Pirates down Cardinals to regain solo lead in NL Central

PITTSBURGH: A.J. Burnett scattered four hits over seven innings, Russell Martin hit a three-run homer and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 on Saturday night to regain sole possession of the NL Central lead.
Neil Walker added three hits for the Pirates, who improved to 79-56 and moved within three victories of their first winning season since 1992.
Burnett (7-9) gave up one run while striking out six and walking one. He received plenty of offensive help only hours after Pittsburgh acquired first baseman Justin Morneau from the Minnesota Twins.
Morneau arrived in the Pirates’ dugout in the sixth inning. By then Pittsburgh had things well in hand. Martin keyed a five-run second with his drive off Lance Lynn (13-9).
The trade for Morneau marked the second big move by the Pirates in five days as they try to beat out St. Louis and Cincinnati in baseball’s tightest division race. Pittsburgh brought in Marlon Byrd and John Buck from the New York Mets on Tuesday.
Dodgers 2 Padres 1: In Los Angeles, Adrian Gonzalez hit a tying single in the seventh inning, pinch-hitter Mark Ellis singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth and Los Angeles rallied to beat San Diego.
Just as the game ended, the Dodgers announced they had acquired third baseman Michael Young from the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league lefty Rob Rasmussen.
The Dodgers ended August with a 23-6 record, their most wins in a month since moving to Los Angeles in 1958. The club record of 25 was set in July 1947 and equaled in August 1953, when the team played in Brooklyn.
Brian Wilson (1-0) came on in relief to earn the victory — his first since joining the Dodgers last week.
Reds 8 Rockies 3: In Denver, Brandon Phillips tripled, homered and doubled in his first three at-bats, Greg Reynolds beat his former team for his first major league win in two years, and Cincinnati defeated Colorado.
Phillips scored three runs, drove in two and just missed becoming the first Reds player to hit for the cycle since Eric Davis against San Diego on June 2, 1989.
Phillips connected in the third off Juan Nicasio (8-7) for his 17th home run.
Colorado’s Todd Helton remained one hit shy of 2,500, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts a night after homering twice and matching a career high with six RBIs.

Braves 5 Marlins 4, 11 innings: In Atlanta, B.J. Upton had four hits, including the game-winning single in the 11th inning, and Atlanta beat Miami for its sixth straight win.
Upton, who entered the game hitting only .186, had a two-run homer and three singles after striking out in his first two at-bats. The single in the 11th off Ryan Webb (1-5) drove in pinch-runner Paul Janish from second base.

Cubs 4 Phillies 3: In Chicago, Starlin Castro hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning to lead Chicago over Philadelphia.
Cole Gillespie drove in two runs for the Cubs, who earned their fourth win in 20 home games since the All-Star break. Castro connected off Zach Miner (0-1) for his eighth homer and first since July 31 against Milwaukee.
Michael Young had three more hits for Philadelphia, hours before he was traded to the Dodgers. Kevin Frandsen homered for the second straight day, but Philadelphia dropped to 9-7 under interim manager and former Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg.
Carlos Villanueva (3-8) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win and Kevin Gregg got his 28th save in 33 chances. Five Cubs relievers combined for four innings of two-hit ball.
Mets 11 Nationals 3: In Washington, Zack Wheeler pitched effectively into the seventh inning and New York piled up a season-high 17 hits in routing Washington.
Eric Young Jr., Daniel Murphy, Josh Satin and Juan Lagares had three hits apiece for the Mets, who scored 11 runs for the second time in three days and won their third straight.
The news wasn’t all good for the injury-riddled Mets, though. First baseman Ike Davis left with a strained muscle on his right side after hitting a sacrifice fly in the third.
Wheeler (7-3) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. Since the start of July, the touted rookie is 6-2 with a 2.96 ERA.
Interleague
Angels 6 Brewers 5: In Milwaukee, pinch-hitter Hank Conger came through with a two-run homer in the ninth inning off closer Jim Henderson that sent Los Angeles past Milwaukee.
The Brewers had been 50-0 this season when leading after eight innings, the only team in the majors without a loss.
Henderson (3-4) retired his first two batters in the ninth before pinch-hitter Josh Hamilton doubled off the glove of sliding right fielder Caleb Gindle. Conger followed with his seventh home run.
Dane Da La Rosa (6-1) pitched a perfect eighth and Ernesto Frieri earned his 29th save in 33 chances.