Chicago ace masters Cards

ST. LOUIS (AP) — All Carlos Zambrano needed to end a bad month was a start against St. Louis.

He entered Saturday's game with a 1-2 record and a 6.91 ERA, but continued his mastery of St. Louis, pitching seven innings of one-run ball to help the Chicago Cubs win 8-1.

Zambrano (2-2) is unbeaten against the Cardinals in his last eight starts, going 5-0 with a 1.54 ERA (58 2-3 innings) over that stretch. He ended a three-game winless streak by allowing one run and seven hits with two strikeouts.

Zambrano had plenty of help from his teammates. Jacque Jones went 3-for-4 and hit a bases-loaded triple as part of a seven-run fifth inning, while Derrek Lee continued his hot start for the Cubs, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.

BRAVES 6, ROCKIES 2: At Denver, John Smoltz continued his dominance of Colorado and Chipper Jones drove in two runs for Atlanta.

Smoltz (3-1) allowed two runs, nine hits, and struck out eight in seven innings to improve to 11-4 with nine saves and a 3.43 ERA in his career against the Rockies.

METS 6, NATIONALS 2: At Washington, Carlos Beltran and David Wright drove a four run 12th inning for the Mets.

Beltran's double down the first-base line off Ryan Wagner snapped a 2-2 tie, and Wright's single to left tacked on two more runs.

MARLINS 11, PHILLIES 5: At Philadelphia, Miguel Cabrera had a career-best five hits for Florida and Dontrelle Willis won despite struggling through 6 1-3 innings.

Cabrera had four singles and his seventh homer of the year. Josh Willingham added a three-run home run for the Marlins.

REDS 8, PIRATES 1: At Pittsburgh, Matt Belisle didn't allow a baserunner until the sixth inning and finished with a five-hitter for his first complete game and Cincinnati ended Pittsburgh's five-game winning streak.

Belisle (3-1) retired the Pirates' first 16 batters until Ronny Paulino doubled into the right-center gap with Cincinnati up 5-0 in the sixth. The right-hander struck out five and walked none.

ASTROS 10, BREWERS 1: At Houston, Craig Biggio had three RBIs and Houston snapped a seven-game losing streak.

Lance Berkman, Mark Loretta and Adam Everett each had two RBIs and the Astros shook out of an offensive slump with their highest run total of the season.

PADRES 3, DODGERS 2: At San Diego, Trevor Hoffman rebounded from two straight blown save opportunities to close the door on Los Angeles, sealing the win for Greg Maddux and San Diego.