Lowe, Braves break DBacks; Cubs triumph

ATLANTA – Atlanta’s Derek Lowe combined with his bullpen to stymie the Arizona Diamondbacks, pitching the Braves to a 4-2 win on Friday in a clash of National League playoff contenders.

Lowe (8-11) allowed four hits and struck out seven over the first five innings. Craig Kimbrel closed it out to get his 38th save and extend his run of appearances without conceding a run to 29 games.

Michael Bourn led off the bottom of the first with his first homer since coming to the Braves in a trade last month. Brian McCann added a two-run shot in the third, and Chipper Jones extended the lead in the sixth with his second homer in two nights.

Diamondbacks starter Daniel Hudson (12-9) went six innings, giving up seven hits.

In Washington, Ryan Zimmerman hit a grand slam on a full count with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, capping a six-run inning that lifted Washington to an improbable 8-4 victory over Philadelphia.

The Nationals were trailing 4-2 facing Phillies closer Ryan Madson (3-2), but they sent eight men to the plate against him. Jayson Werth opened the inning by singling. Danny Espinosa and Jonny Gomes singled to drive in one before Wilson Ramos bunted to put runners on second and third, and Jesus Flores was walked to load the bases.

Ian Desmond singled to score Espinosa. After an out, Zimmerman finished things with the eighth game-ending homer of his career, and his third grand slam.

Todd Coffey (4-1) pitched the top of the ninth to get the win for the Nationals, who handed the Phillies only their second loss in the past 13 road games.

In New York, Prince Fielder hit two RBI singles as streaking Milwaukee beat New York, 6-1, and moved a season-high 7-1/2 games clear atop the NL Central.

Shaun Marcum (11-3) allowed one run in seven innings to pitch the Brewers to their 20th win in 23 games; this one was clinched at 12:51 a.m after a nearly three-hour rain delay.

The Mets became the first team in major league history to lose the opening game in their first 10 homestands of a season, STATS LLC said.

New York starter Mike Pelfrey (6-10) allowed four runs in five innings.

In Chicago, Tyler Colvin’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th gave Chicago a 5-4 victory over St. Louis.

Geovany Soto led off the inning with a single off Octavio Dotel (0-2), advanced to second on Marlon Byrd’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Colvin’s hit to center field to end the game, just hours as the Cubs fired general manager Jim Hendry.

Soto also had a game-tying RBI double in the eighth. Darwin Barney homered and tripled, and Starlin Castro added two hits for the Cubs. Sean Marshall (6-5) pitched a perfect 10th to earn the win.

In Pittsburgh, Joey Votto hit his 21st homer of the season and later scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth to lead Cincinnati over Pittsburgh, 11-8. (AP)

Brandon Phillips went 3 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs for Cincinnati, which let a four-run lead slip away. Ryan Hanigan added a solo shot and drove in two insurance runs for the Reds in the ninth.

Cincinnati’s Travis Wood (6-5) picked up the win in relief, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth when center fielder Drew Stubbs threw out Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen at the plate.

Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan (0-2) took the loss, giving up three runs while getting just one out in the ninth after entering with the score tied.

Dodgers 8, Rockies 2

In Denver, Los Angeles’ Hiroki Kuroda pitched six strong innings for his first career win against Colorado.

Kuroda (9-14) had entered 0-5 with a 5.81 ERA in nine previous starts against the Rockies in his four-year major league career. He allowed four hits with five strikeouts.

Rod Barajas hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs before leaving in the sixth with a mild right groin strain, while Tony Gwynn also went long for the Dodgers, who broke clear with a four-run third inning.

Rockies starter Jason Hammel lacked control on his pitches and lasted only three innings- his shortest outing of the season- giving up six runs.

 Padres 4, Marlins 3

In San Diego, Kyle Blanks hit a two-run homer and made a great catch in left field to lift San Diego over Florida.

Blanks went long in the fourth inning to put the Padres ahead to stay 3-2, then made a running catch to rob Gaby Sanchez of an extra-base hit in the fifth inning.

San Diego won its fifth straight game over the Marlins this season, and handed Florida its 13th loss in 15 games.

Padres starter Wade LeBlanc (2-2) had a shaky outing but the bullpen held the Marlins in check. Heath Bell pitched the ninth for this 34th save in 37 chances.

Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad (5-10) has allowed 20 homers in 22 starts this season.

 Astros 6, Giants 0

In Houston, Wandy Rodriguez pitched eight scoreless innings and had a two-run single to lead Houston over San Francisco.

The Astros were leading 2-0 in the sixth when Carlos Corporan hit an RBI single with two outs and Rodriguez followed with a long single down the right field line on the first pitch from Ryan Vogelsong (10-3).

From the mound, Rodriguez (9-9) struck out eight.

Brian Bogusevic made it 6-0 with a homer in the eighth for lowly Houston, which has won three straight, and recorded only its fourth shutout of the season.