CINCINNATI — Lance Berkman hit his 18th homer at Great American Ball Park — the most by any visiting player — and drove in three runs Thursday, leading the Houston Astros to their fifth straight win, 5-3 over the Cincinnati Reds.
Berkman had a two-run homer and a run-scoring double off rookie Johnny Cueto (1-2), whose 96 mph fastball wasn’t enough to slow the Astros’ surging offense.
Houston’s last five-game winning streak was April 16-20 last season. Its offense has led the way, scoring 41 runs during the streak. Even right-hander Jack Cassel (1-0) got involved, adding a run-scoring single for his first career RBI.
Cueto gave up eight hits and five runs in seven innings.
Braves 7, Marlins 4
ATLANTA — Chipper Jones celebrated his 36th birthday by going 3-for-3, including a homer, to lead Atlanta past the NL East-leading Marlins.
Jones also singled in the fifth, and was walked intentionally in his final at-bat while the crowd booed loudly. He’s on one of the hottest tears of his career, raising the best average in the majors to .442, and has seven homers and 20 RBI.
Chuck James (2-1) allowed four runs in five innings. Jorge Campillo pitched two scoreless innings and Manny Acosta worked the final two for his second save.
Atlanta jumped on rookie Burke Badenhop (0-2), who was born in Atlanta. He lasted five innings, giving up eight hits and walking one. He didn’t strike out anyone.
Phillies 3, Brewers 1
MILWAUKEE — Pat Burrell’s two-out, two-run double broke a tie in the eighth, and the Phillies held on to beat Milwaukee.
Burrell’s deep drive to the left field corner capped the Phillies’ two-out rally off Brewers reliever David Riske (0-1), who got the first two outs of the inning before walking Greg Dobbs and giving up a single to Chase Utley.
Philadelphia reliever Tom Gordon (1-2) was credited with the victory after pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, one of two significant scoring chances squandered by the Brewers. Brad Lidge pitched the ninth for his fifth save in five chances.
Rockies 4, Cubs 2
DENVER — Aaron Cook won his third straight start with eight strong innings, and Brian Fuentes earned his first save in 10 months for Colorado.
Jason Marquis gave up eight hits and struck out four in seven innings, Kevin Hart (2-1) took the loss in relief to snap the Cubs’ six-game win streak. They’d won nine of their last 10.
Fuentes, who took over the closer’s role from struggling Manny Corpas before the game, worked a perfect ninth to record his first save since last June 21.
Cook (3-1) retired 16 straight batters, including a five-pitch fourth inning. That gave Colorado’s busy bullpen some much-needed rest.
Nationals 10, Mets 5
WASHINGTON — Felipe Lopez’s grand slam and two-run single gave him a career-high-tying six RBI and led Washington to just its fourth victory in the past 20 games.
The Nationals fell behind 3-0 while being held in check through four innings by Mets starter Oliver Perez. But Washington’s weak offense broke out for three runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and three in the seventh.
Lopez led the way, twice coming through with the bases loaded. He put the Nationals on the scoreboard with his single off Perez (2-1) in the fifth, making it 3-2, then broke a tie in the sixth with his first homer of the season, off reliever Aaron Heilman.
Washington finished with 13 hits and made a winner of Mike O’Connor (1-0), who made his first appearance in the majors since 2006 after being called up from Triple-A Columbus.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH — Brian Barton had a two-run single in the fifth inning — the first hit off erratic Pittsburgh starter Tom Gorzelanny — and St. Louis avoided its first three-game skid of the season with a win over the Pirates.
Joel Pineiro (1-2) pitched seven effective innings and Albert Pujols went 2-for-2 and reached base in all five plate appearances, walking twice and getting hit with a pitch.
Gorzelanny (1-3) took a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead in the fifth despite allowing base runners in all but one inning, only to walk the bases full ahead of Barton’s single. Gorzelanny threw only 49 of his 94 pitches for strikes, with the wildness (seven walks) forcing him out of the game even though he gave up only two singles in five innings.
Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 4
LOS ANGELES — Jeff Salazar hit a two-run homer and Conor Jackson also had a pair of RBIs, leading Arizona to a win over the Dodgers.
Edgar Gonzalez (1-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings with two walks and a strikeout. Brandon Lyon pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in eight attempts.
Chad Billingsley (0-4) got the loss despite a career-high 12 strikeouts. The right-hander allowed five runs, six hits and two walks over six innings.
Giants 1, Padres 0
SAN DIEGO — Rich Aurilia homered off Chris Young in the seventh inning to keep Tim Lincecum perfect this season and give San Francisco a win over the Padres, who have lost eight of nine.
Young (1-2) allowed two hits in seven innings while striking out 10 for San Diego.
Lincecum (4-0) extended his scoreless streak to 16 1/3 innings and lowered his ERA to 1.23. He allowed four hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out nine and walked five. Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.
It was the second time in five meetings this season the Giants beat the Padres 1-0.
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