Houston ? Hit hard by Houston in the past, John Thomson changed his approach Wednesday night.

It worked.

Thomson held the Astros to four hits for seven innings and pitched the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 victory.

“Every time I’ve pitched against them before, it seemed like they had my number. Tonight I decided to throw more off-speed stuff and changeups, and I got a lot more ground balls,” Thomson said.

Thomson was 2-4 with a 7.71 earned-run average against Houston in six previous games.

“My whole career I’ve been a fastball and hard sinker pitcher. They are a good fastball hitting team, and I’m always around the plate with the fastball,” he said.

“I threw a lot of curves tonight, and I threw more changeups than I did in the whole month of June.”

Jeff Bagwell hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth off Braves closer John Smoltz. But after giving up Bagwell’s 16th home run of the season and 435th of his career, Smoltz finished for his 26th save in 28 chances.

Bagwell moved into sole possession of 31st place on the all-time home run list, moving past Juan Gonzalez.

Chipper Jones contributed a pair of RBI singles as the NL East-leading Braves won for the 10th time in 12 games. They have won eight of their last 10 on the road.

Thomson (9-7) allowed two runs, striking out two and walking one. He retired 11 of the last 12 hitters that he faced.

Thomson won for the fourth time in five decisions since June 28. Chris Reitsma pitched a scoreless eighth, and Smoltz took over in the ninth.

Reds 8, Giants 7

San Francisco — Adam Dunn hit two homers, and Felipe Lopez added a go-ahead two-run shot in the sixth, leading Cincinnati over San Francisco. Sean Casey had three hits, and Juan Castro doubled home a late run for the Reds, who blew a big early lead but rallied for just their second victory in 13 games. Dunn hit his 30th and 31st homers off Brett Tomko to move into second place in the NL behind Philadelphia’s Jim Thome. He connected for a three-run shot in the third inning and a solo homer in the fifth, but San Francisco tied it with a four-run rally in the fifth.

D’backs 11, Marlins 6

Phoenix — Randy Johnson pitched solid six innings to end his three-game losing streak, and Roberto Alomar had four hits and three RBIs to lead Arizona past Florida. Alomar was 4-for-5 with a double and a homer for Arizona, which won consecutive games for the first time since June 30-July 1 against San Diego. The Diamondbacks’ 11 runs were their most since an 11-5 win over San Francisco on June 3.

Phillies 7, Padres 5

San Diego — Jimmy Rollins hit an inside-the-park homer, and Eric Milton won for the first time in six starts, leading Philadelphia over San Diego. David Bell added a two-run homer for the Phillies, who remained 41/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East. Philadelphia has won two straight, and three of four with four games remaining on its season-long 13-game road trip.

Cubs 11, Rockies 8

Denver — Aramis Ramirez hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the top of the eighth after Nomar Garciaparra tied it on Shawn Chacon’s wild pitch moments earlier, and Chicago beat Colorado. The Cubs had 15 hits and won their third straight.

Cardinals 5, Expos 4

St. Louis — Albert Pujols homered leading off the ninth inning, and John Mabry was 4-for-4 and four RBIs to lead St. Louis over Montreal. Pujols hit his 31st homer of the season, a drive off Chad Cordero (3-2) that capped the Cardinals’ comeback from a 3-0 deficit. Julian Tavarez (3-3) pitched a scoreless ninth.

Dodgers 2, Pirates 1

Los Angeles — Jose Lima pitched seven solid innings to win his fourth straight decision, and Alex Cora hit a tiebreaking home run. Cora’s two-out homer down the right-field line in the seventh against Josh Fogg was his career-high seventh this season and the 125th by the Dodgers, one more than they had all last season. Lima (10-3) allowed a run and six hits, struck out two and walked none before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter after throwing just 73 pitches.

Mets 6, Brewers 5

Milwaukee — First baseman Lyle Overbay botched Gerald Williams’ bunt for a tiebreaking two-run error in a five-run seventh inning, and New York beat Milwaukee for its first two-game winning streak in nearly a month.