Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Rod Barajas homered in his home debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 Monday night. Kuroda walked Jayson Werth in the eighth before Raul Ibanez reached on a fielder's choice groundout. Shane Victorino, hitless in seven career at-bats against Kuroda, hit a clean line-drive single to right field on Kuroda's 97th pitch of the game to break up the no-hitter. Kuroda hit Werth with a pitch in the second and walked Carlos Ruiz in the sixth. The 35-year-old right-hander from Japan beat Roy Halladay, who tossed a perfect game against Florida on May 29, winning 1-0. Kuroda (10-11) struck out seven in 7 2-3 innings for his second straight win. Halladay (16-10) allowed three runs and 10 hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked one. It was the fourth time he gave up 10 or more hits this season, and the most since he allowed 13 at Cincinnati on June 30. Reds 5, Brewers 4: At Cincinnati, Jay Bruce singled off Trevor Hoffman with two outs in the 10th inning as the Reds rallied for a narrow victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and extended their National League Central lead to a season-high six games. The Reds are pulling away from second-place St. Louis, which lost at Houston 3-0. The six-game lead is Cincinnati biggest since 1995, the last time the Reds reached the playoffs. Hoffman (2-7) walked Ryan Hanigan to open the 10th. Pinch-runner Brandon Phillips stopped at second on Chris Heisey's two-out single. Bruce, who led off the Reds' first with a homer, then singled through the hole at shortstop to end it. Francisco Cordero (5-4) gave up a single in the 10th. Astros 3, Cardinals 0: At Houston, J.A. Happ threw a two-hitter, and rookie Brett Wallace had a career-high three hits and drove in a run to help the Houston beat struggling St. Louis. It was another tough loss for the Cardinals, who have dropped six of seven and entered the day five games behind Cincinnati in the NL Central race. Happ earned his fourth complete game and third shutout of his career. The Astros acquired the 27-year-old in the deal that sent Roy Oswalt to the Phillies last month. Happ (5-2), who hadn't gone longer than 6 1-3 innings this season, struck out four and walked one. Braves 9, Mets 3: At Atlanta, Jason Heyward homered and drove in four runs, and Martin Prado drove in three runs as NL East-leading Atlanta downed New York. Heyward had four hits, including a three-run homer off Pat Misch in the second inning. He has five homers in August after hitting only one in June and July, when he was slowed by a thumb injury. Jair Jurrjens (6-4) gave up six hits and matched his career high with six walks, but his eight strikeouts helped him limit the Mets to three runs in 5 2-3 innings. Cubs 14, Pirates 2: At Chicago, Carlos Zambrano allowed one unearned run in 5 1-3 innings and hit a two-run homer to lead Chicago past Pittsburgh. Aramis Ramirez was 2 for 3 with four RBIs to help Mike Quade win his first game at Wrigley Field as manager and improve to 5-2 since taking over for Lou Piniella on Aug.23. The Cubs scored seven times on seven hits in the fourth and were 7 for 7 to start the inning. They brought 11 batters to the plate in the inning to knock out Pirates starter Paul Maholm (7-13). Zambrano (6-6) struck out seven and pitched around four walks. Rockies 2, Giants 1: At San Francisco, Carlos Gonzalez hit a tying triple with no outs in the ninth and scored on second baseman Freddy Sanchez's second throwing error of the game. The Giants squandered a key chance to gain ground on the first-place San Diego Padres in the NL West and the Phillies in the wild-card race after both those teams lost. Instead, San Francisco still sits five games back in the division and 1½ games behind Philadelphia. Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez carried a shutout bid into the ninth then gave way to All-Star closer Brian Wilson (3-2) after a leadoff walk to Dexter Fowler. Rafael Betancourt (5-1) pitched the eighth for the win, then Huston Street finished for his 13th save in 17 chances. Rockie starter Jorge De La Rosa struck out nine to match his season high. Nationals 9, Marlins 3: At Miami, Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman each hit three-run home runs to lead Washington to victory in a game that started three hours late due to rain. Jason Marquis (1-7) won his first game in nearly a year, pitching 5 2-3 innings and giving up three runs. Hanley Ramirez and Brett Hayes homered for the Marlins. Zimmerman's three-run blast off Alex Sanabia (3-2) in the third inning hit off the facing of the upperdeck in left field knocking out a light panel on the out-of-town scoreboard. His 25th homer gave the Nationals a 4-1 lead. Dunn's three-run shot off Brian Sanches – his 33rd – extended the Nationals advantage to 8-3 in the seventh. He also hit an RBI double.
