Mets' hitters come through

NL Capsules

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By The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - On a rare off-night for Johan Santana, the New York Mets bailed their ace out with their bats.

David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church homered - with Church sending a drive over the 16-foot wall and into the well where the Home Run Apple sits in straightaway center field - and the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 Tuesday night.

Santana (8-3) tied his career high by allowing four home runs for only the second time in 221 major league starts, allowing drives to Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. Ibanez's drive was just the 10th ever off Santana on an 0-2 pitch.

But Santana also helped himself with his bat, hitting a tying double in the sixth off Clay Condrey (4-1). Alex Cora's RBI single made it 5-4 and Church homered off Chad Durbin in the seventh.

Braves 4, Pirates 3

ATLANTA (AP) - Derek Lowe pitched seven solid innings and Yunel Escobar hit a two-run single in the seventh, carrying the Braves to a victory over the Pirates.

The Braves won their third straight game - matching the season high - and were probably just glad to get it done in regulation. The teams played a 15-inning marathon the previous night that Atlanta won 7-6.

Lowe (7-3) allowed seven hits, walked one and wound up snapping a personal two-game losing streak, after being lifted for the pinch-hitter Blanco. Sean Burnett (1-2) took the loss after starter Ross Ohlendorf pitched into the seventh.

Rafael Soriano pitched around an error by Chipper Jones for his fifth save in six tries.

Marlins 4, Cardinals 3

MIAMI (AP) - Jeremy Hermida homered leading off the ninth inning, lifting the Marlins to a victory over the Cardinals.

Hermida hit a 1-1 pitch from reliever Jason Motte (2-2) into the right-field seats for his first career game-winner homer. It came after Matt Lindstrom (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the Marlins, who rallied from an early three-run hole.

Cardinals start Chris Carpenter allowed three runs in six innings after having given up three runs in his first six starts combined. His ERA rose from 0.79 to 1.29.

Rockies 3, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Carlos Gonzalez had a pair of doubles and the Colorado Rockies rallied for three runs in the seventh inning to continue their recent road resurgence, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 on Tuesday night.

The Rockies, who have won six straight on the road under recently named manager Jim Tracy - including their four-game sweep of the Cardinals.

Rockies starter Jason Hammel (3-3) gave up only two runs and five hits in six innings. Milwaukee couldn't muster a baserunner after the fourth. Hammel left after six, Matt Daley and Manuel Corpas shut the Brewers down in the seventh and eighth, and Huston Street pitched the ninth for his 10th save.

Todd Coffey (1-1) took the loss for Milwaukee.

Cubs 7, Astros 1

HOUSTON (AP) - Ted Lilly pitched 6 2-3 shutout innings and the Cubs beat the Astros.

Lilly (7-4) allowed only three hits to beat the Astros for the sixth straight time and improve to 3-0 against them this season.

Mike Fontenot hit a solo homer and Andres Blanco added a two-run double for the Cubs, who improved to 5-1 at Minute Maid Park this season.

Lance Berkman hit his 299th career homer in the ninth off Sean Marshall to avoid the Astros' sixth shutout loss of the season. The Cubs beat Houston for the sixth time in the last eight meetings and began hammering starter Brian Moehler (2-4) in the first inning.

Reds 3, Nationals 2

WASHINGTON (AP) - Johnny Cueto had another one-run outing, and Brandon Phillips knocked in a pair of runs with a double as the Reds opened a six-game road trip with a win over the Nationals.

Cueto (6-3) allowed four hits over seven innings, the only noteworthy damage coming on a solo homer by Elijah Dukes in the fourth. The right-hander's ERA dropped to 2.33 after the sixth start this season in which he allowed one or no runs.

Arthur Rhodes allowed a solo shot by Cristian Guzman in the eighth, and David Weathers and Francisco Cordero finished off the victory for the Reds in a game that began after a rain delay of 1 hour, 47 minutes. Cordero pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 15th save in as many chances. Dodgers 6, Padres 4

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Andre Ethier homered his first two times up, Matt Kemp hit a go-ahead shot, and Orlando Hudson also went deep against Chris Young to lead the Dodgers to a victory over the Padres.

Chad Billingsley (8-3) overcame a shaky start to tie Johan Santana, Jason Marquis and Matt Cain for the NL lead in wins. The right-hander threw 117 pitches over 5 2-3 innings, allowing three runs and eight hits just hours after suspended slugger Manny Ramirez made a surprise visit to the Dodgers' clubhouse with 20 games left on his 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's substance abuse policy.

Young (4-5) was charged with five runs and six hits over five innings in his third consecutive loss.