San Juan, Puerto Rico ? The scorecard said Montreal was the home team against the Chicago Cubs. The cheers in the stands proved otherwise.

Moises Alou hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning, and the Cubs overcame a scary moment when Sammy Sosa was hit in the helmet with a pitch in a 4-3 victory over the Expos Tuesday night.

Every Chicago run was cheered loudly by the crowd. There were Sosa and Cub jerseys everywhere. And when Sosa was hit by Zach Day in the fourth, a collective gasp was followed by a resounding boo from the crowd of 15,632 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

“It doesn’t really surprise me,” Alou said. “A lot of people from the Dominican Republic were telling me they were going to come down to see this series.”

The Cubs won their sixth in a row and remained in a tie with Houston for the NL Central lead.

Alou, who is from the neighboring Dominican Republic, said the team was distracted and nervous going into its first-ever game in San Juan, where the Expos play 22 “home” games this year.

Manager Dusty Baker, who played with the Santurce Crabbers of the Puerto Rican Winter League in 1971, said he expected a warm reception and a fun atmosphere at the game.

“This is Puerto Rico. You’re going to have lots of music, lots of noise, lots of excitement,” Baker said.

Astros 7, Brewers 6

Chicago's Sammy Sosa is hit in the helmet by a pitch from Montreal's Zach Day. Sosa was OK, and the Cubs defeated the Expos, 4-3, Tuesday night in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Milwaukee — Lance Berkman doubled home the go-ahead run with two outs in the ninth inning, and Houston rallied past Milwaukee. The Astros tied it on pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino’s three-run homer in the eighth, then went on to their fifth win in six games.

Rockies 8, Cardinals 1

St. Louis — Gregg Zaun homered and drove in four runs for Colorado, which snapped an eight-game losing streak. The loss left the Cardinals 21/2 games behind Chicago and Houston in the NL Central with 17 to play.

Giants 8, Padres 3

San Diego — Marquis Grissom hit his 200th career homer as San Francisco defeated San Diego. Grissom and J.T. Snow both hit two-run homers in the seventh inning off reliever Luther Hackman.

Dodgers 4, D’backs 1

Phoenix — Edwin Jackson, two years out of high school and two days out of Double-A ball, pitched six innings in his major-league debut as Los Angeles beat Arizona. Paul Lo Duca and Jolbert Cabrera hit run-scoring singles for the Dodgers, who won for the 10th time in 12 games, going 5-0 on their current road trip.

Phillies 18, Braves 5

Atlanta — Tomas Perez and Jason Michaels both hit grand slams, and Philadelphia reached a season high in runs with a rout of Atlanta, keeping the Phillies even with Florida in the NL wild-card race.

Marlins 3, Mets 1

New York — Alex Gonzalez tripled in two runs with two outs in the ninth to lift Florida past New York Mets and keep the Marlins atop the NL wild card standings. The Marlins won for the 10th time in 12 games and moved to a season-high 15 games over .500 (80-65).

Reds 10, Pirates 6

Cincinnati — Russell Branyan hit a three-run homer, and Wily Mo Pena added a go-ahead two-run shot in Cincinnati’s six-run sixth inning as the Reds rallied.