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PHILADELPHIA — Brad Penny pitched five-hit ball over eight shutout innings in his first start with the San Francisco Giants, leading the NL wild-card contenders to a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.
Penny (1-0) was back in his old All-Star form in his first outing since he was released last week by Boston. Penny went 7-8 with a 5.61 ERA this season for the Red Sox — including 1-6 in his last 11 starts. Juan Uribe and Aaron Rowand homered for the Giants, who reached 73 victories to surpass last season’s total.
J.A. Happ (10-4) lost his second straight start for the Phillies.
Cubs 2, Astros 0
CHICAGO — Ted Lilly pitched eight shutout innings to reach the 10-win mark for the seventh consecutive season, and Derrek Lee hit a two-run homer to help Chicago beat Aaron Boone and Houston.
Boone was back in a major league game five months after open-heart surgery. He played first base for Houston and was hitless in three at-bats.
Lilly (10-8) allowed only four hits in joining Mark Buehrle, CC Sabathia and Johan Santana as the only active left-handers with 10 or more wins in seven straight years.
Reds 5, Pirates 3
CINCINNATI — Brandon Phillips and Drew Stubbs homered to help Cincinnati sweep the four-game series and hand Pittsburgh its seventh straight loss.
Homer Bailey set a career high in strikeouts for the second straight start, fanning eight in 6 1-3 innings. Bailey (5-4) allowed three runs on seven hits.
Arthur Rhodes and Nick Masset combined to retire five consecutive batters — four on strikeouts — before Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 30th save.
Padres 7, Nationals 0
SAN DIEGO — Kevin Correia limited Washington to three hits in 7 2-3 innings, and Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley hit two-run doubles for San Diego.
Correia (10-10) allowed two singles in the first inning, then set down 19 consecutive Nationals before he walked Wil Nieves leading off the eighth inning
Edward Mujica worked the final 1 1-3 inning to finish the three-hitter and the Padres’ fourth shutout. Gonzalez and Headley helped break open a scoreless game against John Lannan (8-10) in San Diego’s five-run fifth.
Marlins 8, Braves 7
MIAMI — Wes Helms hit a game-winning homer, Dan Uggla had a two-run shot after challenging teammate Hanley Ramirez’s effort, and the bickering Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves.
Helms hit the 3-2 pitch off Mike Gonzalez (3-4) well over the left-field scoreboard, sending teammates pouring out of the dugout in celebration.
Brett Carroll hit a bases-clearing double, and Ross Gload finished a home run shy of the cycle to help Florida end a day of infighting with a win.
Yunel Escobar homered in the top of the ninth off Leo Nunez (4-4) to tie the game.