NL roundup: Dodgers closing in on playoffs

LOS ANGELES — Ronnie Belliard hit a grand slam, Matt Kemp and James Loney added back-to-back drives off former teammate Brad Penny and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the San Francisco Giants 12-1 on Saturday.

The Dodgers, who lost the series opener 8-4 on Friday night, began the day with a five-game lead over Colorado in the NL West. The Giants were 2.5 back of the wild card-leading Rockies before Saturday's games.

Los Angeles' victory reduced its magic number to six for clinching its third postseason berth in four years.

CARDINALS 2, CUBS 1: At St. Louis, Brendan Ryan hit an outfielder-assisted homer and singled in the winning run in the ninth inning, helping St. Louis reduce its magic number for clinching the NL Central to four.

ROCKIES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 4: At Phoenix, Troy Tulowitzki homered for a career-best fourth game in a row, Jason Giambi hit his first home run since coming to Colorado and the Rockies beat the Diamondbacks to open a little breathing space in the wild-card race.

Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez hit solo home runs in the first inning and Giambi had a three-run shot as a pinch hitter in a five-run ninth as the Rockies won for just the second time in seven games.

BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 4: At Atlanta, Javier Vazquez outpitched an ailing Pedro Martinez, and Atlanta survived a shaky ninth inning to snap Philadelphia's six-game winning streak.

The Phillies scored four times in the ninth before Rafael Soriano got Ben Francisco to fly out to right with runners on first and second to end the game. Ryan Howard hit a two-run drive for his 41st homer and pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs and Jimmy Rollins each had RBI singles.

MARLINS 3, REDS 2: At Cincinnati, pinch-hitter Ross Gload connected for a two-run homer in the eighth inning, Ricky Nolasco pitched seven sharp innings and Florida rallied to beat Cincinnati for the second straight day.

Jorge Cantu also homered for the Marlins, who scored four times in the ninth inning Friday to beat the Reds 4-3 and end a nine-game skid in Cincinnati that dated to April 2006.

Nolasco became the first Florida pitcher to last at least seven innings since Aug. 18, when he pitched a complete game in a 6-2 win at Houston.

BREWERS 7, ASTROS 2: At Milwaukee, Jeff Suppan pitched seven strong innings and Prince Fielder set the Milwaukee record for RBIs in a season.

It was the fourth straight win for Milwaukee, which hadn't won that many in a row since May 16-19. The Brewers broke open a close game with five runs in the seventh inning.

METS 3, NATIONALS 2: At New York, Tim Redding pitched splendidly into the eighth inning and New York ended its six-game losing streak.

The Mets won for only the second time in 12 games and avoided their longest skid since dropping 11 straight Aug. 28 to Sept. 8, 2004.