Kerry Wood pitched eight innings despite a shaky start, and Derrek Lee hit his 21st homer in a five-run second that lifted the Chicago Cubs over the Colorado Rockies 5-3 Tuesday night in Denver.
Wood (6-4) gave up three runs in the first inning, but allowed just three hits over the next seven. He struck out five and walked three to win for the third win in five starts since coming off the DL following a triceps strain.
Sammy Sosa drove in a run and so did Nomar Garciaparra, playing his second game since the Cubs acquired him from Boston. Chicago has won six of eight to stay within reach of San Diego in the NL wild card race.
LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save in 21 chances.
Todd Helton homered for the second straight game and Larry Walker had an RBI triple in Colorado's three-run first inning.
Chicago batted around in the second inning off Jeff Fassero (2-7), scoring five runs on seven hits.
BREWERS 12, METS 3: At Milwaukee, Al Leiter had another strong outing, limiting Milwaukee to one run over seven innings, and the Mets scored five times in the sixth and ninth innings. Leiter (8-3) scattered seven hits to help the Mets snap a three-game skid and lower his major league-leading ERA to 2.12. He struck out seven and walked one intentionally. Since returning from the disabled list June 1, the 38-year-old left-hander is 7-1 with a 1.90 ERA in 12 starts.
Mike Cameron homered and drove in three runs, and Joe McEwing also had three RBIs for New York, which scored only six runs in three losses to Atlanta over the weekend.
ASTROS 3, BRAVES 2: At Houston, Roger Clemens pitched seven strong innings on the eve of his 42nd birthday but was denied the win by his bullpen before the Astros rebounded to stop the Braves' five-game winning streak.
Clemens, who allowed four hits, left with a 2-1 lead after walking the first two batters in the eighth. Dan Miceli (4-5) retired Charles Thomas on a forceout, then loaded the bases with a walk to Marcus Giles and allowed an RBI grounder to Chipper Jones.
Clemens, who struck out six and walked three, remained at 322 victories, two behind Nolan Ryan and Don Sutton for 12th place on the career list. He gave up two runs, just one of them earned.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, MARLINS 3: At Phoenix, Danny Bautista hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Arizona beat Florida to win at home for the first time in nearly a month.
Arizona had lost 11 straight home games, a team record, since beating Minnesota 6-2 on July 4. Shea Hillenbrand also homered for the Diamondbacks, who won for only the third time in 22 games overall.
Rudy Seanez relieved and allowed Bautista's 11th homer, his first since July 1.
EXPOS 10, CARDINALS 6, 12 INNINGS: At St. Louis, Tony Batista hit a grand slam in the 12th inning after tying it with a two-run shot in the ninth, leading the Expos.
Albert Pujols became the first player to hit at least 30 home runs in his each of his first four seasons on a major league roster when he hit a two-run homer to straightaway center off Montreal spot starter Sun-Woo Kim with one out in the first inning.
GIANTS 11, REDS 0: At San Francisco, Barry Bonds homered twice and rookie Noah Lowry carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on the way to his first major league victory in the Giants' 11-0 victory.
Bonds matched a season high with five RBIs, raising his home-run total to 29 this season and 687 in his career. J.T. Snow matched a career high with four hits. He had a homer, single and two doubles for the Giants, who had lost four of five.
DODGERS 3, PIRATES 2: At Los Angeles, Brad Penny held Pittsburgh to a pair of infield singles over eight scoreless innings in his first game since getting traded to Los Angeles, and the new-look Dodgers held on for the win.
Penny (9-8) got past the seventh inning for the first time in 12 starts since May 27.