WASHINGTON — Possibly playing his final home game in D.C., Alfonso Soriano homered in his first at-bat Thursday, and the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 for their season-high sixth consecutive victory.
Soriano's 32nd homer was his sixth leadoff shot of the season, tying for the major league lead. He's at the center of talks as Monday's trade deadline approaches, and the Nationals now embark on a nine-game road trip.
Also a candidate to leave via trade in the coming days is Livan Hernandez (8-8). He retired the last 10 batters he faced and allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings.
Chad Cordero recorded his 17th save despite giving up Eliezer Alfonzo's second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the ninth.
Giants starter Matt Cain (7-7) allowed six runs on five hits and five walks over 6 2-3 innings. The Giants have lost four in a row.
PHILLIES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 2: At Philadelphia, Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 27 games and Cory Lidle (8-7) boosted his trade value with four-hit ball over eight innings. Mike Lieberthal homered for the first time since last September for the Phillies, who won the last two games of the three-game series.
Utley hit a soft liner to center leading off the fifth inning against Diamondbacks starter Claudio Vargas (8-7) to extend the longest hitting streak in the major leagues this season and equal the third-longest streak in team history.
Tom Gordon tossed a perfect ninth for his 25th save.
MARLINS 6, BRAVES 1: At Atlanta, Scott Olsen pitched six shutout innings, Matt Treanor hit his second career homer and Florida won a series in Atlanta for the first time since 2002. Olsen (9-4) allowed only two hits and retired the last 12 hitters he faced. He also had two singles at the plate, including a run-scoring hit in the sixth when the Marlins scored three runs to break open the game.
Florida won two of three, ending a streak of 10 straight series in Atlanta that were either lost or split. The Marlins' last series win at Turner Field came from Sept. 20-22, 2002.
Treanor, batting just .212 coming into the game, hit a two-run homer off Jason Shiell (0-2) in the second to give Florida a 3-0 lead. The drive over the left-field wall followed a two-out, run-scoring single by Josh Willingham that kept the inning going.
REDS 8, ASTROS 4: At Houston, Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr. homered and Cincinnati starter Elizardo Ramirez struck out seven straight hitters, leading the Reds over Houston. Dunn went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Ramirez (4-6) went 6 2/3 innings to win for the first time since June 25, allowing six hits and striking out eight. He struck out seven in a row from the third to fifth inning.
CUBS 5, CARDINALS 4: At Chicago, Todd Walker and Michael Barrett hit back-to-back homers, the fourth time Chicago did it this week, and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals for the seventh time in 10 games this season. The Cubs used six relievers and they combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings with Ryan Dempster closing it for his 18th save. Juan Encarnacion hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs for St. Louis.
ROCKIES 9, PADRES 8 (10): At Denver, Jamey Carroll doubled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th after Yorvit Torrealba had tied the game with a two-out homer off Trevor Hoffman an inning earlier, and Colorado beat San Diego. Choo Freeman doubled off the wall in left with one out off Scott Williamson (2-4). On a 1-1 pitch, Carroll slapped the ball to right. Freeman dived under the tag of catcher Rob Bowen. Torrealba had three hits and three RBIs and Clint Barmes had two hits and an RBI each for Colorado, which won for the fourth time in 17 games.
American League
ORIOLES 6, ROYALS 4: At Kansas City, Mo., Fernando Tatis, starting in the major leagues for the first time since June 13, 2003, had two hits, drove in a run and scored two runs to lead Baltimore over Kansas City. Tatis doubled in the seventh and scored on a fielding error by third baseman Mark Teahen. In the Orioles' two-run eighth, Javy Lopez led off with a double, advanced on Corey Patterson's bunt single and scored on pinch-hitter Nick Markakis' groundout. Tatis drove in the second run with a groundout to make it 6-3.
ATHLETICS 5, BLUE JAYS 2: At Oakland, Calif., Eric Chavez hit a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning to help Joe Blanton win his third straight start, and Oakland beat Toronto. Jay Payton homered and singled in a run and Marco Scutaro added a sacrifice fly as the A's moved a half-game ahead of the idle Los Angeles Angels at the top of the AL West.
Oakland won its second straight after snapping a three-game losing streak and season-high five-game skid at home with Wednesday's 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox to avoid a three-game sweep.