By The Associated Press

CINCINNATI – Adam Dunn led off two straight innings with home runs and the Cincinnati Reds overpowered slumping Mark Mulder before holding on for a 7-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Dunn moved into a tie for the NL lead with his 19th and 20th home runs to help the Reds improve to 2-0 under interim manager Jerry Narron, who was promoted from bench coach on Tuesday to replace the fired Dave Miley.

Reds starter Ramon Ortiz (3-5) didn’t allow a hit in his first career appearance against St. Louis until Mark Grudzielanek led off the fifth with his seventh home run of the season. Ortiz gave up five hits and three runs in seven innings for his second win in his last three starts.

Mulder (8-5), who is 1-4 in his last five starts after going 7-0 in his previous eight, allowed season highs of 12 hits and seven runs in four innings. His previous season highs were 11 hits, by the Reds in his 6-5 loss on April 13, and six runs by Cincinnati and two other teams.

Nationals 5, Pirates 4

PITTSBURGH – Brian Schneider’s softly hit go-ahead single in the eighth inning barely traveled 150 feet in a game featuring mostly long home runs, and the Washington Nationals came back after squandering an early lead to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 Wednesday.

Jose Guillen had his second two-homer game in the three-game series as the teams combined for five homers in the first three innings, helping the Pirates take a 4-2 lead that starter Josh Fogg couldn’t hold.

The Nationals won their 18th in 23 games and finished up a 5-4 road trip against the Angels, Rangers and Pirates, while Pittsburgh dropped its eighth in 10 games.

Braves 8, Marlins 0

ATLANTA – Andruw Jones continued his home run tear with a two-run shot into the upper deck Wednesday night and the Atlanta Braves rolled to an 8-0 victory over the struggling Florida Marlins.

Jones’ homer gave him the NL lead with 21 and gave the Braves a 4-0 lead in the fifth inning. The shot off Brian Moehler traveled an estimated 432 feet to left field.

Jones has hit nine homers in the last 11 games, a streak that began with a two-homer game on June 11 against Oakland. He also hit a home run in the Braves’ 5-0 win over the Marlins on Tuesday night.

Astros 6, Rockies 2

HOUSTON – Roger Clemens pitched seven strong innings for his 334th win, Morgan Ensberg hit a three-run homer and the Houston Astros completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with a 6-2 victory.

Clemens (6-3) allowed two runs and five hits, struck out four and walked two, lowering his major league-leading ERA to 1.51.

Ensberg hit the go-ahead homer in the third. The Astros scored three more runs in the seventh with the help of some terrible Colorado defense, and John Franco and Russ Springer combined to pitch two scoreless innings for Houston’s fifth win in six games.

Brewers 9, Cubs 4

MILWAUKEE – Carlos Lee hit two home runs, including a three-run shot during an eight-run second inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 9-4.

Lee added a solo shot in the seventh for his 19th homer. The NL leader with 64 RBIs has two multihomer games this season.

Milwaukee sent 12 men to the plate in the second and knocked out Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano (4-4). The right-hander, who has just one victory in his last eight starts, lasted a career-low 1 2-3 innings and gave up a career-high eight earned runs and seven hits.

Phillies 8, Mets 4

PHILADELPHIA – Chase Utley had three hits, including a go-ahead RBI single in a six-run seventh inning, leading the Philadelphia Phillies over the New York Mets 8-4.

Jim Thome homered and Kenny Lofton had a three-run double for the Phillies, who won for just the third time in eight games.

Cliff Floyd and Mike Piazza homered for the Mets, who have lost 10 of 13. Floyd also made an outstanding catch, crashing into the left-field wall to rob Lofton with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth.

But Lofton’s liner down the left-field line with two outs in the seventh cleared the bases and gave the Phillies an 8-2 lead.

After the Mets tied it at 2 against reliever Ryan Madson in the seventh, the Phillies answered in their half.

Thome walked with one out off Royce Ring (0-2). Aaron Heilman entered and hit Pat Burrell on his first pitch. Utley followed with a slicing liner to left that scored Thome to make it 3-2.

Mike Lieberthal’s two-out single drove in Burrell, and Utley scored on a wild pitch after pinch-hitter Jason Michaels singled, giving the Phillies a 5-2 lead.

Piazza hit a two-run shot off struggling reliever Ugueth Urbina in the eighth. Urbina has allowed four homers in 6 1-3 innings since coming to the Phillies in a trade with Detroit.

Robinson Tejeda allowed one run and three hits in six innings. Madson (4-2) gave up one run in one inning.

Tejeda, who took injured left-hander Randy Wolf’s spot in the rotation, moved up one day when Vicente Padilla had to miss a start. He’s allowed one run in three starts, spanning 16 2-3 innings.

Mets starter Victor Zambrano allowed two runs and six hits in six innings. Ring gave up one run and Heilman was charged with five runs while recording just one out.

The Mets tied it at 2 on pinch-hitter Brian Daubach’s sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Thome hit a 3-0 pitch deep into the right-field seats to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the fifth. It was only the sixth homer for the slumping first baseman, who is hitting just .219 with 27 RBIs.

Floyd hit an opposite-field homer with two outs in the fourth to tie it at 1. He drove Tejeda’s first pitch over the left-field wall for his 17th homer.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the second when Mets third baseman David Wright made a mental lapse.

Utley doubled to start the inning, went to third on a groundout and scored when Wright short-hopped Lieberthal’s hard one-hopper and tagged the base, trying to convince the umpire he caught the ball in the air. Both runners were safe.

Zambrano escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first by striking out Thome and getting Burrell to ground into a double play.

Notes: Piazza moved into 47th place ahead of Dwight Evans on the all-time list with his 386th homer. … Floyd has 24 homers and 86 RBIs in 359 career at-bats against the Phillies. … A near-sellout crowd of 42,640 turned out at Citizens Bank Park. … Ryan Howard, the Phillies’ top hitting prospect, had his 24-game hitting streak for Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre end Wednesday night.

AP-ES-06-22-05 2213EDT

Copy the Story Link