MONTREAL — Rookie Claudio Vargas allowed three hits in eight innings and Edwards Guzman hit his first home run in nearly two years, leading the Montreal Expos to a 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.
Making his 11th start since he was recalled from Triple-A Edmonton on April 24, Vargas (4-3) allowed singles to Aramis Ramirez and pitcher Jeff Suppan, and a double to Matt Stairs.
Guzman, whose contract was purchased from Edmonton on June 7, connected off Suppan (5-7) with one out in the third for his first homer since Aug. 9, 2001, with San Francisco at Cincinnati.
Rocky Biddle pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances.
Montreal won for just the third time in its last 11 games. The Expos have seven shutouts this season after recording only three last year.
Pittsburgh, which lost its second game in a row, had won six of eight.
Vargas, acquired from Florida along with Cliff Floyd last July 11, was perfect in the first, fourth and fifth. He walked one, hit two batters with pitches and struck out two, matching his longest outing.
Montreal opened the scoring in the second. Ron Calloway drew a two-out walk and scored on Brian Schneider's RBI double.
After Guzman's homer made it 2-0, Orlando Cabrera tripled and scored on Jose Vidro's single to put the Expos up by three.
Suppan allowed eight hits and three runs in seven innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, ASTROS 6: At Phoenix, Quinton McCracken hit a bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the eighth and the D-Backs withstood an Astros rally to earn the victory.
ROCKIES 5, PADRES 1: At San Diego, Shawn Chacon pitched seven strong innings, giving up just one run on four hits for the Rockies. Larry Walker hit a homer for Colorado.
GIANTS 3, DODGERS 2: At San Francisco, Barry Bonds stole the 500th base of his career and scored on Benito Santiago's single in the 11th inning as San Francisco beat Los Angeles.
Bonds led off by drawing a walk from Los Angeles closer Eric Gagne (1-2). He became the first player ever with 500 stolen bases and 500 homers, taking second without a throw.
After a brief delay while Bonds uprooted the base and waved to the crowd, Andres Galarraga struck out. Santiago then singled to left, and Bonds sprinted home to wrap up the Giants' fourth straight home victory.