

Brewers 9, Marlins 6

MIAMI (AP) " Ryan Braun homered and Milwaukee scored three runs on walks to snap its five-game road losing streak.

The Brewers scored six runs in the fifth inning, three on bases-loaded walks by reliever Hayden Penn, who came in for rookie Sean West (0-3) with runners on first and second.

Seth McClung (3-1) pitched 3 1-3 innings of relief, allowing only an eighth-inning homer by Dan Uggla. Trevor Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 14 chances this season.

Jorge Cantu's solo home run in the fourth for Florida was the first hit of the game off starter Braden Looper, who allowed five runs in 4 2-3 innings.

Astros 6, Rockies 4

HOUSTON (AP) " Hunter Pence had a solo homer and two RBI singles and Houston won its fourth straight.

Lance Berkman and Ivan Rodriguez also drove in runs for the Astros, who've won five of six overall and seven of their last eight games against Colorado.

Chris Sampson held the Rockies scoreless in the eighth and ninth to earn his third save in four chances. Tim Byrdak (1-1) pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief of starter Brian Moehler to get the win.

Ian Stewart hit a three-run homer off for the Rockies, who've lost four in a row.

The Astros started the bottom of the first with four consecutive singles off Jason Marquis (7-4) to build a 3-0 lead.