Saturday’s N.L. games
Marlins 5, Brewers 0: At Miami, Jeff Conine hit a grand slam and Ismael Valdez pitched six shutout innings in his Florida debut as the Marlins blanked Milwaukee. Valdez (10-6), acquired a week ago in a trade with San Diego, allowed two hits and walked three.
Cardinals 2, Mets 1: At St. Louis, the Cardinals won their first game with Larry Walker when rookie Yadier Molina blooped a bases-loaded single to center with two outs in the ninth inning for a victory over New York. Walker, acquired in a trade with Colorado on Friday, was welcomed with a standing ovation that lasted well over a minute when he pinch-hit with two on and one out in the seventh. He struck out and received another standing ovation. Walker stayed in the game and drew an intentional walk in the ninth.
Braves 6, Diamondbacks 2: At Phoenix, Paul Byrd (4-3) won consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two years, allowing two runs in his longest outing of the season to lead Atlanta over Arizona. Chipper Jones backed Byrd with two RBIs and Rafael Furcal had an RBI double. The Braves won for the ninth time in 10 games and improved to 17-5 since the All-Star break.
Rockies 9, Reds 5: At Denver, Jeromy Burnitz and Preston Wilson hit consecutive homers, and Colorado used a five-run sixth inning to defeat Cincinnati.
Expos 8, Astros 3: At Houston, Jon Rauch pitched six solid innings a day after being recalled from the minors, and Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run homer to lead Montreal past the Astros. Rauch (1-0) was acquired with right-hander Gary Majewski from the Chicago White Sox in a trade for Carl Everett on July 18.
Dodgers 6, Phillies 3: At Los Angeles, Odalis Perez pitched seven scoreless innings and the Dodgers snapped Philadelphia’s four-game winning streak. Shawn Green homered for Los Angeles, which ended a string of seven straight losses to Philadelphia with its 25th win in 32 games overall. Perez (5-4) won for the first time in seven starts.
Pirates 3, Padres 1: At San Diego, Kip Wells (5-6) allowed four hits in 8 2/3 innings for his first win since July 5 and Pittsburgh topped the Padres to end a five-game losing streak.