Friday National League Capsules.
CHICAGO CUBS 3, PHILADELPHIA 2
CHICAGO The Chicago Cubs seemingly can do no wrong.
Alfonso Soriano snapped a tie with a solo home run in the seventh inning as the Cubs rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, extending their winning streak to seven games after benefiting from a questionable call at first base.
Chicago, which improved its major league-best record to 85-50, is on pace to win 100 games for the first time since 1935. The Cubs entered Fridays contest with a 6 1/2-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers (77-56) in the National League Central.
Facing former teammate Joe Blanton, Chicago starter Rich Harden was not sharp, throwing 100 pitches in five innings, although he allowed just one earned run.
Rookie Jeff Samardzija (1-0) tossed 1 1/3 innings to record his first career win and Carlos Marmol registered the final five outs for his seventh save as closer Kerry Wood was unavailable.
After Samardzija pitched a scoreless seventh, Sorianos homer off Clay Condrey (3-4) in the bottom half – his 23rd of the season – gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead.
Samardzija, however, may have received some help from first base umpire Chris Guccione in the top of the seventh. With runners on the corners and two outs, first baseman Derrek Lee was unable to handle a hard grounder by Ryan Howard.
Lee chased down the ball and flipped to Samardzija covering for the final out, but replays indicated that Howard was across the bag before the ball reached Samardzijas glove. Between innings, Phillies third base coach Steve Smith was ejected during a lengthy argument.
The Phillies had grabbed a 2-0 lead on Pat Burrells RBI single in the first and an error by right fielder Kosuke Fukudome in the fifth that allowed Chase Utley to score.
Chicago halved the deficit in the bottom of the fifth on a run-scoring groundout by pinch hitter Daryle Ward and pulled even in the sixth, when former Cub Scott Eyre walked Fukudome with the bases loaded.
MILWAUKEE 3, PITTSBURGH 1
PITTSBURGH Ryan Braun hit his 34th home run of the season to power the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have lost eight in a row.
Braun, who is batting .471 (8-for-17) with three homers in his career against Tom Gorzelanny (6-9), took the lefthander deep again in the first inning, sending a 2-1 fastball into the right field stands for a three-run blast.
That was all Dave Bush (9-9) needed to record his fourth straight win as the righthander allowed a run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Two relievers bridged the gap to closer Salomon Torres, who worked around a one-out single for his 26th save of the season.
Nate McLouth provided the only offense for the Pirates with a solo home run in the fifth.
HOUSTON 3, ST. LOUIS 2
HOUSTON Lance Berkman blasted a game-winning, solo homer with one out in the ninth inning to propel the Houston Astros to a 3-2 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Prior to Berkmans shot off Russ Springer (2-1), David Newhan had connected on a two-run homer in the seventh to pull the Astros even at 2-2 against St. Louis starter Kyle Lohse.
Doug Brocail (6-5) tossed a scoreless ninth to notch the victory.
In the fourth, Houston starter Randy Wolf let Ryan Ludwick reach on his throwing error before walking Troy Glaus. Yadier Molina then laced an RBI double. Ludwick added a run-scoring double in the sixth to increase the Cardinals bulge to 2-0.
NY METS 5, FLORIDA 4
MIAMI Carlos Beltran blasted a grand slam off Kevin Gregg in the ninth inning to give the New York Mets a dramatic 5-4 win over the Florida Marlins.
Gregg (6-8) retired the first two batters in the ninth before Luis Castillo singled up the middle. David Wright followed with a base hit to left field before Carlos Delgado was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Batting from the left side of the plate, Beltran deposited the first pitch he saw deep into the right field seats.
Mets starter Oliver Perez went six innings, allowing two runs, three hits and five walks. Joe Smith (2-3) threw a scoreless eighth for the win and Luis Ayala, who surrendered two runs and four hits in the ninth, stranded the tying run on third to notch his third save.
Chris Volstad pitched 6 1/3 stellar innings for the Marlins, allowing one run, five hits and three walks while striking out five.
Josh Willingham hit his 10th home run for Florida in the second inning.
WASHINGTON 7, ATLANTA 3
WASHINGTON Ryan Zimmerman and Lastings Milledge drove in two runs apiece and Odalis Perez pitched 6 1/3 solid innings to lead the Washington Nationals to a 7-3 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Zimmerman had his first multiple-RBI game since returning July 22 from a two-month stint on the disabled list. The slugger got the Nationals on the board with a single in the first and chipped in a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Milledges two-run single in the fourth gave Washington a 5-0 advantage. The 23-year-old outfielder also doubled and scored in the sixth.
Perez (6-10) allowed three runs – two earned – and seven hits while walking two and striking out three in snapping a two-start losing streak.
CINCINNATI 11, SAN FRANCISCO 7
CINCINNATI Edwin Encarnacion drove in five runs and rookie Chris Dickerson added three hits and four RBI to help the Cincinnati Reds top the San Francisco Giants, 11-7.
Dickerson laced a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth to give the Reds a 6-4 bulge. With the bases loaded later in the frame, Joey Votto was hit by a pitch and Encarnacion walked to cap the four-run outburst.
Edinson Volquez (16-5) surrendered six runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings but received more support when Dickerson belted a two-run homer in the fifth.
Encarnacion sparked a third-inning rally against Barry Zito (8-16) with a grand slam to open the scoring, but San Francisco evened the contest with its own four-run uprising in the fourth.
COLORADO 9, SAN DIEGO 4
SAN DIEGO Garrett Atkins blasted two home runs and had five RBI as the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Diego Padres, 9-4.
Atkins first homer capped a four-run third inning for the Rockies. His 17th blast, a three-run shot off Dirk Hayhurst (0-1), came three batters after Willy Taveras knotted the game at 1-1 with an RBI double.
Atkins capped his second two-homer effort of the season in the ninth with a two-run shot to center field.
The outburst helped Aaron Cook (16-8) notch his 16th victory. The All-Star righthander worked six innings, allowing two runs and five hits while striking out three and walking two.
Manuel Corpas and Taylor Buchholz each yielded a run in one inning before Brian Fuentes tossed a scoreless ninth.
The Padres managed single runs in the second, third and seventh innings but saw any chance for victory slip away when the Rockies added three in the eighth, an uprising keyed by Seth Smiths two-run pinch double.
ARIZONA 9, LA DODGERS 3
PHOENIX Adam Dunn and Stephen Drew each drove in a two runs as the Arizona Diamondbacks used a pair of rallies to top the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-3.
The Diamondbacks (69-65) overcame a one-run deficit with a three-run fifth and put the game away with a four-run seventh to open up a 4 1/2-game advantage over the Dodgers (65-70) in the battle for first place in the National League West.
Drew capped the rally in the fifth with a sacrifice fly and plated the first run in the seventh with an RBI single.
The Dodgers have lost a season-high eight straight games and have not scored more than four runs in any of their last 11 contests.
