Lee makes deep impact in his return
Derrek Lee hit his 26th homer in his return to the lineup and Todd Walker homered and drove in three runs to power the Chicago Cubs past the Florida Marlins, 8-2, last night in Miami.
Kerry Wood (2-2) scattered six hits -- including Jeff Conine's solo homer -- in 7 2/3 innings for his first win in 2 1/2 months. Chicago won its second straight following an eight-game losing streak.
Lee, second in the majors to Atlanta's Andruw Jones in homers, returned after missing three games because of irritation in his left shoulder. His solo shot off rookie Scott Olsen in the fourth gave him 68 RBIs.
Marlins manager Jack McKeon was ejected by third base umpire Jerry Layne when he came out to argue Layne's ruling of a fair ball on Jerry Hairston's tying RBI double off Guillermo Mota (1-2) with two outs in the seventh.
Walker followed with his third homer of the season to put Chicago ahead, 4-2. He added an RBI double in the ninth and Jose Macias hit a two-run double off Jim Mecir to make it 7-2. Michael Barrett's run-scoring single increased the Cubs' lead to six.
Wood, who last won April 24 against Pittsburgh, struck out four in his third start since returning from a right shoulder strain.
After Lee's homer put the Cubs up, 1-0, Conine tied it on his second homer of the season on a 3-and-2 pitch from Wood leading off the fifth. The Marlins took a 2-1 lead later in the inning on Juan Pierre's two-out RBI single.
Brewers 9, Braves 6 -- Ben Sheets pitched seven strong innings and Brady Clark drove in three runs as visiting Milwaukee snapped Atlanta's season-high six-game winning streak.
Sheets (5-6), who struck out a franchise-record 18 Braves last season, had only four strikeouts. He gave up three hits and two runs in the first, then held the Braves scoreless over the next six innings.
Rockies 1, Padres 0 -- Colorado's Jason Jennings scattered seven hits in seven innings and All-Star Brian Fuentes escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to close out the lowest-scoring game in Coors Field history.
Jennings (5-8) walked four, struck out one, and benefited from three double plays. Jay Witasick worked the eighth before Fuentes earned his 12th save, finishing the 28th shutout in Denver but the first 1-0 game in 847 regular-season contests at Coors.
Phillies 1, Nationals 0 -- David Bell's sacrifice fly off Hector Carrasco in the ninth snapped a rare pitchers' duel at Citizens Bank Park and lifted Philadelphia over Washington.
Bobby Abreu lined a single to right off Carrasco (3-2) to lead off the ninth. After Pat Burrell struck out for the third time, Chase Utley doubled to right and Ryan Howard was intentionally walked. Bell then hit a long fly to left.
Astros 4, Dodgers 2 -- Roy Oswalt (12-7) went 6 1/3 innings to win his sixth straight start and Houston beat visiting Los Angeles to climb back to .500 for the first time since April 22.
Pirates 11, Mets 4 -- Jack Wilson singled in the go-ahead run in the sixth, then hit his first career grand slam in a seven-run seventh to lead host Pittsburgh to its third win in a row.
Giants 2, Cardinals 0 -- Brad Hennessey (3-2) scattered three singles in seven shutout innings for host San Francisco and Michael Tucker hit a fifth-inning single to break a scoreless tie against St. Louis.
Reds 6, Diamondbacks 2 -- At Phoenix, Adam Dunn hit a grand slam off Brandon Webb (8-6) during a five-run eighth for Cincinnati, which secured its first road series win of the season.
