HOUSTON—Former Texarkana College player Hunter Pence hit a grand slam to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.

A day after snapping a career-high 16-game hitting streak with an 0-for-4 night, Pence had three hits, including a shot to the first row in right field in the fourth inning. It landed near a neon orange sign that read “Hunter Pence Rocks” in bold block letters.

Pence also had a single and a double and has 18 RBIs in the last 18 games.

Miguel Tejada doubled in the fourth inning for his 1,800th hit. He is the 44th shortstop in major league history to reach the milestone and has the most RBIs (34) and hits (64) of any player at his position this season.

Lance Berkman walked before Carlos Lee popped out. Geoff Blum then walked to load the bases before Pence’s second career grand slam.

Astros closer Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless ninth for his 13th save in 16 opportunities.



Florida 3, Arizona 2

MIAMI—Maybe these first-place Florida Marlins are no fluke.

Dan Uggla hit his 14th home run and Kevin Gregg escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning to help the Marlins take the opening game in a series between division leaders, beating Arizona 3-2 on Tuesday night.

The game was the Marlins’ first against an opponent that has a winning record since May 1, and the widespread assumption is the team with baseball’s smallest payroll will fold as the schedule becomes more difficult.

But Florida did lots of little things right against NL West leader Arizona, which began the week with the best record in the majors. Jeremy Hermida and Luis Gonzalez had two-out RBIs, the worst defense in the majors was errorless and Gregg came to the rescue to protect the one-run lead.

Mark Hendrickson (6-2) needed 97 pitches to get through five innings but left with a 2-1 lead, and Gregg earned his eighth save.



Braves 6, Mets 1, 1st game

ATLANTA—Tom Glavine retired his last 17 batters during his first post-New York appearance against the Mets and led the Atlanta Braves to another home win in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.

The 42-year-old left-hander allowed only three hits and a walk—all in the first. Glavine (2-1) left after six innings, and Will Ohman, Blaine Boyer and Manny Acosta finished for the Braves.

After the first, the Mets didn’t have another runner until Jose Reyes singled off Boyer with two outs in the eighth. New York, coming off a two-game sweep of the Yankees, managed just six hits.

Brian McCann homered and drove in three runs for the Braves, who improved the NL’s best home record to 17-5. They are 6-16 away from Turner Field and handed John Maine (5-3) his first loss in nearly a month.



Phillies 1, Nationals 0

WASHINGTON—Greg Dobbs’ RBI pinch-hit single in the ninth inning gave the Philadelphia Phillies the victory.

Dobbs picked up the game-winning RBI as a pinch hitter for reliever Tom Gordon. Dobbs has 10 pinch hits and nine RBIs in 22 at-bats this season.

Gordon (4-2) earned the win with a scoreless eighth. Brad Lidge pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 11 chances. Lidge walked two, but got Felipe Lopez to ground out with runners on first and third to end the game.

The hit also ended the 12-inning scoreless streak of Washington reliever Jon Rauch (2-1).

Dobbs’ hit kept Philadelphia from being shut out in consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 11-12, 1999, and kept the Phillies from their first four-game losing streak since Aug. 22-25, 2007.



Brewers 7, Pirates 2

PITTSBURGH—Manny Parra pitched 5 2-3 scoreless innings, and Mike Cameron and Corey Hart homered to help the Milwaukee Brewers snap a five-game losing streak.

Parra (2-2) won for the first time since beating San Francisco on April 5, his first start of the season. The 25-year-old left-hander allowed only four hits and a walk, and struck out six.

Cameron, who entered in a 7-for-46 slump, had three hits and a walk. His two-run home run into the left-fielder corner in the seventh, his fifth of the season, gave Milwaukee a 4-0 lead and chased Pirates starter Paul Maholm (2-5).