Miller settles down to pitch Houston past Cincinnati

CINCINNATI Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer and Wade Miller pitched one-hit ball for six innings as the Houston Astros snapped a four-game skid Saturday with a 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Jeff Kent homered for the second consecutive game for the Astros, who dropped out of first place in the NL Central on Friday for the first time since July 7.

Miller (10-10) overcame control problems to win his third straight start and improve to 6-0 in 11 career games against Cincinnati. The right-hander had four strikeouts and matched his season high with four walks.

Seth Etherton (0-1) allowed six hits and five runs in five innings, his first major league appearance since Aug. 4, 2000, for Anaheim at Cleveland. Etherton was acquired by the Reds in December 2000, but a series of arm injuries kept him from pitching in the majors.

Dodgers 10, Cubs 5

CHICAGO Adrian Beltre homered and drove in a season-high four runs, leading Los over Chicago.

Jeromy Burnitz also homered for the Dodgers, who roughed up Kerry Wood and snapped Chicago's four-game winning streak. One day after moving into first place, the Cubs slipped a half-game behind Houston in the NL Central again.

Shawn Green had three hits and two RBIs, and Dave Roberts got three hits and scored three times.

Aramis Ramirez hit a pair of two-run homers for the Cubs.

Dodgers starter Odalis Perez (9-9) pitched 6 1-3 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits.

Wood gave up five runs on five hits and four walks in just 2 2-3 innings, his shortest outing since Sept. 22, 2000, against St. Louis, when he went just 1 1-3 innings.

Brewers 6, Pirates 4

PITTSBURGH Scott Podsednik hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning as Milwaukee took advantage of Pittsburgh's trade-depleted bullpen to beat the Pirates.

The Pirates led 4-3 entering the ninth on Reggie Sanders' solo homer in the seventh, but a bullpen that has struggled since Pittsburgh traded former closer Mike Williams and top setup man Scott Sauerbeck last month again couldn't finish the game.

With Mike Lincoln on to try to finish it off, third baseman Jose Hernandez misplayed pinch-hitter Eric Young's grounder to start the ninth and pinch-hitter Brooks Kieschnick walked with one out.

Joe Beimel, 0-for-5 in save opportunities, then came to try to get his first save, but Podsednik hit an 0-1 pitch for his fourth homer. He went 4-for-5 with a double and four RBIs.

The Pirates made another trade after the game, sending first baseman Randall Simon to the Chicago Cubs for a minor league outfielder.

Marlins 6, Padres 3

MIAMI Juan Pierre drove in two runs with a triple and saved two runs with a running catch as Florida beat San Diego.

Pierre's seventh-inning triple off Jay Witasick (3-3) put Florida ahead for good, giving the Marlins their fourth win in five games, and took rookie Dontrelle Willis off the hook for the loss.

Trailing 3-1 with runners on first and second and two outs in the sixth, Pierre tracked down Ramon Vazquez's fly ball to the deepest part of Pro Player Stadium 434 feet from home plate in left-center and kept San Diego from building on its two-run lead.

Willis rebounded from the worst start of his promising career by giving up seven hits and three runs in six innings. He allowed seven runs on six hits and three walks in two innings against Los Angeles on Monday. The D-Train is now 2-2 with a 6.09 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break.

Phillies 5, Cardinals 4

PHILADELPHIA Jim Thome and Mike Lieberthal hit back-to-back homers to spark a four-run sixth inning as Philadelphia won its fourth straight.

Albert Pujols extended his hitting streak to 30 games with a seventh-inning single, the longest by a St. Louis Cardinals player since Stan Musial hit in 30 straight in 1950. Pujols finished 1-for-2 with three walks.

Jim Edmonds tripled off the head of center fielder Marlon Byrd in the third inning and former Phillies third baseman Scott Rolen homered for the Cardinals, who have lost three of four.

St. Louis rookie Danny Haren (3-4), who retired 13 straight before the sixth inning. Jose Mesa got three outs for his 22nd save in 25 opportunities his first since July 30.

Brett Myers (12-7) allowed four runs on six hits over 6 1-3 innings.

Expos 4, Giants 1

MONTREAL Zach Day pitched seven shutout innings and hit an RBI single, leading Montreal over San Francisco.

Vladimir Guerrero went 2-for-3, including a two-run double in the fourth inning, as Montreal moved to 5-0 against the NL West leaders this season.

Playing its second game in a row without Barry Bonds, who is on bereavement leave to be with his ailing father, San Francisco fell to 0-4 on its six-game road trip.

Day (7-4) scattered four hits, improving to 3-0 in his last four starts. Luis Ayala allowed a two-out RBI single to Edgardo Alfonzo in the ninth before Rocky Biddle retired Neifi Perez on one pitch for his 29th save in 34 chances.

Jason Schmidt (12-5) had his four-game winning streak snapped.

Braves 10, Diamondbacks 6

ATLANTA Pinch-hitter Julio Franco's two-run single highlighted a five-run fifth inning, and Atlanta beat Arizona.

Andruw Jones had two hits and three RBIs and Marcus Giles hit his 16th homer as the Braves won their major league-leading 80th game of the season.

Kevin Gryboski (6-3) struck out Raul Mondesi his only batter to end Arizona's fifth-inning rally and bail out starter Horacio Ramirez, who made two of Atlanta's four errors in a shaky 4 2-3 innings.

Reliever Eddie Oropesa (3-3) gave up all five runs.

Mets 13, Rockies 4

NEW YORK Cliff Floyd and Timo Perez each drove in four runs, and New York beat Colorado for its first four-game winning streak of the season.

Jason Phillips finished with three RBIs, and fellow rookie Jose Reyes had three hits and three runs scored for the suddenly resurgent Mets. Behind a bevy of young players, last-place New York has won eight of 11 overall.

Jae Weong Seo (6-8) won for the first time in nearly two months, allowing four runs and seven hits in five innings.

He had been 0-6 in nine starts since beating Florida on June 17.

The Mets roughed up All-Star Shawn Chacon (11-8), scoring six runs in the second inning.