‘Chipper’ Braves batter Colorado

ATLANTA (AP) — Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer and Jair Jurrjens earned his NL-leading 12th win for Atlanta as they battered the Colorado Rockies 9-1.
Dan Uggla added a two-run homer in the eighth and Jordan Schafer had four hits for the Braves, who have won eight of their past nine, including three straight over Colorado.
Jurrjens (12-3) allowed one run, five hits and two walks in six innings. He has allowed no more than one run in four straight starts, leaving his NL-leading ERA at 1.87.
The Braves scored three runs in the first off Aaron Cook (0-4) before Jones’ homer in the third pushed the lead to 5-0.
The Rockies (41-46) have lost four straight and are five games under .500 for the first time this season.
Nationals 5, Cubs 4
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wilson Ramos’ suicide squeeze drove in Michael Morse in the seventh inning to lift Washington.
Ramos pulled off the tiebreaking sacrifice after missing the sign earlier in the count. He swung away with Morse charging home on the first pitch from Kerry Wood (1-4) but managed to foul it off.
Danny Espinosa and Ryan Zimmerman homered for the Nationals, and Carlos Pena and Aramis Ramirez did the same for the Cubs — all four coming with a man on base.
Ryan Mattheus (2-0) pitched one inning to get his second major league win — and second in five days — for the Nationals, whose each of their last 10 wins has been by either one run or in extra innings.
They are 13-3 in one-run games since June 1.
Washington has won three straight and improved to 5-5 under manager Davey Johnson.
Drew Storen pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Zimmerman had two doubles along with his fourth homer, giving him his first three-hit game of the year.
He has five hits in his last two games and is batting .218 since returning from abdominal surgery on June 14.
Brewers 3, D’backs 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pinch-hitter Casey McGehee — a Jackson resident — hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning for Milwaukee.
McGehee, benched three of the previous five games because of a season-long slump, hit his first home run since May 20. He had been hitting .171 since last homering.
Yovani Gallardo (10-5) allowed one run and four hits over seven innings, helping prevent Arizona from sweeping the Brewers for the first time.
Gallardo, who gave up a home run to Kelly Johnson on his third pitch of the game, struck out six and walked one.
John Axford earned his 22nd save in 24 chances by striking out the side in the ninth.
Arizona rookie Josh Collmenter pitched six shutout innings, allowing three hits. Reliever Joe Paterson (0-2) gave up consecutive singles in the seventh and was relieved by Sam Demel who gave up McGehee’s homer.
Astros 8, Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Hunter Pence had three hits, including an RBI single during a five-run sixth inning, and Houston snapped a five-game losing streak.
Houston took the field less than 90 minutes after a team meeting that lasted an hour and 15 minutes. The Astros had lost 10 of 11 and were 6-24 since June 3 and have the majors’ worst record (30-58).
After Charlie Morton (7-5) limited Houston to three hits over the first five innings, seven of the eight batters who faced him in the sixth reached.
Bud Norris (5-6) allowed two runs over seven innings to win for the first time in five starts.
A day after climbing four games over .500 this late in a season for the first time in 19 years, the Pirates (45-42) fell back into third place in the NL Central by losing for the first time in four games.
The Astros had six hits and benefited from two errors in the sixth. Angel Sanchez, Carlos Lee, Jeff Keppinger and Clint Barmes also had RBI hits in the inning.
Marlins 7, Phillies 6 (10)
MIAMI (AP) — Mike Stanton hit a one-out solo homer in the 10th inning and Florida overcame an early four-run deficit to avert a series sweep.
Stanton hit a 2-1 pitch from Danys Baez (2-4) into the seats in left. He had been hitless in his previous four at-bats, striking out twice and grounding into a bases-loaded double play.
The home run was Stanton’s 17th this season, and the first walkoff homer of his career.
Philadelphia’s John Mayberry Jr. hit two home runs in the No. 8 spot in the order, and Jimmy Rollins also homered for the Phillies.
The Marlins won for only the second time in their past 17 games decided by one run. They ended a streak of seven consecutive losses to the Phillies, who lost for only the fifth time in 26 games at Miami since September 2008.
The Marlins’ bullpen held Philadelphia without a hit over the final 4 2-3 innings.
Edward Mujica (6-2) pitched a perfect 10th.

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