SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Cole Hamels pitched a seven-hitter for his first win in two weeks and the Philadelphia Phillies made a pair of first-inning runs hold up in a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, extending their season-high winning streak to nine games.
Hamels struck out five and faced five batters more than the minimum while dominating the defending World Series champs. All but three of the 27 outs recorded by the All-Star left-hander were made by the infield. Philadelphia also backed Hamels (13-6) with two double plays in a game that took 2 hours, 14 minutes.
The game was far less testy than Friday night's 9-2 Phillies win, which included the ejection of three players following a bench-clearing brawl in the sixth inning.
Matt Cain (-8) allowed only three hits over eight innings but took the loss, his second straight. San Francisco has dropped eight of nine since taking two of three games from the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Brewers 7, Astros 5
HOUSTON (AP) - Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer in the first inning and later doubled and singled as the Milwaukee Brewers won for the 10th time in 11 games by beating the Houston Astros.
Fielder drove in four runs, giving him 83 RBIs for the season. He reached base all five times. Yuniesky Betancourt had four hits with an RBI, and Ryan Braun had two hits and scored twice for Milwaukee.
Chris Narveson (8-6) went 5 1-3 innings and John Axford gave up a run in the ninth but finished for his 32nd save.
Carlos Lee, J.D. Martinez and Clint Barmes all hit homers for Houston. Brett Myers (3-12) lost his sixth straight decision.
Cardinals 2, Marlins 1
MIAMI (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first inning, then Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis bullpen made it stand up in a win over the Florida Marlins.
Carpenter (7-8) gave five hits over 6 2-3 innings as the Cardinals won for the fourth time in five games.
Fernando Salas, the fifth Cardinals pitcher, worked a scoreless ninth for his 21st save in 24 chances.
Ricky Nolasco (8-8) gave up 10 hits in seven innings.
Padres 13, Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Kyle Blanks hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as the San Diego Padres sent the free-falling Pittsburgh Pirates to their ninth straight loss.
The Pirates were in first place on July 26, but have lost 11 of 12 while plummeting out of the NL Central lead. Pittsburgh fell nine game behind division-leading Milwaukee.
Fans at PNC Park booed as Pittsburgh dropped to 0-6 on its homestand. The last-place Padres have won three in a row overall.
The Padres had not hit a grand slam this season until Chase Headley did it Friday night. Blanks' shot marked the first time San Diego had hit slams on consecutive days since Aug. 13-14, 1991, when Fred McGriff had both. Cleveland was the most recent team to do it, Sept. 17-18 of last season.
Rookie Cory Luebke (4-6) struck out a career-high nine and allowed one run over seven innings. He also had two hits and scored a run to help the Padres win their eighth straight game in Pittsburgh. Paul Maholm (6-12) gave up a season-high seven earned runs.
Cubs 11, Reds 4
CHICAGO (AP) - Carlos Zambrano hit his 23rd career home run and pitched six solid innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds for their seventh straight win.
The Cubs pounded Reds starter Johnny Cueto (7-5) for five runs and seven hits in 3 2-3 innings. Chicago has its longest winning streak since August 2008.
Zambrano (9-6) overcome early control problems. He allowed six hits and four walks and struck out six.
Starlin Castro drove in four runs for Chicago, his highest RBI total since he drove in six in his major league debut May 5, 2010. He doubled and singled, raising his NL-best hit total to 148.
Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips had to leave the game with a sprained right ankle after colliding with center fielder Drew Stubbs in the fourth. Phillips was able to finish the inning but was removed for pinch-hitter Todd Frazier in the fifth.
Yonder Alonso drove in two runs and hit his first major league homer for the Reds, who have lost four of five and 11 of their last 15 on the road.
Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 3
PHOENIX (AP) - Nathan Eovaldi pitched five solid innings in his major league debut and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Eovaldi (1-0), who pitched in the Double-A Southern League All-Star game in late June, allowed two runs on four hits. He struck out seven and walked two. He also singled and scored a run.
Scott Elbert pitched the ninth for his second save.
Rod Barajas has three hits and drove in a pair of runs for the Dodgers, who have won four of five.
Joe Saunders (8-9) had two hits and drove in two runs.
Rockies 15, Nationals 7
DENVER (AP) - Ty Wigginton and Chris Iannetta each homered in a five-run fourth inning, Jhoulys Chacin won for the first time in seven weeks and a Colorado team shaken by the loss of rookie pitcher Juan Nicasio to a neck injury beat the Washington Nationals.
Troy Tulowitzki went 3 for 3 with two doubles and drove in three runs for the Rockies.
Carlos Gonzalez added a pair of singles, scored twice and drove in a run in his return after spending the previous two weeks on the disabled list with a strained right wrist. Dexter Fowler drove in a career-best four runs with a triple and single.
The 24-year-old Nicasio remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition and was said to resting comfortably after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured vertebra suffered the night before when hit in the head by a line drive. Team officials say Nicasio has movement in his arms and legs and there are no signs of bruising, bleeding or other damage to the spinal cord, encouraging signs in his recovery.
Chacin (9-8) allowed three runs on five hits in five innings, good enough for his first win since June 15. He walked five and struck out four in snapping a four-game losing streak stretching over his previous eight starts.
Livan Hernandez (6-11) gave up a season-high nine runs - seven earned - in 3 2-3 innings.
Mets 11, Braves 7
NEW YORK (AP) - Justin Turner homered twice and the New York Mets stopped a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Jason Bay and Josh Thole also homered for the Mets, who banged out 16 hits to break out of a weeklong offensive funk. New York hit four homers in a game for the first time in more than a year.
Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 27 games, and Freddie Freeman ran his own to 20 for the Braves, who have lost four of six.
Jonathon Niese (11-8) gave up a season-high 10 hits, but made it through five innings. He allowed five runs and struck out six to win for the fourth time in five decisions and eighth in 11.
Tommy Hanson (11-7) had his worst start of the season, allowing seven runs in 3 1-3 innings.