Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during the game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on August 13, 2012 in Miami. (Sarah Glenn/Getty Images)
Phillies 4, Marlins 0
MIAMI — Cole Hamels pitched his second consecutive shutout for the Philadelphia Phillies in a 4-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Monday night.
Hamels, coming off a five-hitter against Atlanta last Tuesday, scattered seven hits and struck out five in his sixth career shutout and 12th complete game. He walked only one and threw 85 of 113 pitches for strikes.
It was the first time Hamels tossed two shutouts in a row. The previous Phillies pitcher to accomplish the feat was Cliff Lee, who had three straight in June 2011.
Hamels (13-6) entered 0-3 with a 5.21 ERA in three outings against the Marlins this season. But in his three August starts, he is 2-1 with a 0.72 ERA. He has struck out 20 and walked two.
Padres 4, Braves 1
ATLANTA — Eric Stults combined with two relievers on a five-hitter, Chase Headley homered and drove in two runs and the San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Monday night.
Stults (3-2) gave up five hits and one run in 7 2-3 innings — his longest start in three years. While with the Dodgers, Stults beat the Giants 8-0 on May 9, 2009, his last complete game.
The Padres, who had a six-game winning streak snapped on Sunday, have won eight of 10 for the first time this season.
Yonder Alonso had three hits and Chris Denorfia had two hits and scored two runs for the Padres.
Stults lost his bid for a shutout in the eighth when Michael Bourn singled and scored on Martin Prado's triple into the right-field corner. Luke Gregerson struck out Jason Heyward to end the inning.
Dodgers 5, Pirates 4
PITTSBURGH — Shane Victorino hit his 10th homer of the season and drove in three runs to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.
Matt Kemp added two hits for the Dodgers, who moved within 1 1/2 games of the Pirates for one of the two National League wild card spots. Aaron Harang (8-7) pitched six effective innings to snap a modest two-game losing streak while Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his 24th save.
Victorino, acquired in a trade from Philadelphia two weeks ago, hit his first homer in a Dodgers uniform in the fifth. The two-run shot off Jeff Karstens (4-3) broke a 2-2 tie as Los Angeles beat the Pirates for the seventh straight time.
Garrett Jones had four hits and drove in all three Pirate runs. Pittsburgh has dropped four of five.
Cubs 7, Astros 1
CHICAGO — Jeff Samardzija struck out a career high-tying 11 in seven innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 7-1 on Monday night.
Darwin Barney and Alfonso Soriano hit two-run homers and Anthony Rizzo had four hits for the Cubs.
Chicago won for just the second time in 13 games. The Astros have lost 25 of its last 27 road games.
The crowd of 31,452 was the smallest of the season at Wrigley Field.
Samardzija (8-10) allowed one run and four hits. He also fanned 11 at Atlanta on July 2.
The Astros, who have the worst record in the majors, got their run on the first career homer by rookie Brandon Barnes, a pinch-hit shot in the sixth.
Armando Galarraga (1-2) was tagged for five runs on seven hits.
Rockies 9, Brewers 6
DENVER — DJ LeMahieu had a career-best four hits, Jeff Francis pitched effectively into the sixth inning and the Colorado Rockies beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-6 on Monday night.
Dexter Fowler, Eric Young Jr., Tyler Colvin and Chris Nelson each had two hits of Colorado's 15 hits. Every position player for the Rockies had at least one hit as they ended a four-game home losing streak.
Carlos Gomez homered among his three hits and Rickie Weeks also homered for the Brewers.
Nationals 14, Giants 2
SAN FRANCISCO — Kurt Suzuki drove in four runs, Danny Espinosa and Roger Bernadina each knocked in three and the Washington Nationals routed the San Francisco Giants 14-2 Monday night in a matchup of NL division leaders.
Gio Gonzalez (15-6) tied a Nationals record for wins in a season.
The Nationals led 14-0 in the fifth inning and won for the 11th time in 13 games.
Ryan Vogelsong (10-6) allowed eight runs on nine hits in 2 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.
