Astros nip Reds, close in on Cards

HOUSTON -- Lance Berkman hit his 35th homer, a career high, and rookie Kirk Saarloos allowed four hits in seven innings to lead the Houston Astros past the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 Sunday.

The Astros moved to within three games of the Cardinals in the NL Central.

Saarloos (6-3) struck out five and walked two, winning for the first time in three decisions since Aug. 10. He had won five starts in a row before that.

Pedro Borbon struck out three in the ninth for his first save since Aug. 20, 2000, with Toronto.

Ryan Dempster (7-13) allowed two hits and four walks in seven innings, giving up the first-inning homer to Berkman. Dempster is 2-5 in nine starts since Cincinnati acquired him from Florida on July 11.

Diamondbacks 1, Cubs 0

PHOENIX -- Randy Johnson struck out 16 to earn his 19th victory as Arizona beat Chicago.

Johnson's win total is second in the majors to teammate Curt Schilling's 21. He scattered six hits and walked two to improve to 11-0 in 12 starts against the Cubs, who were missing Sammy Sosa because of a sore neck.

Johnson (19-4) reached double-digit strikeouts for the sixth start in a row, 14th time this season and 185th in his career, second only to Nolan Ryan's 213.

The shutout was the Big Unit's third this year -- second in five starts -- and 33rd of his career. The 16 strikeouts were one short of Johnson's season high.

Giants 8, Expos 4

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds doubled twice and scored two runs, and Jason Schmidt pitched San Francisco past Montreal for his second victory on the homestand.

Benito Santiago drove in three runs and J.T. Snow knocked in two as the Giants avoided a series sweep by scoring more than three runs for the first time since Aug. 13.

Schmidt (9-6) followed up his 13-strikeout performance Tuesday night by allowing six hits in seven innings.

Mets 7, Rockies 4

DENVER -- Raul Gonzalez hit his first two major league homers and drove in four runs to lead Al Leiter and New York past Colorado.

Edgardo Alfonzo also homered and had three RBIs for the Mets, who handed Denny Neagle (7-8) his first loss in six starts.

New York has won two in a row following a 12-game losing skid.

The teams traded beanballs in the ninth inning, leading to the ejection of Rockies reliever Kent Mercker, Mets pitcher David Weathers and both managers.

Pirates 3, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE -- Kris Benson (6-6) pitched eight solid innings and Rob Mackowiak homered as Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee for the 15th time this year.

Mackowiak had three hits, and Amaris Ramirez's sacrifice fly snapped a seventh-inning tie as the Pirates sent Milwaukee to its fifth consecutive loss overall.

Marlins 7, Padres 6

SAN DIEGO -- Luis Castillo singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Florida beat San Diego to win its first road series in more than two months.

Kevin Millar homered and drove in three runs for the Marlins. Juan Encarnacion hit a solo shot, his 20th, to set a career high.

Braves 7, Dodgers 5

LOS ANGELES -- Chipper Jones and Javy Lopez homered in a five-run first inning and Mark DeRosa went 3-for-4 with a two-run triple as Atlanta beat Los Angeles to avoid a three-game sweep.

The Dodgers lost for just the fourth time in 17 games. Their lead in the wild-card race fell to 3 1/2 game over San Francisco, who beat Montreal 8-4.

Damian Moss (7-5) got the win despite allowing five runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings.

--From wire reports