Cubs 6, Astros 1

Milwaukee – Ted Lilly came close to following Carlos Zambrano’s no-hitter with one of his own.

Lilly pitched no-hit ball until Mark Loretta’s seventh-inning single, and the Cubs beat the Astros on Monday to sweep a two-game series moved from Houston because of Hurricane Ike.

Hard-charging Houston had won 14 of 15 coming into the series, but the Cubs left the Astros 21â2 games back of Milwaukee and Philadelphia, which share the NL wild-card lead.

Aramis Ramirez’s first-inning sacrifice fly and Jim Edmonds’ homer off Brian Moehler (11-7) in the fifth built a 2-0 lead, and Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto hit two-run homers in the sixth.

Lilly (15-9) faced the minimum through six innings, allowing only a leadoff walk in the second to Lance Berkman, who was caught leaning off first and thrown out at second.

Dodgers 8, Pirates 2

Pittsburgh – Hiroki Kuroda allowed three hits over seven shutout innings for his first road win in more than two months, and Manny Ramirez had three more hits, leading surging Los Angeles past Pittsburgh.

With Juan Pierre homering for the first time in nearly two years, the Dodgers rebounded from a 1-0, 10-inning loss at Colorado on Sunday for their 13th victory in 15 games – a surge that has given them a five-game lead in the NL West over Arizona.

The Pirates swept three games from St. Louis over the weekend, but did nothing against Kuroda, who hadn’t won in six road starts since beating Houston, 4-1, on July 2.

Ramirez doubled in the Dodgers’ first two runs in a three-run third against Ross Ohlendorf (0-2).

Nationals 7, Mets 2

Washington – John Lannan limited New York to one hit over seven innings, Anderson Hernandez delivered a two-run single off a tiring Pedro Martinez, and the Nationals beat the fading-again Mets.

The Mets’ lead over idle Philadelphia in the NL East fell to a half-game; New York held a 31â2-game cushion as recently as Wednesday. The Mets have 13 games left, Philadelphia has 12.

Padres 11, Rockies 5

Denver – Adrian Gonzalez homered and drove in four runs, Wade LeBlanc earned his first career win, and San Diego beat Colorado.

Brian Giles had three hits, and rookie Matt Antonelli hit his first career home run for the Padres, who had seven doubles in their 18-hit attack. Drew Macias also homered for the Padres, who had lost five of their last six games.

Diamondbacks 3, Giants 1

Phoenix – Adam Dunn homered with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead Arizona past San Francisco.

Justin Upton added his 13th home run for the Diamondbacks, who remain 41â2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.