Lincecum leads Giants to win

San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum took a no-hit bid into the seventh, before tiring in a 9-3 win over the San Diego Padres.

Tony Gwynn Jr broke it up by leading off the seventh with a single to left and Lincecum quickly deteriorated, but he had already done enough to earn his 10th win of the season.

Lincecum struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings, and was charged with two runs.

But he had plenty of support from the Giants hitters as Bengie Molina, Travis Ishikawa and Juan Uribe all went deep, the latter pair combining on San Francisco's first back-to-back homers of the season.

Joel Hanrahan earned a place in trivia history as the reliever earned the win in Washington's 11-10 victory over the Houston Astros - even though he now plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Nationals and Astros convened to finish a game suspended in the 11th inning by rain on May 5, and Washington quickly settled it on a throwing error from Miguel Tejada that allowed Nyjer Morgan to score.

Hanrahan, traded to Pittsburgh last week, remained the pitcher of record and earned the win even as he was relaxing in a hotel room several hundred miles away.

Morgan, incidentally, was pinch-running for Elijah Dukes, who was on base when the game was suspended but has since been sent to the minor leagues.

Houston quickly gained a measure of revenge, however, winning the second game of this makeshift doubleheader 9-4.

Four runs in the sixth inning decided the game in the Astros favour, even after starter Russ Ortiz struggled mightily in giving up four runs on six hits and two walks in the first three innings.

The Florida Marlins launched a stunning rally to come from 7-0 down and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 14-7 at Chase Field.

They chipped away with three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh, but it was the 10-run eighth-inning that broke Arizona backs and earned Florida an improbable win.

Brett Carroll got things rolling with a three-run homer to tie the game and the Marlins collected eight hits in the inning.

Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers kept on rolling with an 11-2 win over the New York Mets.

Randy Wolf, who switched jersey numbers to his favoured No. 43 before the game, held the Mets to two runs in 6 2/3 innings and Ramirez contributed two RBI to the Dodger cause.

The St Louis Cardinals have opened up a two-game lead atop the National League Central after rallying to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1.

Manny Parra was outstanding in his long-awaited return for the Brewers, striking out seven in seven scoreless innings, but once he was gone St Louis got to work, their efforts highlighted by Ryan Ludwick's three-run blast in the eighth inning.

Joel Pineiro went the distance for the Cardinals, striking out five.

Jayson Werth homered for a fourth consecutive game and Chase Utley hit an inside-the-park round-tripper as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-6.

Utley's shot to deep centre field in the third inning found the angle of the wall to shoot into right for his second career inside-the-park homer, the last coming in 2005.

Veteran lefty Jamie Moyer got the win for Philadelphia despite allowing six runs in five innings.

The Colorado Rockies won their fourth straight game as they rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6.

Having trailed the entire game, Garrett Atkins collected a pinch-hit two-run double in the eighth to tie it and Ian Stewart scored the go-ahead run moments after.

Juan Rincon earned his first win for Colorado and Huston Street collected his 22nd save.