Giles Helps Knock Astros Out of First

Brian Giles hit his first home run for San Diego as the Padres beat Houston, 7-1, Sunday, dropping the Astros out of first place in the Central Division.

The loss at San Diego dropped the Astros a half-game behind Chicago. The Cubs beat Milwaukee, 9-2, for their fifth straight victory.

Giles put the Padres ahead with a two-run homer in the first inning. It was his 17th home run overall this season, and first in nine games since being acquired Aug. 26 in a trade with Pittsburgh.

St. Louis 9, Cincinnati 0 -- Matt Morris (10-6) pitched no-hit ball into the seventh inning and finished with a three-hitter at St. Louis as the Cardinals moved to within 1 1/2 games of first place in the Central Division.

Philadelphia 5, New York 4 -- Marlon Byrd’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Phillies their sixth straight victory. In all, they have won eight of 10 and hold a one-game lead over Florida in the wild-card race.

Florida 3, Montreal 1 -- On an afternoon in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it reached 153 degrees on Hiram Bithorn Stadium’s artificial turf, rookie Dontrelle Willis (12-6) pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning.

Atlanta 2, Pittsburgh 1 -- Javy Lopez hit a tiebreaking homer -- his 37th -- in the seventh inning, and Mike Hampton (13-7) pitched four-hit ball over eight innings at Atlanta.

Arizona 9, San Francisco 7 -- Pinch-hitter Danny Bautista hit a tiebreaking two-run single to highlight a five-run eighth inning for the Diamondbacks at San Francisco.