SAN DIEGO (AP) - Stephen Strasburg pitched a career-high eight innings against his hometown Padres, and Bryce Harper and Adam LaRoche homered to lead the Washington Nationals to a 6-2 victory against San Diego on Thursday night.
Strasburg's 54th big league start was his first professional appearance at Petco Park. The big right-hander went to high school in suburban Santee and pitched for Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn at San Diego State before the Nationals took him with the first overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft. He pitched twice at Petco Park for SDSU.
He allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits while striking out four and walking three. He got the final out of the eighth on his 117th pitch.
Strasburg (2-5) had gone seven innings 10 times, including three this year.
In Strasburg's only other appearance against the Padres, he lasted just four innings in a 6-1 loss at Washington on May 15, 2012.
Edison Volquez (3-4) took the loss.
METS 5, CARDINALS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Daniel Murphy and David Wright combined for five hits and three RBIs against Adam Wainwright and the Mets snapped a six-game losing streak with a victory over the Cardinals.
Jonathan Niese (3-4) allowed two runs on six hits in 7 1-3 innings, his longest outing of the season. He ended his four-game losing streak over five starts since a win at Minnesota on April 12.
The Mets avoided a four-game sweep by getting to the Cardinals ace. Wainwright (5-3) was coming off a two-hit shutout in which he no-hit the Rockies for 7 1-3 innings.
Murphy went 4 for 4, doubled twice and walked, and was 9 for 15 in the series. Wright doubled, singled and drove in two runs.
The Cardinals have never swept the Mets in a four-game series at home, almost always playing three-game sets.
REDS 5, MARLINS 3, 10 innings
MIAMI (AP) - NL RBI leader Brandon Phillips homered in the sixth inning and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, helping the Reds complete their second three-game sweep in a row by beating the Marlins.
Mat Latos and two relievers combined on a six-hitter. Aroldis Chapman (3-1) blew a save for the first time in nine chances.
J.J. Hoover gave up a run in the 10th but earned his third save.
Pinch-hitter Donald Lutz led off the 10th with a single against Steve Cishek (1-4). Following a walk, a bunt and an intentional walk, Phillips lifted a flyball for his second RBI of the night and 36th of the season.
Jay Bruce followed with a two-run double and finished with three RBIs.
PIRATES 7, BREWERS 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Travis Snider homered for the first time in nine months and drove in three runs to lead the Pirates past the reeling Brewers.
Snider finished 3 for 5, including a 458-foot blast off Hiram Burgos (1-2) in the sixth inning that gave the Pirates the lead. The home run sailed over bushes in right-center field at PNC Park, bounced on a sidewalk outside the stadium and landed in the Allegheny River.
Francisco Liriano (2-0) allowed one run on six hits over 5 2-3 innings, striking out seven and walking three.
Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Garrett Jones and Russell Martin had two hits for Pittsburgh.
Burgos gave up three runs in six innings but Milwaukee's offense sputtered. The Brewers have lost 11 of 13.
GIANTS 8, ROCKIES 6
DENVER (AP) - Angel Pagan broke a tie with a two-run single in the sixth, Matt Cain settled down after a shaky start and the Giants won their 10th straight over Colorado, rallying from a six-run deficit to beat the Rockies.
Brandon Crawford added a three-run double to help San Francisco and Marco Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
The NL West-leading Giants also extended their mastery over the Rockies, improving to 31-9 since 2011.
Cain (3-2) struggled early, giving up homers on consecutive pitches to Todd Helton and Nolan Arenado in the second, along with a three-run homer to Wilin Rosario an inning later.