Houston — Facing Greg Maddux, another reliable outing wasn't good enough for Andy Pettitte.
Maddux outdueled Pettitte for seven innings, and Aramis Ramirez homered and doubled twice to help the Chicago Cubs snap a six-game road losing streak Tuesday night with a 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros.
Maddux (10-9) allowed just three hits - his fewest since May 10 - and shut down the Astros after Houston scored 12 runs on 16 hits the previous night. Pettitte (10-9) pitched about as well as he did in his previous eight outings, when he went 6-1. But against Maddux, the few mistakes Pettitte made - particularly three pitches to Ramirez - proved costly.
Not that Maddux said he had it any easier.
"When you face somebody as good as him, you really got to try harder," said Maddux, who allowed his fewest runs since pitching eight scoreless innings July 10. "I think mentally you burn out quicker than you normally do."
Kerry Wood pitched a perfect eighth for his sixth scoreless relief appearance, and Ryan Dempster worked the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.
With the victory, the Cubs pulled within 61â2 games of Houston in the NL wild-card race.
Ramirez was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, his last a high-arching solo homer to left in sixth. It was the 30th home run of the season for Ramirez, who continued to feast on left-handers. Ramirez is hitting .353 against left-handers, with 11 doubles and nine homers.
"I couldn't have thrown him three worse pitches," Pettitte said. "All three were just terrible. He must have thought I was Santa Claus after throwing those pitches. It was just sickening, especially the homer."
Brewers 6, Rockies 4
Denver - Victor Santos earned his second win in 14 starts, and Wes Helms homered and drove in two runs to help Milwaukee beat Colorado.
Rickie Weeks also homered, and the Brewers roughed up Jeff Francis (11-9) to win for the second time in nine games. Milwaukee has won seven of eight against Colorado dating to last year.
Giants 10, Reds 8
Cincinnati - Deivi Cruz and Pedro Feliz both set career highs with five hits, and San Francisco came from behind to defeat Cincinnati.
Cruz fell a triple short of the cycle and tied a career high with five RBIs, while Feliz scored four runs and was a home run shy of the cycle. San Francisco's Randy Winn hit for the cycle in Monday night's victory.
Dodgers 6, Braves 4
Atlanta - Olmeda Saenz drove in two runs with a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning, and Los Angeles rallied past Atlanta.
The Dodgers trailed 4-3 heading to the ninth but quickly erased that deficit against shaky Braves closer Chris Reitsma, who failed to get an out.
Padres 4, Marlins 2
Miami - Miguel Olivo tripled, and Mark Loretta doubled in San Diego's three-run sixth inning, and the Padres beat Florida.
Brian Lawrence (7-12) allowed six hits and a run in five innings for San Diego, escaping a two-on, no-out jam in his last inning.
Mets 6, Pirates 2
New York - Kris Benson recovered from a shaky start and hit a two-run single against his former team, pitching New York over Pittsburgh. Cliff Floyd hit his 27th homer for the Mets, who hung right fielder Mike Cameron's jersey in their dugout during the game. Cameron is recovering from facial surgery after a head-to-head collision with teammate Carlos Beltran in San Diego last week.
Cardinals 8, Diamondbacks 2
St. Louis - So Taguchi matched career highs with four hits and three RBIs, and Jeff Suppan pitched seven strong innings to win for the third time in four starts as St. Louis beat Arizona. Jim Edmonds had a pair of run-scoring singles, one on a bunt, and Albert Pujols had two hits and an RBI to lead the Cardinals.
Nationals, Phillies ppd.
Philadelphia - Philadelphia's game against Washington was rained out Tuesday night and was rescheduled for a day-night doubleheader Thursday.
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