WASHINGTON — At his dominant best until a shaky ninth inning, Roy Halladay held on to throw his first complete game of 2011, leading the Philadelphia Phillies past the Washington Nationals 3-2 Wednesday night.
Through eight shutout innings, Halladay (2-0) allowed only a pair of singles by Adam LaRoche. In the ninth, Halladay allowed four hits, including RBI singles by Laynce Nix and Danny Espinosa. But with two on, the two-time Cy Young winner ended it with six straight strikes to fan pinch-hitter Matt Stairs and Ivan Rodriguez, who argued the game-ending call at length.
Halladay had nine strikeouts and two walks. He walked one batter in 15 2-3 innings this season before he issued consecutive free passes to Ian Desmond and Rick Ankiel in the third.
John Lannan (1-1) fell to 0-9 against Philadelphia, allowing only two earned runs and six hits — five of which were singles.
Rockies 5, Mets 4
NEW YORK — Troy Tulowitzki hit a go-ahead homer through thick fog to help Colorado continue the best start in club history.
Ryan Spilborghs also connected and Esmil Rogers (2-0) won his second straight outing to begin the season as Colorado earned its fourth consecutive victory — all on the road.
The NL West leaders improved to 8-2, with the only two losses coming in extra innings. The Rockies, who opened 7-3 in 1995 and '97, are 5-1 away from Coors Field after going 31-50 on the road last year.
Tulowitzki's three-run shot came off Jonathon Niese (0-2) in the fifth inning and gave the Rockies a 4-3 lead.
Carlos Beltran and Daniel Murphy each had an RBI double for the Mets, who have dropped six of seven following a three-game winning streak.
Marlins 5, Braves 1
ATLANTA — Florida's Josh Johnson took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before rookie Freddie Freeman doubled with one out.
Johnson (2-0), who held the Mets hitless for six innings on opening day, dominated the Braves for 7 1-3 innings, striking out nine and walking three.
Freeman doubled down the line past third baseman Greg Dobbs. Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez immediately went out to pull his ace after 109 pitches.
Chipper Jones homered in the ninth off Randy Choate for the Braves' only other hit. The home run gave Jones 1,500 RBIs for his career.
Chris Coghlan had three hits, including a two-run single in a three-run second. Johnson contributed an RBI single and Logan Morrison hit his third homer.
Tim Hudson (2-1) gave up seven hits and five runs in six innings.
Brewers 6, Pirates 0
PITTSBURGH — Shaun Marcum pitched seven shutout innings, and Prince Fielder homered for the third time in four games to help Milwaukee win its sixth in seven games.
Marcum (2-1) was perfect through four and kept the Pirates off-balance with his changeup, allowing only four singles with four strikeouts and a walk. Acquired in an offseason trade with Toronto to bolster Milwaukee's rotation, Marcum lowered his ERA to 2.55 through three starts.
Zach Braddock, Kameron Loe and Mitch Stetter finished up Milwaukee's third shutout this season and second in three games.
The Pirates have lost four of five at home after beginning the season by winning consecutive road series for the first time since 2007. Pittsburgh starter Kevin Correia (2-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth, but his outing quickly unraveled from there. He went six-plus innings, allowing six runs — four earned — on five hits with two walks and a strikeout.
Padres 3, Reds 2
SAN DIEGO — Orlando Hudson hit a bases-loaded, opposite-field single with two outs in the ninth inning to help San Diego avoid a three-game sweep.
Hudson hit the first pitch he saw from Nick Masset (0-3) over third baseman Juan Francisco's head and into left field.
With the score tied at 2, pinch-hitter Brad Hawpe started the rally with a one-out walk before advancing to third on Nick Hundley's hit-and-run single to right. Will Venable was intentionally walked to get to Jason Bartlett, who was hitting just .133. Bartlett grounded to third baseman Juan Francisco, who threw to home for the force.
Heath Bell (1-0) pitched the ninth for the win.
Cubs 9, Astros 5
HOUSTON — Pitcher Carlos Zambrano extended a franchise record with his 22nd career homer and ran his winning streak to 10 games.
Alfonso Soriano's home run off Wandy Rodriguez (0-2) capped a five-run first inning for the Cubs. Zambrano's homer — his sixth against the Astros — made it 6-0 in the sixth.
Zambrano (2-0) pitched five scoreless innings before the Astros jumped on him for five runs in the sixth. Carlos Lee, Brett Wallace and Bill Hall each drove in a run in the inning before Matt Downs hit a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 6-5.
Zambrano allowed seven hits and walked three in 5 2-3 innings to extend a winning streak that began last season. Marcos Mateo, Sean Marshall, Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol combined for pitch 3 1-3 scoreless innings to close it out.
Rodriguez allowed five runs — all in the first inning — and nine hits in five innings.
Cardinals 15, Diamondbacks 5
PHOENIX — Lance Berkman hit a grand slam and drove in five runs.
Skip Schumaker also homered, Albert Pujols was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and Cody Rasmus and Gerald Laird each had three hits for the Cardinals, who got their first series win this season.
Every St. Louis starter except Matt Holliday had at least one hit.
The Cardinals, who scored 15 runs for the first time since an 18-3 victory against Atlanta on August 22, 2008, have won three of four.
Jake Westbrook (1-1) earned the win, allowing five runs — two earned — on nine hits in 5 2-3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
Arizona starter Ian Kennedy (1-1) lasted only three innings, his shortest outing as a starter in more than two years, allowing nine runs on seven hits with two walks and two hit batters.
Giants 4, Dodgers 3
SAN FRANCISCO — Pablo Sandoval hit a tying solo home run in the sixth inning and last-minute fill-in Mike Fontenot connected two batters later.
Fontenot's two-out drive to the arcade in right-center off Ted Lilly (0-2) just did it for winning pitcher Jonathan Sanchez, who struck out a season-best nine in six innings. Sanchez has 24 Ks over his first three starts.
Aaron Miles had a go-ahead RBI double in the top of the sixth among his three hits for his first multihit game of 2011, but the Dodgers' 3-2 lead didn't last long.
Sanchez (1-1) remained poised after allowing a two-run homer to Rod Barajas in the fourth that tied the game at 2.