Pittsburgh ? The Chicago Cubs have been making a lot of pitchers look very bad lately. Ryan Vogelsong just wishes they wouldn’t keep doing it to him.

Alex Gonzalez homered, doubled and drove in four runs, and the Cubs beat up on Vogelsong for the second time in a week, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-1, Tuesday night.

Corey Patterson, Todd Walker and Michael Barrett also homered to back Carlos Zambrano (2-0). The Cubs won for the fifth time in seven games and ended the Pirates’ three-game winning streak.

Zambrano limited the Pirates to one run and seven hits, striking out four and walking two over eight innings. He beat Vogelsong (1-2) for the second straight start.

Vogelsong isn’t the only pitcher struggling right now against the Cubs, who have scored at least eight runs in all but one of their last seven games. They have averaged 9.3 runs during that span.

“Potential is a dangerous word, but we have a lot of guys (who can hit),” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. “You look up and down the lineup and everybody can hit the ball out of the ballpark. And different guys are taking their turns right now.”

Gonzalez had only one RBI — a pinch-hit homer April 11 — until delivering a two-run double in a four-run first and a two-run homer in the fifth that made it 8-1. Gonzalez is 7-for-13 the last three games after having only six hits in the first 21/2 weeks of the season.

“I had a rough beginning where I was hitting the ball right at guys, and then you start putting a little pressure on yourself,” he said. “I had to regroup and go back to what I was doing in spring training, and that’s when they started dropping.”

Padres 9, Giants 5

San Francisco — Barry Bonds homered in his seventh straight game, but San Francisco lost to San Diego. Bonds is one shy of matching the major league record for consecutive games with a homer — shared by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993). Bonds has homered in the last seven games in which he has had an at-bat. He had a pinch-hit walk last Wednesday, which does not stop the streak under baseball’s rules.

Rockies 7, Dodgers 1

Denver — Vinny Castilla homered and drove in two runs, Joe Kennedy pitched seven strong innings and Colorado ended Los Angeles ‘ five-game winning streak. Charles Johnson and Jeromy Burnitz hit back-to-back homers in the second inning as Colorado won for the second time in five games. Royce Clayton added a two-run single for the Rockies.

Cardinals 5, Astros 3

Houston — Reggie Sanders homered in the third inning and snatched away a Jeff Bagwell shot at the right-field wall in the fifth, leading St. Louis over Houston.

Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and Jason Isringhausen closed it out, helping the Cardinals break a four-game losing streak at Houston.

Marlins 3, Phillies 1

Philadelphia — Dontrelle Willis allowed an unearned run in 62/3 innings, leading Florida to its 11th straight victory over Philadelphia. Willis (3-0) struck out in his first at-bat, snapping his streak of 10 consecutive hits, dating to last season and including the playoffs. But Florida’s hitters gave him all the runs he’d need.

Reds 3, Braves 2

Cincinnati — Barry Larkin singled home a pair of runs — his first RBIs since opening day — and Cincinnati rallied past Atlanta. Sean Casey had three hits, including two doubles off John Thompson (1-1), and drove in a run, helping Jose Acevedo recover from one bad pitch early in the game. Acevedo (2-0) struck out six and allowed three hits in seven innings, including Marcus Giles’ two-run homer in the third.

Brewers 4, D’backs 2

Milwaukee — Richie Sexson, traded to the Diamondbacks for six players in the offseason, watched his replacement at first base, Lyle Overbay, go 3-for-4 with two RBIs in Milwaukee’s win. Second baseman Junior Spivey, another acquisition in the big deal, also went 3-for-4 and scored twice for Milwaukee.

Expos 2, Mets 1

New York — Jose Vidro led off the eighth inning with a tiebreaking home run, and Montreal got just enough offense to beat New York and stop an eight-game losing streak. Montreal, which had been on its worst skid since the 2000 season, trailed 1-0 in the sixth before coming back.