NEW YORK — Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning to support Oliver Perez and lead the New York Mets to an 8-3 victory Sunday over the bumbling Cincinnati Reds.
The Reds batted out of order in the ninth after an earlier double switch, with backup catcher David Ross coming to the plate in the No. 8 spot instead of Corey Patterson. Ross flied out to right. Once Mets manager Willie Randolph informed the umpires of the mistake, the out was charged to Patterson after a prolonged discussion by the umpires, and Ross batted again. This time, he singled.
Reflecting their inconsistent offense, the Mets hadn’t hit back-to-back home runs this season before Saturday. They’ve now done it twice in two days.
Perez (3-3) got his first win since April 19, though the left-hander still had trouble with his command at times.
Reds rookie Johnny Cueto fell to 2-4 after allowing just three runs in the first two starts of his career.
Marlins 5, Nationals 4
WASHINGTON — Dan Uggla’s second home run was a go-ahead drive in the eighth inning that lifted the Marlins to their seventh straight win.
Uggla drove in two runs and has seven RBI and three homers in two games; he hit a grand slam Saturday and has 11 homers this season.
The Marlins have won all six of their games at Nationals Park, which opened this season, and their seven-game win streak overall is their best run since winning nine straight in August 2006.
Washington’s Aaron Boone had a homer, triple and single with two RBI in the loss.
Logan Kensing (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the win, and Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.
Luis Ayala (1-3) gave up three runs on two homers in the eighth inning, spoiling Shawn Hill’s solid outing.
Brewers 5, Cardinals 3
MILWAUKEE — Ryan Braun hit a pair of solo home runs, Jeff Suppan pitched seven solid innings and the Brewers’ new closer by committee held on for a win over the Cardinals.
With Eric Gagne out as the closer, the Brewers turned to Salomon Torres and Brian Shouse in the ninth. Torres allowed a leadoff double and a walk before giving way to Shouse with two outs. Shouse, a left-handed specialist, gave up an RBI single to Yadier Molina before finishing for his first save and fifth of his career.
The Brewers, who won for the second time in nine games, scored twice off St. Louis starter Braden Looper (5-2) in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Prince Fielder and Corey Hart’s double.
Braun homered in the third and fifth innings to give Milwaukee a 4-1 lead.
Suppan (2-2) worked into and out of trouble all day. The right-hander gave up six hits and walked five, but struck out four to pick up the first win for a Milwaukee starter other than Ben Sheets since Manny Parra beat San Francisco on April 5.
Cubs 6, Diamondbacks 4
CHICAGO — Pinch-hitter Daryle Ward delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Cubs rallied again to beat the Diamondbacks.
Carlos Marmol (1-0) struck out two in a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood pitched the ninth to earn his seventh save in 10 chances and finish off Chicago’s three-game sweep of the NL West leaders.
The Cubs scored six in the seventh to beat Arizona 7-2 on Saturday, and on Sunday?
Reed Johnson tied it at 4 with a two-run homer off Juan Cruz with one out in the seventh after Mike Fontenot walked. Cruz then walked Ryan Theriot before Tony Pena (0-1) got Derrek Lee to hit into a double play, but the Cubs struck again in the eighth.
Pena intentionally walked pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano to load the bases with one out and set the stage for Ward, drove the ball to right-center to make it 6-4.
Giants 4, Phillies 3
SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Holm hit a go-ahead, two-run drive in the seventh inning for his first major league home run, and the Giants held on for a victory in the rubber game against the Phillies.
Holm homered in his first at-bat on the first pitch he saw from J.C. Romero (3-1) after replacing Bengie Molina in the top of the seventh, sending the ball into the seats in left-center. Romero had allowed only one homer in his previous 61 appearances and came in with an 0.63 ERA over his first 17 outings of 2008.
Jack Taschner (2-0) pitched the seventh for the win, Tyler Walker worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Brian Wilson finished for his 11th save in 13 opportunities. San Francisco rallied for its first series win this month in three chances.
Padres 6, Rockies 1
SAN DIEGO — Scott Hairston and Khalil Greene homered to spoil Greg Reynolds’ first start, leading the Padres to a victory over the Rockies and their first series win in nearly a month.
The Padres have been playing so poorly that their two consecutive wins match their season high, which they’ve managed only three times. After winning for just the sixth time in 24 games, the Padres (14-24) continue to have the worst record in the majors.
San Diego had lost eight consecutive series before taking two of three from the defending NL champion Rockies. The Padres hadn’t won a series since winning two of three on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 11-13.
Reynolds (0-1) and Chris Young (3-3) had been locked in a scoreless duel until Hairston hit Reynolds’ first pitch of the sixth inning just a few feet inside the foul pole on the side of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left-field corner at Petco Park. It was Hairston’s fifth.
Astros 8, Dodgers 5
LOS ANGELES — Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the seventh inning for the Dodgers before the Astros broke out for seven hits and six runs in the eighth inning to pull out a victory.
Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence had RBI singles against reliever Jonathan Broxton (1-1), and Brad Ausmus added a two-run single against the right-hander as the Astros won for the eighth time in nine games. Houston also completed its first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium since September 25-27, 1992.
Michael Bourn capped the rally with a sacrifice fly, giving Houston a 7-3 lead.
Geoff Geary (1-1) pitched one inning for the win, and Jose Valverde got the final out for his eighth save after Doug Brocail gave up two runs in the ninth.
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