plus strong innings and Placido Polanco homered for his 2,000th career hit to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-1 win over the Houston Astros Monday. Blanton (4-3) allowed six hits and one run, struck out seven and walked one while pitching in a steady light rain throughout. The right-hander continued his solid recent stretch, improving to 3-0 with a 2.10 ERA in his last four starts. Freddy Galvis had three hits and drove in a pair of runs and Carlos Ruiz went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Phillies, who have won three of four since manager Charlie Manuel's much-publicized team meeting last Wednesday. Ruiz entered the game leading all major league catchers in average (.330), RBIs (22) and slugging percentage (.588). Marwin Gonzalez, pinch hitting to lead off the eighth, hit his first major league homer for the Astros' lone run. Carlos Lee went 3 for 4 for Houston, which has lost six of eight after a season-best five-game winning streak. Lee, who recorded all three hits off Blanton, now is 9 for 18 lifetime against the Philadelphia pitcher. Nationals 8, Padres 5: Bryce Harper hit his first big league home run, helping lead the Washington Nationals to an 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres. Harper became the youngest major leaguer to homer since 1998, going deep on a solo shot to straightaway center field in the third inning off right-hander Tim Stauffer. The home run came in the outfielder's 15th game and 54th at-bat with the Nationals. Reds 3, Braves 1: Brandon Phillips drove in the go-ahead run with a double off the centerfield wall and the Cincinnati Reds scored two runs off Jonny Venters in the eighth inning to beat the Atlanta Braves. The game was tied 1-1 when Drew Stubbs led off the eighth with an infield hit between the pitcher's mound and third base. Stubbs moved to second base on Venters' wild pitch. With one out, Phillips drove in Stubbs with the double. Chris Heisey added another double, his third hit of the game, to drive in Phillips. Cubs 6, Cardinals 4: Alfonso Soriano singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Chicago Cubs sent the St. Louis Cardinals to their fourth straight loss at home with a 6-4 victory. Bryan LaHair had three hits for the Cubs, including a two-run homer to break a 1-for-14 slump. Chicago's late rally wasn't enough to make a winner of starter Ryan Dempster, whose winless streak reached 15 starts dating to last August. Shawn Camp (2-1) allowed one hit in two innings of work and Rafael Dolis worked the ninth for his fourth save in six chances. Jake Westbrook became the latest Cardinal starter who couldn't pitch deep into the game, allowing four runs on 11 hits in five innings. Of the other four pitchers during this run through the St. Louis rotation, only rookie Lance Lynn lasted six innings. Mitchell Boggs (0-1) took the loss. Pirates 3, Marlins 2: Brad Lincoln pitched six innings to earn a victory in his first start of the season Monday, and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended a streak of eight consecutive losses against the Marlins.
