NL roundup: Braves continue their hot streak

ATLANTA — Martin Prado had three hits and scored three runs, Brian McCann hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs and Atlanta beat San Francisco 8-1 on Tuesday night.

The Braves have averaged 7.2 runs in a 5-1 start to their eight-game homestand and are 9-3 in their last 12 games overall.

The Giants, who fell out of the NL wild-card lead with Monday night's 11-3 loss to the Braves, have lost five of six.

Prado singled and scored on McCann's double in the first, and added another single in the three-run third. Chipper Jones had a run-scoring double, Garret Anderson had a sacrifice fly and Escobar added an RBI single in the inning.

The Braves added four runs off Ryan Sadowski (2-2) in the fourth on an RBI single by Prado and McCann's three-run homer.

Derek Lowe (9-7) allowed seven hits and one run in six innings. The Giants scored in the fifth on Juan Uribe's RBI single.

BREWERS 2, PIRATES 0: At Pittsburgh, Braden Looper allowed four hits over seven innings and Prince Fielder had two two-out RBI singles for Milwaukee. Last-place Pittsburgh, which snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Brewers on Monday, was shut out for the ninth time this season. Looper (9-4) won his fourth consecutive decision and for the fourth time in his past five starts. He walked three — one intentionally — and had one strikeout. Trevor Hoffman earned his 22nd save by retiring the side in order in the ninth. Fielder, whose 86 RBIs is second in the AL, drove in Craig Counsell in the fifth and in the seventh.

NATIONALS 4, METS 0: At Washington, John Lannan threw his first career shutout, scattering seven hits for Washington. Lannan (7-7) did not walk a batter and stuck out one, getting 17 groundball outs. He did not give up an extra-base hit and only once allowed a runner to reach second base, when he gave up two singles in the third. New York has been shut out five times in its last 13 games and seven times in 26 games since Carlos Beltran went on the DL on June 22. The Mets have been blanked nine times this year, tying Atlanta and the Chicago White Sox for the major league lead. Washington snapped a six-game losing streak and gave interim manager Jim Riggleman his first win in six games since replacing the fired Manny Acta at the All-Star break. Oliver Perez (2-3) gave up four earned runs in six innings, walking six and hitting a batter. Wil Nieves' RBI single in the fourth gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead.