NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Astros Finally Score, Then They Beat Reds

The Houston Astros snapped a streak of 31 consecutive scoreless innings with two runs in the bottom of the ninth off Cincinnati reliever Randy Myers to beat the Reds, 2-1, Monday night.

After Norm Charlton and Myers had shut out the Astros through eight innings, Ken Caminiti singled, pinch-hitter Mark Davidson walked and Luis Gonzalez singled to score pinch-runner Mark McLemore with the tying run.

Myers walked Casey Candaele on four pitches before Karl Rhodes singled to drive in Davidson.

Gonzalez’s hit was his third in his last 26 at-bats. Rhodes, who had three hits, had one hit in his previous 14 at-bats.

Dwayne Henry (1-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-hit relief for the victory, helping the Astros snap a three-game losing streak.

The Astros had last scored in the fourth inning of Friday’s 5-2 loss to San Francisco. Houston hasn’t been shut out three consecutive times since July, 1985.

St. Louis 3, Chicago 2--Felix Jose hit a two-run homer off Dave Smith with one out in ninth inning at St. Louis to hand the Cubs their fourth consecutive loss.

Ray Lankford lined out to open the ninth, but Smith walked Pedro Guerrero on five pitches. Jose followed with his second homer of the season, giving Smith (0-2) his third blown save in seven opportunities.

Juan Agosto, the third Cardinal pitcher, pitched a perfect ninth to finish a four-hitter. Jamie Moyer, pitching against his former team for the first time, allowed three hits in six innings, walked four and struck out two.

San Diego 7, San Francisco 5--Robby Thompson hit for the cycle, but it wasn’t enough as the Padres snapped the Giants’ three-game winning streak and improved their road record to 4-0.

Thompson tripled in the first, homered in the third, singled in the sixth and doubled in the ninth. It was his first cycle and the first for the Giants since Chris Speier’s against St. Louis on July 9, 1988.

With the score tied 4-4 in the seventh, Benito Santiago and Jerald Clark hit consecutive run-scoring singles with two outs. Tony Gwynn’s RBI double in the eighth made it 7-4.