Marlins win, Cubs lose Soriano to broken hand

With one powerful crack of the bat, Dan Uggla sent the Florida Marlins to a second straight win over the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies.

A much different cracking sound could mean six weeks of lean times for the Chicago Cubs.

Uggla hit a game-ending grand slam with one out in the ninth inning, after Jorge Cantu had hit a pair of homers, and Florida beat Philadelphia 6-2 on Wednesday night.

It was the first game-ending home run in Uggla's career, and the second such slam in Marlins history: Bobby Bonilla did it Sept. 16, 1997, against the Colorado Rockies.

Meanwhile in Chicago, star leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano could miss six weeks with a broken bone in his left hand after he was hit by a pitch from Atlanta's Jeff Bennett in the Cubs' 7-2 victory over the Braves.

"That's a real bummer," Chicago starter Ryan Dempster said after pitching a four-hitter for his first complete game since Sept. 25, 2002. "It's hard to sit back and enjoy the victory when one of your best players, one of the leaders of your team, goes down."

In other NL games, it was: New York 5, Arizona 3 in 13 innings; Milwaukee 10, Houston 6; Colorado 1, San Francisco 0; San Diego 4, Los Angeles 1; Pittsburgh 3, Washington 1; and St. Louis 10, Cincinnati 0.

Cole Hamels was nearly flawless for Philadelphia, striking out 13 over eight innings and giving up just the two home runs to Cantu.

Tom Gordon relieved to start the ninth and gave up a single to Cantu and a pair of walks. Gordon (5-3) fell behind Uggla as well, and the Marlins' stocky slugger crushed a 3-1 offering high over the left-field scoreboard for his team-leading 19th home run.

"The whole at-bat, I'm looking for one pitch in one spot," Uggla said. "Whether I get it or whether I chase something, I'm looking for something I can drive out in the outfield."

Kevin Gregg (5-2) got the win after blowing his fourth save in 16 chances. Chase Utley, who leads the majors with 21 homers, beat out a double-play to drive in the tying run in the ninth.

"We had our chances," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, "but it didn't work out."

Things did work out for the Cubs and manager Lou Piniella, but at a tremendous cost.

Soriano was hit in the second inning and left the game, going to a hospital for X-rays. A team spokesman said he'll be in a splint for three weeks.

Soriano was on the DL earlier this season with a calf injury _ the Cubs were 9-5 during his absence _ and was just beginning to look comfortable on the bases. After a slow start, he came off the DL the first time and during one stretch last month hit seven homers in six games.

"He was just starting to run the way we thought he could, playing well in the outfield and hitting the ball with some power," Piniella said. "It's a shame, it really is."

Dempster (8-2) wound up striking out 11, giving up just the two runs on four hits for the Cubs, who have the best record in baseball.

Bennett (0-4) made an emergency start after Jair Jurrjens twisted his ankle on the steps leading from the Braves clubhouse after Tuesday night's loss. Normally a reliever, he gave up seven hits and seven earned runs in two-plus innings, leaving to boos when he was driven out in the third, mainly because he'd hit Soriano.

"I feel bad for him. But no means was it even close to being intentional," Atlanta catcher Brian McCann said. "We had him 0-2. We were trying to go in with a fastball, hopefully lock him up. Obviously it got away from him."

Mets 5, Diamondbacks 3, 13 innings

Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 13th inning off Edgar Gonzalez (1-3), and host New York overcame a blown save by Billy Wagner to snap a five-game skid.

With two on in the top of the 13th, Claudio Vargas (3-2) got Conor Jackson to ground into an inning-ending double play. The NL West leaders have dropped 15 of 22.

Brewers 10, Astros 6

Corey Hart hit two of Milwaukee's season-high five home runs and the Brewers snapped a five-game losing streak at Houston.

Brandon Backe (4-8) gave up three homers _ to Russell Branyan, Mike Cameron and Hart. Jason Kendall added a two-run shot off Tim Byrdak and Hart connected again off Chris Sampson.

The Astros led 3-1 after Miguel Tejada and Carlos Lee homered off Manny Parra (5-2).

Rockies 1, Giants 0

At Denver, Garret Atkins scored the game-winner on Yorvit Torrealba's bases-loaded fly ball in the ninth, even though he was initially called out.

Umpire Fieldin Culbreth saw that Giants catcher Bengie Molina had dropped the ball while making a swipe tag and ruled Atkins safe. Molina was charged with an error on the play.

Brian Fuentes (1-2) pitched the ninth to get the win. Keiichi Yabu (2-3) got the loss.

Padres 4, Dodgers 1

Randy Wolf (5-4) combined with two relievers on a five-hitter, and rookie Edgar Gonzalez and Khalil Greene hit solo homers for host San Diego.

Trevor Hoffman threw the ninth for his 15th save in 18 chances.

Chad Billingsley (4-7) gave up four runs and eight hits over seven innings for Los Angeles.

Pirates 3, Nationals 1

At Pittsburgh, Ryan Doumit homered for the third time in two games and Ian Snell (3-6) pitched into the seventh inning to earn his first win in 11 starts.

Doumit singled twice and Freddy Sanchez had two hits and scored a run for the Pirates, who have won three of four. A day after blowing his first save of the season, Matt Capps earned his 16th save by getting Elijah Dukes to ground into a game-ending double play.

Cardinals 10, Reds 0

Rick Ankiel and Jason LaRue homered off Johnny Cueto (5-6), and St. Louis' Braden Looper pitched a three-hitter for his first career shutout.

The host Reds got only two runners into scoring position against Looper (8-5), who hadn't gone more than 8 1-3 innings in any of his 43 previous starts.