CHICAGO—Aramis Ramirez broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the eighth inning to send Chicago to a 3-1 victory over San Francisco on Friday.

Shut down by starter Matt Cain for seven innings, the Cubs struck quickly against his replacement and held off a ninth-inning rally to send the Giants to their fifth straight loss.

Ryan Theriot led off the Cubs’ eighth with a single off Tyler Walker and was sacrificed to second. Walker (3-5) intentionally walked Derrek Lee before Ramirez hit his 17th homer.



Cardinals 6, Pirates 0

PITTSBURGH—Kyle Lohse limited Pittsburgh to six hits over seven shutout innings and Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick homered, helping St. Louis break out of a scoring slump with a victory.

Lohse (11-2), one of the NL’s biggest first-half pitching surprises, won his eighth in a row by limiting the Pirates to one extra-base hit. He hasn’t lost in 12 starts since May 9, giving up two runs or fewer in all but two of his last 10 starts.



Mets 2, Rockies 1

NEW YORK—Damion Easley’s home run in the eighth inning carried New York past Colorado for its seventh straight win.

Easley hit his third homer of the season on a 3-2 pitch from reliever Taylor Buchholz (3-3) with two outs. Closer Billy Wagner worked a perfect ninth for his 21st save in 27 chances.



Nationals 10, Astros 0

WASHINGTON—Ronnie Belliard homered twice and drove in five runs, Tim Redding finally got a victory after nine consecutive no-decisions and Washington beat Houston.

Redding (7-3) allowed seven singles, walked none and struck out six in six innings. The Astros had hits in the first five innings, but Redding consistently wiggled out of trouble to record his first victory since May 19.



Reds 6, Brewers 5

MILWAUKEE—Jay Bruce scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on the third wild pitch by the Brewers, allowing Cincinnati Reds to edge Milwaukee.