Padres use long ball to beat Brewers, 8-6

Kevin Kouzmanoff’s grand slam carried the San Diego Padres to a wild 8-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.

It was the second slam of Kouzmanoff’s career. His claim to fame has been that he’s the only major leaguer to hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw as a rookie, on Sept. 2 at Texas. Kouzmanoff’s slam, to left-center on the first pitch from Dave Bush, gave the Padres a 7-0 lead with two out in the fifth inning.

The Padres needed Kouzmanoff’s homer, as well as Marcus Giles’ solo shot leading off the sixth, because Prince Fielder hit a solo homer in the Brewers’ three-run sixth, and J.J. Hardy had a two-run shot in the seventh. Fielder and Hardy are tied for the league lead with 15 homers apiece.

Kouzmanoff, obtained from Cleveland in the off-season for popular second baseman Josh Barfield, slumped badly at the start of this season. He batted .113 the first month and was down to .108 by May 10. He has put that rough start in the past with an eight-game hitting streak, during which he has gone 13 for 25 (.520), with three homers and 12 runs batted in.

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RESULTS

* Pittsburgh 10, at Cincinnati 4 (10 innings): Ronny Paulino’s bases-loaded double highlighted the Pirates’ biggest rally in nearly three years, an eight-run splurge in the 10th inning. It was their biggest inning since they scored nine runs at Montreal on July 9, 2004.

* New York 6, at Florida 2: Carlos Gomez scored the go-ahead run on an error in the ninth inning, and Carlos Beltran’s two-run double broke the game open. Marlins Manager Fredi Gonzalez served a one-game suspension for going onto the field Thursday during a benches-clearing confrontation with Philadelphia one inning after he was ejected.

* Philadelphia 8, at Atlanta 3: Every 20 years or so, Jamie Moyer beats the Braves. Moyer’s win came 20 years and two days after the only other time he beat them. On May 23, 1987, he earned the win in relief when the Cubs beat the Braves at Wrigley Field.

* Washington 5, at St. Louis 4: Micah Bowie won as a starter for the first time in more than seven years. He’s 3-6 with a 6.27 earned-run average in 13 starts with the last victory -- Sept. 23, 1999, against the Pirates while with the Cubs.

* at Arizona 13, Houston 3: Mark Reynolds homered twice and had five hits in five at-bats with four RBIs to help the Diamondbacks hand the Astros their sixth consecutive loss. Arizona tied a club record with eight runs and eight hits in the sixth inning.

* Colorado 5, at San Francisco 3: Kaz Matsui singled in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning. Pinch-hitter Steve Finley’s one-out infield single started the winning rally. He took second on Kevin Frandsen’s throwing error and scored on Matsui’s single to right.

* at San Diego 8, Milwaukee 6: Kevin Kouzmanoff’s grand slam helped the Padres.

* at Dodgers 9, Chicago 8: Juan Pierre’s sacrifice fly scored Brady Clark, capping a four-run eighth inning.