ST. LOUIS — Allen Craig hit a pair of home runs and Carlos Beltran extended his RBI streak to a major league-high nine games, helping Kyle Lohse and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 9-3 Monday. Matt Holliday homered and drove in two runs for the Cardinals, who punished a pitching staff that entered with a major league-worst 5.37 ERA. Tyler Colvin and Wilin Rosario homered for the Rockies, who have dropped five of seven. Rosario homered for the third straight game, but Colorado pitchers totaled four wild pitches, eight walks and an error that allowed a run. Tyler Chatwood (1-1) got the loss. Kyle Lohse (8-2) allowed two runs and nine hits in 7 1-3 innings for St. Louis. Brewers 6, Mariners 5: Pinch-hitter Norichika Aoki drove in the go-ahead run with a safety squeeze in the eighth inning, lifting Milwaukee to the victory. Cubs 4, Braves 1: Jeff Samardzija had a career-high 11 strikeouts, Luis Valbuena hit a tiebreaking three-run double in the seventh and the Cubs earned their fourth consecutive win. Anthony Rizzo connected for Chicago, which has won six of seven overall. Rizzo, one of the Cubs' top prospects, has two homers in six games since he was recalled last Tuesday. Pirates 11, Astros 2: Garrett Jones and Neil Walker hit back-to-back homers off the right-field foul pole to ignite Pittsburgh's offense. James McDonald (8-3) pitched seven effective innings for the Pirates, who won for the fifth time in six games. Reds 8, Dodgers 2: Rookies Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier had three RBIs apiece, leading Cincinnati to the victory. Homer Bailey (6-6) allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings for NL Central-leading Cincinnati, which played without injured sluggers Joey Votto and Scott Rolen. He struck out seven and walked one. Chad Billingsley (4-8) lost his fourth straight start, giving up three runs and six hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. Padres 6, D-Backs 2: Clayton Richard came within one out of a complete game, and Alexi Amarista hit one of three San Diego home runs. Cameron Maybin hit a 485-foot drive and Yasmani Grandal also connected as the Padres picked up their third straight win. — Agencies
