Arizona Holds Off Atlanta, 3-2

Javier Vazquez struck out a season-high 11 in eight innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks withstood two home runs by Andruw Jones to beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2, on Sunday at Phoenix.

The Diamondbacks won a home series for the first time in a month to climb to within 2 1/2 games of struggling San Diego in the West Division.

The loss kept Atlanta tied with Washington atop the East Division. The Braves open a three-game series at home against the Nationals on Tuesday night.

Vazquez (9-9) yielded only three hits, but two of them were the 31st and 32nd home runs of the season for Jones, tying him with Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs for most in the majors.

Houston 4, Washington 1 -- Eric Bruntlett hit a three-run homer with two out in the top of the 14th inning to give the Astros their seventh win in eight games. Bruntlett fouled off three consecutive pitches before pulling Hector Carrasco’s 3-2 pitch over the left-field fence into the Nationals’ bullpen.

The Nationals not only lost, but they also had a scare. Right fielder Jose Guillen was hit on the right wrist with an 0-1 pitch with one out in the ninth inning and was taken to a hospital for X-rays, but the results were negative.

Philadelphia 5, San Diego 1 -- Brett Myers gave up one run in six innings and helped himself with an RBI double for the Phillies, who completed a three-game sweep of the Padres. Myers (8-5), who retired 12 of the first 13 batters, left after giving up five hits, striking out six and walking one.

The Phillies went 9-4 on their homestand and have won 26 of their last 39 home games. The Padres, who went 0-6 on their trip, have lost a season-high seven in a row.

Chicago 8, St. Louis 4 -- Neifi Perez hit a grand slam in the top of the 10th inning after the Cubs blew a one-run lead with two out in the ninth. David Eckstein’s single off Ryan Dempster in the ninth made it 4-4 when Hector Luna slid around a tag at the plate. Aramis Ramirez’s 27th homer in the eighth, a two-run shot off Julian Tavarez, had given the Cubs a 4-3 lead.

Florida 4, San Francisco 1 -- A.J. Burnett (7-6) helped himself with a home run, and Miguel Cabrera and Juan Encarnacion also homered to lead the Marlins to their first series victory in San Francisco since 1997. Burnett retired 13 of the final 16 batters he faced, didn’t yield an earned run, gave up six hits and walked one in 7 1/3 innings.

Pittsburgh 3, Colorado 0 -- Mark Redman (5-10) ended a six-week winless streak by limiting the Rockies to six hits in eight innings at Pittsburgh, giving the Pirates their first series win since the All-Star break.

The Rockies lost for the 40th time in 50 road games, the worst road record for a major league team since the 1979 Oakland A’s also were 10-40.

Cincinnati 3, Milwaukee 2 -- Adam Dunn led off the bottom of the ninth inning with his 28th home run. He hit a 2-2 pitch from Julio Santana (2-4) into the right-field seats to give the Reds their ninth victory in 13 games.