St. Louis ? After losing three straight for the first time all season, the St. Louis Cardinals left nothing to chance.

Scott Rolen had four RBIs, and David Eckstein had two hits and an RBI in an 11-run first inning as the Cardinals avoided a four-game sweep by beating the San Diego Padres, 15-5, Sunday.

“It’s one of those innings where things just went right,” Rolen said. “I had a nice opportunity to make two outs in that inning, possibly a third.”

The Padres, who had won six straight, have never swept a four-game series in St. Louis. Any thoughts they had of that Sunday were quickly dashed when the Cardinals had their fifth 11-run inning in 10 seasons. The team record is 12.

“A loss is a loss,” Mark Sweeney said. “We played great this whole series, and even looking at today, we got behind early, but we kept on fighting.”

Larry Walker homered, doubled, singled and had two RBIs for St. Louis, which lost the previous two games by one run and is 9-8 at home, contrasted with a 10-3 road record. Walker, who played most of his career for the Colorado Rockies, singled and was hit by a pitch in the first.

Pirates 16, D’backs 2

Phoenix — Matt Lawton hit his first grand slam in six years, helping Pittsburgh win for the fifth time in six games. Lawton went 3-for-5 and had five RBIs for the Pirates, who scored 12 runs in the final two innings. He doubled in a run during Pittsburgh’s seven-run ninth.

Giants 4, Nationals 3

San Francisco — Omar Vizquel doubled home the winning run in the 13th inning for his third RBI of the game.

Braves 6, Astros 0

Atlanta — Mike Hampton pitched a two-hitter and homered, and rookie Ryan Langerhans had six RBIs. Hampton (4-1) gave up a single to Mike Lamb in the second, but Jose Vizcaino hit into a double play. Hampton did not allow another base-runner until Adam Everett led off the ninth with a walk.

Rockies 8, Marlins 3

Miami — Clint Barmes’ inside-the-park home run scored three runs, and Aaron Miles hit a grand slam.

Cubs 2, Phillies 1

Chicago — Neifi Perez and Aramis Ramirez homered to back Carlos Zambrano’s five-hitter, and Chicago snapped a seven-game losing streak. Brett Myers (2-2) struck out 10 and also gave up just five hits.

Brewers 5, Mets 4

Milwaukee — Rookie J.J. Hardy singled in Junior Spivey with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Dodgers 9, Reds 3

Cincinnati — Jason Phillips’ first career grand slam paced the Dodgers. Eric Milton whacked his first homer and Ken Griffey his 504th. Phillips had four hits and drove in five for the first time in his career.