The Los Angeles Dodgers hammered division rivals San Francisco 9-1 Monday as pitcher Ted Lilly maintained his spotless start to the season, improving to 4-0. The 36-year-old gave up the tying run at the top of the sixth inning but the Dodgers hit back right away with two runs before adding another in the seventh and five in the eighth. “I don't think I've quite seen what I saw tonight,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters, or his team's miscues. “It looked like we skipped Spring Training.” Lily left the game after the sixth inning having allowed four hits with six strike outs and two walks to win his first four decisions of the season for the first time in his career. The Dodgers were boosted by the presence of new co-owner Magic Johnson, who addressed the home crowd before the first pitch. “I definitely thought the stadium had quite a lot of energy,” Lilly said. “We definitely felt it.” A red-hot Matt Kemp went 3-for-3 at the plate and improved his batting average to .406 a day after he was held out of the starting lineup with a hamstring injury. Cubs 5, Braves 1: Chicago's Jeff Samardzija allowed just one run over seven strong innings, steering the Cubs to a 5-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. Samardzija (4-1) struck out seven in a 105-pitch outing. The Cubs hit three solo homers: Bryan LaHair drove Tommy Hanson's first pitch of the bottom of the fourth over the right field wall; one pitch later, Ian Stewart went long to make it 2-1; and Geovany Soto hit a two-run homer in the eighth. Hanson (3-3) gave up five hits in six innings. Mets 5, Phillies 2: In Philadelphia, Jordany Valdespin hit a three-run homer in the ninth for his first major league hit, leading New York over Philadelphia. Valdespin, called into the game to replace injured shortstop Ruben Tejada, was 0 for 6 before hitting a drive to right off Jonathan Papelbon (0-1), giving the injury-plagued Mets their third straight win. Tim Byrdak (1-0) retired the only batter he faced to get the win. Marlins 4, Astros 0: In Houston, Carlos Zambrano pitched a shutout for his first win of the season, leading Miami over Houston and to its seventh straight victory. Zambrano (1-2), whose only no-hitter also came against the Astros, struck out a season-best nine and never allowed a batter past first base. It was his first complete game and first shutout since 2009. Giancarlo Stanton extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-run homer that opened the scoring. He has six homers and 12 RBIs during his streak. Houston's Wandy Rodriguez (3-3) gave up a season-worst four earned runs in eight-plus innings. Reds 6, Brewers 1: In Milwaukee, Bronson Arroyo pitched solidly into the seventh inning to lead Cincinnati over Milwaukee. Arroyo (2-1) gave up a homer in the first but settled after that, striking out nine in 6 2-3 innings. San Diego 3, Colorado 2: Yonder Alonso drove in two runs and the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2 Monday night to become the last NL team to get to 10 victories. In another game it was St. Louis 9, Arizona 6.
