Victorino's 2 RBIs carry Phillies past Padres, 3-1

Shane Victorino had two of Philadelphia's three hits, including a go-ahead triple off Jon Garland in the seventh inning as the Philadelphia Phillies won their second straight game against the National League West-leading San Diego Padres, 3-1 on Saturday.

The Phillies, 13-2 against NL West teams, protected their wild-card lead, which was a half-game over San Francisco entering the day. San Diego, which has lost three straight games for only the second time this season, led the Giants by six.

Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 23 chances. On Friday night, Lidge balked in the tying run with two outs in the ninth, but the Phillies won 3-2 in 12 innings.

Jayson Werth scored on both of Victorino's hits. Victorino, the center fielder, also threw out Nick Hundley at the plate to end the fifth.

It was Philadelphia's 10th win in its last 11 games at Petco Park. The Phillies are 17-4 at the downtown ballpark since it opened in 2004.

Joe Blanton (6-6) held the Padres to one run and six hits in six innings. Blanton and three relievers retired the final 11 San Diego batters.

Cubs 3, Reds 2

At Cincinnati, Kosuke Fukudome hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Bronson Arroyo as Chicago finally ended years of futility against the right-hander by beating Cincinnati.

Fukudome's homer in the fifth inning sent Arroyo (14-8) to his first loss against the Cubs since 2007. Arroyo had won his last five decisions against Chicago, including his two starts this season.

Randy Wells (6-12) got a victory on his 28th birthday _ his first win since July 23. Wells limited the NL's top offense to five hits and a pair of runs in six innings, including Joey Votto's solo homer. Chicago's bullpen allowed only one hit, with Carlos Marmol pitching the ninth for his 24th save in 29 tries.

Braves 12, Marlins 3

At Atlanta, Tim Hudson struck out a career-high 13 batters and Martin Prado equaled his career best with five RBIs as Atlanta trounced Florida.

Matt Diaz and Eric Hinske also homered for the Braves, who scored six runs in the second and snapped a four-game losing streak, their longest since April. They maintained a two-game lead in the NL East over Philadelphia.

Hudson (15-5), who has come back from major elbow surgery with perhaps the best season of his career, surpassed 1,500 strikeouts for his career.

Nationals 14, Cardinals 5

At Washington, Adam Dunn broke out of a prolonged slump with a homer and five RBIs to lead Washington to a victory over St. Louis.

Dunn was in an 8-for-66 skid over 20 games when he doubled home two runs for a 4-3 Nationals lead in a four-run third inning. With the score tied at 5 in the fifth, Dunn hit a three-run shot, his 32nd of the season and first since Aug. 11.

Livan Hernandez (9-9) allowed five runs in 6 1-3 innings to win for the first time in five starts.

Roger Bernadina homered and Michael Morse had a career-high four hits for the Nationals, who had lost five of six. The 14 runs were the most scored at home by the Nationals since relocating to Washington from Montreal before the 2005 season.

Astros 4, Mets 1

At New York, Carlos Lee homered off Johan Santana and Brett Myers set a team record as Houston won for the first time at Citi Field.

Lee also hit an RBI single in the first inning, when the Astros, who have won six of seven, got to Santana (10-9) for two quick runs. The New York Mets ace has an ERA of 8.04 in the first inning this season.

Myers (10-7) gave up six hits and a walk in seven innings. He faced exactly four batters in every inning and never allowed a runner past second.

Myers has pitched at least six innings in all of his 27 starts this season. Larry Dierker had the previous Astros record of 26 in 1969-70.

Rockies 5, Dodgers 3

At Denver, Jhoulys Chacin pitched seven solid innings, and Todd Helton and Carlos Gonzalez homered as Colorado beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Gonzalez also tripled and scored two runs for the Rockies, who kept pace with Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race. Colorado is four games back of the Phillies.

Rod Barajas homered for the Dodgers, who had won the first four games of their six-game road trip.

Chacin (7-9) allowed one run and four hits while winning his second consecutive start. He walked four and struck out seven.

Brewers 8, Pirates 7

At Milwaukee, Lorenzo Cain hit a game-ending single in the 11th inning to lift Milwaukee over Pittsburgh.

Ryan Braun led off the 11th with a single off Wil Ledezma (0-1) and advanced to second when second baseman Neil Walker bobbled Prince Fielder's sharp grounder for an error. Casey McGehee flied out to left before the Brewers rookie center fielder hit a line-drive single to left.

Prince Fielder homered twice for Milwaukee.

Diamondbacks 11, Giants 3

At San Francisco, Miguel Montero hit a three-run double to highlight a six-run first inning as Arizona went on to beat Barry Zito and San Francisco.

Mark Reynolds added a three-run home run and Daniel Hudson pitched four-hit ball over seven innings as the Diamondbacks won their third straight. Adam LaRoche hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs.

Pablo Sandoval homered for the Giants, who have lost three straight to fall 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the wild-card chase.

Zito (8-10) allowed a season-high nine runs on six hits over 3 2-3 innings. He walked five.