Cards beat Marlins for 5th straight win

MIAMI — Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer and Kyle Lohse pitched into the eighth inning to lead the St. Louis Cardinals past the staggering Miami Marlins 5-2 Tuesday for their fifth straight victory.

One night after Molina’s tying homer in the ninth inning keyed a huge comeback, St. Louis scored five unearned runs in the first.

The Marlins have lost eight of nine and are 3-17 in their last 20 games. Miami manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Dan Bellino. Lohse (7-2) allowed two runs and four hits while striking out four to lower his ERA to 2.82.

The Cardinals jumped out to a big early lead, aided by errors from Marlins starter Carlos Zambrano (4-6) and shortstop Jose Reyes. Molina took advantage of the miscues with his 12th homer.

Reds 4, Brewers 3: Bronson Arroyo took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before giving up a three-run lead, but Drew Stubbs led off the bottom half with a homer, sending Cincinnati to the victory.

Arroyo allowed only one runner through the first seven innings, hitting Ryan Braun in the first. The slumping Brewers hit only four balls out of the infield during that stretch.

Braves 8, Diamondbacks 1: Tim Hudson pitched eight sharp innings and Atlanta opened its longest homestand of the season with a victory.

Hudson (6-3) allowed one run and seven hits, struck out seven and walked one. Freddie Freeman had three hits and drove in two runs, Chipper Jones also had three hits and Michael Bourn cracked a first-inning homer for Atlanta, which had 17 hits.

The Braves won the opener of a 10-game homestand. They play 16 of their next 19 at Turner Field.

Cubs 5, Mets 3: Anthony Rizzo had two hits and drove in the go-ahead run in his first game with the Cubs.

Rizzo doubled home Steve Clevenger with two out in the fourth, making it 4-3 and sending the Mets to their fourth straight loss – matching a season high. Rizzo was called up earlier in the day for his highly anticipated Cubs debut after posting big numbers for Triple-A Iowa.

Phillies 5, Pirates 4: Ty Wigginton and Carlos Ruiz homered to back Vance Worley and Philadelphia won its second straight to climb out of last place in the NL East.

Nationals 12, Rockies 5: Adam LaRoche homered twice for Washington, and Ryan Zimmerman collected his 1,000th career hit and also homered.

Ian Desmond went 4 for 4, Michael Morse had four hits and Tyler Moore also connected for the Nationals, who had a season-high 21 hits, which tied the club mark since the team moved to Washington in 2005.

Astros 5, Padres 3: J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer, Jed Lowrie added a solo shot and the Astros held on for the win.

Giants 2, Dodgers 0: Ryan Vogelsong pitched seven innings to outduel San Francisco nemesis Clayton Kershaw for the second time this season and Melky Cabrera homered to help the Giants move within a game of Los Angeles for first place in the NL West with a 2-0 victory over the Dodgers. — Agencies