Thursday’s NL results

Pirates 6, Cubs 4: At Chicago, Jason Bay (North Idaho/Gonzaga) homered and drove in three runs against Carlos Zambrano to lead Pittsburgh to the win. Bay hit a two-run double in the first and led off the fifth inning with his fifth homer to help the Pirates win their first series since they swept the Houston Astros on April 18-20. Zambrano (3-3) gave up four earned runs and seven hits in six innings.

Reds 9, Astros 5: At Cincinnati, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 569th career homer, a two-run shot and Cincinnati defeated Houston at home for the first time this season. David Weathers got the last five outs for his seventh save in eight tries.

Marlins 3, Dodgers 0: At Miami, Josh Willingham hit a three-run homer off Derek Lowe with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give Florida the win over Los Angeles. Taylor Tankersley (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the Marlins to complete a three-hitter to outduel Lowe (3-4).

Braves 5, Padres 3: At Atlanta, Kelly Johnson came through with a two-out, bases-loaded double in the sixth inning in a win over San Diego. Tim Hudson (4-1) yielded two runs and nine hits in six innings for the first-place Braves.

Rockies 5, Giants 3: At Denver, Aaron Cook neutralized Barry Bonds and knocked in a run with a sacrifice bunt in Colorado’s win over San Francisco. Troy Tulowitzki hit a two-run double off Noah Lowry (4-3) in the third and scored from second base when shortstop Omar Vizquel threw wildly past third base after fielding Matt Holliday’s bouncer.

Associated Press