Hampton, Astros beat Pirates once again

HOUSTON — Carlos Lee hit a grand slam and Mike Hampton beat Pittsburgh for the ninth straight time in the Houston Astros' 9-1 win over the Pirates on Friday night.

Hampton (4-4) struck out five and allowed five hits in seven innings, holding the Pirates to one run for the second time in a week.

The 36-year-old left-hander, who signed with the Astros as a free agent in December, won at Minute Maid Park for the first time in eight starts since April 2003, when he pitched for Atlanta. He also had a hit and an RBI for the Astros, who've won six of their last eight.

METS 3, NATIONALS 1, 10 INNINGS: At Washington, David Wright's two-run double, his fourth hit of the night, broke a 10th-inning tie and the Mets snapped a three-game losing streak. Luis Castillo led off the 10th with a single off Joel Hanrahan (0-3) and Carlos Beltran walked. Wright then lined a 2-2 pitch into the gap in right-center to score both runners and match single-game high for hits. Sean Green (1-2) worked a perfect ninth for the victory and Francisco Rodriguez improved to 15 for 15 in save opportunities with a scoreless 10th.

BREWERS 4, BRAVES 0: At Atlanta, Yovani Gallardo and Carlos Villanueva combined for a two-hit shutout, and rookie Mat Gamel drove in three runs for the NL Central-leading Brewers. Gallardo (6-2) walked four with six strikeouts and gave up no singles in eight innings. He allowed no baserunner past second base before Villanueva completed the shutout.

GIANTS 2, MARLINS 1: At Miami, Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run homer, Barry Zito ended a four-start losing skid and the Giants held on after another shaky ninth by Brian Wilson. Zito (2-6) went five-plus innings, allowing one run on four hits to get his first win since May 8 at Los Angeles. Brandon Medders and Sergio Romo combined for three scoreless innings of relief, before Wilson loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth.

ROCKIES 11, CARDINALS 4: At St. Louis, Jorge De La Rosa ended a six-game losing streak to start the season and had his first RBI on a bases-loaded walk in a breakway nine-run seventh inning for Colorado. Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Ryan Ludwick homered for the Cardinals, who wasted a strong outing by Adam Wainwright (5-4). Molina hit his first homer since May 5 in the seventh, four innings after Todd Helton him on the side of the head on a backswing.

CUBS 2, REDS 1: At Cincinnati, Carlos Zambrano homered and pitched into the seventh inning to earn his 100th career victory as the Chicago Cubs beat the slumping Reds. Zambrano didn't allow a hit until Adam Rosales lined a single to left with one out in the fifth inning. Zambrano gave up two hits and a season-high five walks.

DIAMONDBACKS 8, PADRES 0: At San Diego, Chris Snyder knocked in three runs and four Arizona pitchers combined to shutout the Padres. Doug Davis scattered three hits in six innings of work to get the win, and six different Diamondbacks had an RBI.

DODGERS 4, PHILLIES 3: At Los Angeles, Andre Ethier hit a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers the comeback win. Brad Lidge blew his fifth save on the season, spoiling starter Jamie Moyer's bid at win No. 251.