National League roundup

Gians 6, Padres 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Tim Lincecum won his third straight start following a career-high five-game losing streak and had a two-run single as the San Francisco Giants roughed up San Diego ace Mat Latos to win 6-1 Sunday and cut the struggling Padres' lead to less than one percentage point atop the NL West.

The Giants won three of four games after having lost nine of their first 11 against the Padres this year. The teams will meet in a season-ending series at San Francisco Oct. 1-3.

San Diego (80-62) leads San Francisco (81-63) by .5634 to .5625. Colorado is just 11/2 games back.

Rookie Buster Posey hit a two-run homer off Latos (14-6), who allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings, his worst start since April 26.

Lincecum (14-9) gave up one run and seven hits in seven innings and struck out nine to take over the NL lead with 208.

Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 2

DENVER (AP) - Pinch-hitter Jason Giambi hit a two-run homer off Sam Demel (1-1) with two outs in the ninth, giving Colorado its 10th straight win.

Jonathan Herrera started the rally when he reached on an error by second baseman Kelly Johnson.

Colorado's winning streak is the longest in the NL this season and one game short of the major league best shared by the Chicago White Sox and Texas.

Phillies 3, Mets 0

NEW YORK (AP) - Roy Oswalt (12-13) pitched a four-hitter for his second complete game this season.

Raul Ibanez hit a solo homer off Jon Niese (9-8), and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard had RBI singles for the Phillies (83-61), who moved a game ahead of second-place Atlanta in the NL East by winning for the fifth time in six games.

Pirates 3, Reds 1

CINCINNATI (AP) - Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run double in the ninth off Francisco Cordero (6-5), who blew his second straight save chance.

Chan Ho Park (1-1) worked a scoreless eighth inning to get the win. Joel Hanrahan loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth before striking out Chris Heisey for his fifth save.

Cardinals 7, Braves 3

ATLANTA (AP) - Albert Pujols hit two home runs to power St. Louis, dropping the Braves out of first place.

Pujols passed Hall of Famer Stan Musial for the most multihomer games in Cardinals history with 38, including five this season.

Kyle Lohse (3-7) allowed two runs in 5 1-3 innings to beat Tim Hudson (15-8), who lost his third straight.

The second-place Cardinals gained a game in the NL Central but still trail Cincinnati by six.

Marlins 6, Nationals 5

WASHINGTON (AP) - Mike Stanton homered twice off Jordan Zimmermann (0-1) and drove in three runs as Florida completed a three-game sweep.

Florida won 10 of its last 11 games against Washington to win the season series 13-5. The last-place Nationals have lost five in a row overall, falling a season-high 23 games under .500 at 60-83.

Brian Sanches (1-2) won in relief, striking out four in 1 2-3 innings, and Clay Hensley got three outs for his third save.

Astros 7, Dodgers 4

HOUSTON (AP) - Hunter Pence had his team-leading 24th homer among his three hits, and Carlos Lee hit his 21st homer as Astros earned a split of the four-game series.

Gustavo Chacin (2-2) escaped a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the fifth to keep the score tied 4-all. He and five other relievers combined for 4 1-3 innings of two-hit ball. Brandon Lyon pitched a hitless ninth for his 15th save.

Houston scored twice against Ramon Troncoso (1-3) in the fifth.

Brewers 2, Cubs 0

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Yovani Gallardo (12-7) pitched four-hit ball for seven innings to win for the first time in seven starts since Aug. 8, and he doubled and scored on Ryan Braun's fifth-inning double.

Casey McGehee homered in the eighth after the Brewers scored their first run of the three-game series.

Casey Coleman (1-2) allowed one run and five hits in six innings.