St. Louis ? Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 34 games when the official scorer changed his call on an eighth-inning grounder, then added a single in the ninth to help the Philadelphia Phillies rout the St. Louis Cardinals, 16-8, Wednesday night.

Utley was 0-for-4 when, with the Phillies leading 11-7, he hit a bouncer to the third-base side of the pitchers’ mound. Reliever Randy Flores, a left-hander, grabbed the ball with his glove hand as his momentum carried him toward third. He briefly hesitated to check Shane Victorino, the runner off third, and then turned and threw wide and late to first.

First-base umpire Adam Dowdy signaled that Albert Pujols was off the bag, but Utley already had beaten the throw.

Official scorer Mike Smith initially ruled it a fielder’s choice – the scoreboard nevertheless credited a hit – but after watching replays, Smith changed his call to a hit. Smith cited section 10.06 of the Official Baseball Rules, which states that a hit should be scored when a fielder looks at a base before throwing late.

“My gut reaction was Flores’ hesitation allowed him to beat the throw,” Smith said. “In the end, the hit was the right call, and it’s backed up by the rule book.”

Utley is batting 59-for-147 (.401) during the streak.

Astros 7, Padres 1

San Diego – Craig Biggio homered twice, and Brandon Backe threw 72â3 strong innings as Houston beat San Diego.

Giants 10, Nationals 6

San Francisco – Moises Alou homered, hit a two-run double and also singled in a run, Jason Schmidt struck out 10, and San Francisco ended a nine-game losing streak.

Mets 6, Marlins 5

Miami – New York took advantage of four errors, and closer Billy Wagner escaped a ninth-inning jam by striking out the side.

Dodgers 5, Reds 3

Cincinnati – Brad Penny pitched six sharp innings and drove in a run to help Los Angeles beat Cincinnati for its fifth straight victory.

Braves 3, Pirates 2

Pittsburgh – Edgar Renteria hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, and Atlanta turned Horacio Ramirez’s effective start into a victory over Pittsburgh.

Rockies 8, Brewers 2

Denver – Byung-Hyun Kim allowed one run in eight innings, and Todd Helton homered and drove in three runs to lead Colorado. Kim (7-6) yielded seven hits, struck out five and didn’t walk a batter in the longest outing of his career.