Pirates 6, Brewers 3

Pittsburgh – Adam LaRoche homered twice, and Tom Gorzelanny outpitched Ben Sheets as Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee, handing the division leaders their third straight loss.

LaRoche, who had been mired in a three-month slump, hit a two-run homer in the third off Sheets and a solo homer off reliever Carlos Villanueva in the seventh. He also doubled ahead of Xavier Nady’s RBI single in the fifth.

LaRoche has seen his average jump from .164 on May 12 to .242. He is 16-for-32 with five doubles, five homers and 11 RBIs in his last eight games.

Gorzelanny (9-4) gave up Geoff Jenkins’ two-run homer in the fourth while allowing three runs and five hits in seven innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked two.

It was a bad day all around for the Brewers, who also lost center fielder Bill Hall to a right ankle sprain when he climbed the wall trying to pull down Ryan Doumit’s solo homer leading off the second. The Brewers aren’t certain how long he will be out.

Marlins 3, Padres 2

San Diego – Byung-Hyun Kim outdueled All-Star Jake Peavy, leading Florida over San Diego and earning his first victory since May 28.

Reds 6, Giants 3

Cincinnati – Bronson Arroyo outfoxed Barry Bonds – and outhomered him, too. Bonds managed only a modest single, stalling his chase of the home run record. Arroyo also hit his third career homer off Matt Morris (7-5), a solo shot that helped him end the longest slump of his career.

Cubs 4, Nationals 2

Washington – Mike Fontenot broke out of an 0-for-16 skid with three hits, including the tiebreaking single in the seventh inning, and former National Daryle Ward added two hits and two RBIs to lead Chicago.

Mets 6, Astros 2

Houston – John Maine set a career high with nine strikeouts in 72â3 innings, and Ramon Castro had a two-run double.

Cardinals 3, Diamondbacks 2

St. Louis – Adam Wainwright carried a five-hit shutout into the eighth inning, and Juan Encarnacion hit a three-run homer. Wainwright (7-7) induced four inning-ending double plays for the Cardinals, who took three of four from Arizona.

Braves 8, Dodgers 6

Los Angeles – Chipper Jones broke open a tie game with a pair of solo homers that tied and broke Dale Murphy’s Atlanta Braves record, and Jeff Francoeur also homered.