Washington ? Ramon Ortiz came within three outs of pitching the majors’ first no-hitter in more than two years, and the Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1, on Monday.

Ortiz, who homered in the eighth inning to put the Nationals up 3-0, began the ninth against Aaron Miles. With the crowd cheering on the right-hander, Miles lined the second pitch into center field for a clean single.

Marlins 8, Diamondbacks 5

Miami – The resilient Florida Marlins became the first team in major-league history to climb above .500 after being 20 games under, rallying to beat reeling Arizona.

Phillies 3, Astros 2 (10)

Philadelphia – Chase Utley’s home run with two outs in the 10th inning gave the Phillies a victory over the Astros.

After both teams wasted opportunities to win late in the game, Utley his 25th homer to right off Dave Borkowski (1-2).

Pirates 5, Cubs 4

Chicago – Xavier Nady’s three-run double capped a four-run first inning, and the Pirates held off the Cubs.

Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano left the game after 11â3 innings due to lower back stiffness.

Brewers 6, Dodgers 3

Milwaukee – Greg Maddux lost his first decision since joining the Dodgers as the Brewers ended a 10-game losing streak.

Giants 5, Reds 4

Cincinnati – Barry Bonds hit a tying, two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Shea Hillenbrand had a solo shot in the 10th off David Weathers (4-4). With 730 homers, Bonds is 25 shy of Hank Aaron’s record.

Ken Griffey Jr. dug his right cleats into the padded wall while vainly trying to catch Bonds’ homer, which landed in the first row in right-center field. Griffey left with a dislocated toe next to the big toe on his right foot.

Padres 7, Rockies 5

San Diego – Rookie Josh Barfield hit a three-run homer with one out in the ninth inning, and the San Diego beat Colorado to keep their 11â2-game lead in the NL wild-card race.

Barfield finished with four RBIs for the defending NL West champion Padres, who pulled within two games of Los Angeles in the division.

Braves 5, Mets 0

New York – Chuck James pitched one-hit ball for eight neat innings, shutting down New York.

James also scored twice and got his first hit of the season. Helped by a string of strong defensive plays, he allowed only a second-inning single off the left-field fence to David Wright, who was thrown out at second by Matt Diaz.