ATLANTA – Chipper Jones drove in three runs, Mike Hampton won his fifth in a row and the Atlanta Braves defeated the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 Saturday.

Los Angeles, the worst-hitting team in the National League, lost its fifth in a row but finally managed to score more than three runs – the first time that’s happened since July 22.

The Dodgers had scored only 11 runs in their previous nine games, including a 2-0 shutout loss to the Braves on Friday.

Atlanta built a 5-0 lead, then had to hold on as Los Angeles mounted a rare offensive charge.

Marlins 5, Astros 2

MIAMI – Mike Lowell hit a three-run homer and Carl Pavano held Houston without a hit until the sixth inning to help the Florida Marlins beat the Astros 5-2 Saturday night.

The Marlins improved to 7-1 on their homestand with one game left. The Astros lost to Florida for the first time in

five meetings this season, and their lead in the NL Central was cut to one game over St. Louis.

Lowell’s 30th home run came in the first inning, and teammate Alex Gonzalez hit his 13th homer in the second. Ivan Rodriguez had three hits, drove in a run, stole a base and scored once.

Reds 5, Giants 4

CINCINNATI – Newcomer Josh Hall settled down after giving up Barry Bonds’ 34th homer, and the Cincinnati Reds stayed on their roll by rallying for a 5-4 victory Saturday over the San Francisco Giants.

Barry Larkin drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh that broke a 4-all tie and sent the NL West-leading Giants to their third straight defeat.

The Reds are 5-1 since Monday, when they fired manager Bob Boone and general manager Jim Bowden and embarked upon a budget-slashing makeover. Four key players were traded for prospects and cash.

Expos 7, Brewers 1

MONTREAL – Javier Vazquez fanned 11 to pass 1,000 career strikeouts, and also hit a two-run single to lead the Montreal Expos over the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 Saturday.

With a crowd of 22,280 on hand as the Expos honored new Hall of Famer Gary Carter, Vazquez (9-7) allowed only an unearned run in his second complete game of the season.

Diamondbacks 4, Cubs 3

CHICAGO – Alex Cintron hit a tying homer and Raul Mondesi delivered an RBI double later in the ninth inning, rallying the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Chicago Cubs 4-3 Saturday.

The Diamondbacks snapped a six-game losing streak and ended a team-record 10-game road losing streak.

Arizona trailed 3-2 in the ninth before Cintron led off with a home run against closer Joe Borowski (1-2).

Padres 6, Phillies 4

PHILADELPHIA – Jake Peavy allowed two hits over seven shutout innings, and Phil Nevin homered and drove in four runs as the San Diego Padres defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday.

Nevin went 2-for-4 and has hit safely in seven of nine games since coming off the disabled list July 23. He had been sidelined since March 7 after surgery on his left shoulder.

Cardinals 10, Mets 9

NEW YORK – Rookie Bo Hart hit his first career grand slam, Albert Pujols had his 30th homer and the St. Louis Cardinals withstood New York’s five-run rally in the ninth inning to hold off the Mets 10-9 Saturday.

Down 10-4, the Mets began their comeback with the help of three wild pitches by Jason Isringhausen. Pedro Borbon Jr. relieved with two outs and gave up an RBI double to Raul Gonzalez and Roger Cedeno’s fourth hit, a two-run single that made it 10-9.

Esteban Yan took over and allowed a single to Jose Reyes that put runners on first and third. But Yan retired Vance Wilson on a liner to left field – Miguel Cairo struggled to make the catch – for his first save.

Pirates 1, Rockies 0

PITTSBURGH – Brian Meadows took Jeff Suppan’s spot in the rotation and pitched seven shutout innings, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Colorado Rockies 1-0 Saturday.

Abraham Nunez, whose son, Abraham Jr., was born 2 hours before the game, drove in the only run with a second-inning groundout.

The Rockies put runners on first and third with one out in the ninth against Brian Boehringer. Mike Lincoln relieved and got Jay Payton to ground into a game-ending double play.

The pitcher’s duel came one night after Pittsburgh beat the Rockies 12-11.

Rockies outfielders Preston Wilson and Larry Walker were involved in a violent collision in the third inning while chasing Jason Kendall’s drive to the warning track in right-center.

Just as Wilson caught the ball, Walker crashed into him, sending them tumbling to the ground. Wilson held onto the ball, and both players were down on the track for several seconds before Rockies medical personnel could attend to them.

After about four minutes of medical attention, both players rose to their feet and stayed in the game.

Suppan led the Pirates with 10 victories before he was traded to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.

Meadows (2-1) allowed five singles in his second start of the season and first since May 25. He walked one and struck out three to raise his career record to 3-8.

The largest crowd of the season – 37,820 – at PNC Park saw Meadows throw 93 pitches before he was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

Brian Boehringer pitched 1 1-3 innings and Lincoln got his fourth save.

Jason Jennings (10-9) lost despite pitching three-hit ball for seven innings.

The Rockies dropped their fourth in a row and fell to an NL-worst 18-41 on the road.

Randall Simon led off the Pirates’ second inning with a walk and advanced to third on Jose Hernandez’s double off the right-field wall. After Jack Wilson struck out, Nunez bounced out to second to drive home Simon.

Notes: Nunez was questionable for the game because his wife gave birth Saturday at 3:59 p.m. The game started at 6:35 p.m. Abraham Jr. weighed in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces. … Pirates RF Reggie Sanders threw out Ronnie Belliard trying to stretch a single to a double in the first inning. Sanders’ one-hop throw from the gap in right-center field gave him four assists on the season, tied for the team lead among outfielders with recently traded CF Kenny Lofton. … The Rockies have yet to finish a road trip with a .500 record this season. … Jennings is 7-0 at home but 3-9 on the road with a four-game losing streak. … The crowd was the 10th-largest in PNC Park’s three-year history. There was a postgame fireworks show.

AP-ES-08-02-03 2110EDT