MIAMI – On a humid, 87-degree afternoon, the Philadelphia Phillies endured another Miami meltdown – perhaps their worst yet.

Alex Gonzalez hit the first grand slam of his career, Dontrelle Willis pitched seven innings and the Florida Marlins won 10-1 Thursday to sweep the Phillies at home for the fourth time in a row.

It was the Phillies’ 14th consecutive loss in Miami, including seven this year.

Phillies manager Larry Bowa has called the streak “embarrassing,” and left fielder Pat Burrell said it’s “unbelievable.” Even the Marlins – eight games below .500 against the rest of the majors – shake their heads in amazement at the way they’ve dominated Philadelphia.

The teams are tied for second place in the NL East, but in the past two years the rivalry has been no closer than Thursday’s rout.

The Marlins are 11-1 against the Phillies this season and have won 23 of the past 26 meetings.

D-backs 6, Astros 4

HOUSTON – Lance Cormier won the first game of his brief major league career, and Shea Hillenbrand hit a two-run homer Thursday to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 6-4 victory over the Houston Astros – only their second win since the All-Star break.

Cormier (1-2), making his third start in the big leagues, lasted six innings and allowed three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. He was much better against the Astros than he was in his previous two outings – he entered with a 14.73 ERA after starts against Tampa Bay and Colorado.

The 23-year-old right-hander even tallied his first career hit with a single in the sixth, almost getting thrown out at first when he halfheartedly started running toward the base.

Mets 10, Expos 1

MONTREAL – Eric Valent became the eighth player in Mets history to hit for the cycle, and Mike Cameron homered twice to lead New York to a 10-1 victory over the Montreal Expos on Thursday.

Valent went 4-for-4 with a walk and drove in three runs and scored three times in becoming the fourth player in the majors this season to hit a single, double, triple and home run in a game.

Al Leiter (7-3) allowed three hits and one run in six innings, improving to 6-1 in his last 10 starts.

Braves 3, Pirates 2

PITTSBURGH – Rafael Furcal made up for two errors with a go-ahead single during Atlanta’s two-run, ninth-inning rally against Pirates closer Jose Mesa, and the Braves came back to beat Pittsburgh 3-2.

The Braves won their third in the four-game series, sixth in seven games overall – and 15th in 20. They also took the season series from Pittsburgh 4-2, and are 11-4 against the Pirates the last two seasons.

Mesa had converted 29 of 30 save opportunities heading into the ninth, but immediately got into trouble when Johnny Estrada and Julio Franco singled.

Cubs 4, Brewers 0

MILWAUKEE – Carlos Zambrano gave up four hits over eight shutout innings and Sammy Sosa homered in the Chicago Cubs’ 4-0 victory over the punchless Milwaukee Brewers.

Zambrano (10-6) walked two and struck out eight in snapping a personal three-game losing skid. He needed 31 pitches to get out of the first inning, but after putting men on second and third, struck out Geoff Jenkins, Russell Branyan and Lyle Overbay. He began the second with two more strikeouts.

After the first inning, he allowed just two hits: a single by Ben Hendrickson in the third and a double by Craig Counsell leading off the sixth.

Dodgers 3, Rockies 2

DENVER – David Ross and Jayson Werth homered and Wilson Alvarez pitched five solid innings, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2 on Thursday.

Todd Helton hit his 22nd homer and Jamey Wright had another solid outing for the Rockies, who couldn’t mount another late-inning comeback against Los Angeles’ bullpen.

The Rockies didn’t have a hit after Alvarez left in the fifth.

, a day after rallying for the go-ahead run against the Dodgers’ bullpen in the eighth inning of a 5-4 victory.

Gagne got the final out in the eighth, and pitched a perfect ninth for his 30th save in 31 chances.

The Dodgers got off to a good start against Wright, with Werth hitting a long solo homer in the first that hit the base of the concourse behind the foul pole in left.

But that was about it.

The Dodgers had a runner on third with one out in the third inning after Ross tripled. Wright followed by getting Alvarez on a comebacker and Cesar Izturis on a flyout to end the inning.

Alex Cora led off the fifth with a double, but was left standing there after Wright got a pair of popups and a groundout to finish off the inning.

Alvarez (6-3) was just as good in the early going.

Aaron Miles led off the first inning with a double, but the Rockies didn’t get another hit off the left-hander until Helton led off the fourth with his third homer in four games.

Charles Johnson put the Rockies up 2-1 in the fifth with a line-drive, RBI double over Milton Bradley in center.

The Dodgers took the lead back in the sixth, when Scott Dohmann (0-1) hung a 1-2 curveball that Ross hit over the wall in left for a two-run homer. Wright walked Juan Encarnacion just before that and was pulled after giving up two runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Alvarez was lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth after striking out six, walking two and hitting a batter.

Notes: Colorado played with a short bench for the second straight game because C Todd Greene (hamstring) and INF Luis Gonzalez (knee) are still nursing injuries. … Werth started an impressive double play to end the sixth, catching Jeromy Burnitz’s drive against the wall and throwing the ball back in from his back. Two relay throws later, Preston Wilson was doubled off first. … Los Angeles is 50-0 when leading after eight innings. … Colorado 3B Vinny Castilla was 0-for-4, ending his hitting streak at 11 games.

AP-ES-07-29-04 1829EDT