Mark Prior pitches against the Houston Astros in the first inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        CHICAGO — The Houston Astros handed Mark Prior his first major league loss, roughing up the heralded rookie for three early home runs and beating the Chicago Cubs 7-3 Saturday.

        Prior (1-1) found out firsthand how tough it can be to pitch at Wrigley Field when the wind is blowing out. With gusts of 22 mph, he was tagged for seven runs and seven hits in only 3 2-3 innings.

        Richard Hidalgo, Lance Berkman and Geoff Blum all homered off Prior in his third big league start.

        Prior helped himself with a two-run double, but was chased in the Astros' five-run fourth. He struck out five and walked two.

        Roy Oswalt (6-3) pitched 7 2-3 innings, giving up three runs and eight hits. He retired 11 batters in a row in the middle innings.

        Dodgers 2, Diamondbacks 0

        LOS ANGELES — Andy Ashby pitched eight sharp innings and Brian Jordan hit a two-run homer as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks.

        The Dodgers won despite getting only two hits, including Jordan's homer in the fourth. The crisply played game took exactly two hours.

        Ashby (5-4) gave up five hits, struck out two and walked one while beating the Diamondbacks for the fourth straight time.

        Eric Gagne got three outs for his major league-leading 19th save in 20 attempts, ending Arizona's three-game winning streak.

        Brian Anderson (0-5) failed to win as a starter for the 16th time in a row.

        Rockies 5, Giants 4

        SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Hampton earned a rare road win, picking on a familiar victim and pitching the Colorado Rockies past the San Francisco Giants.

        Todd Helton had four hits and drove in two runs, helping the Rockies win their third straight game. The Giants lost their fourth in a row.

        Hampton (3-6) improved to 12-1 in 20 career starts against the Giants. The left-hander began the day with an 0-5 record and 9.21 ERA away from Coors Field this season.

        Hampton gave up four runs on 11 hits over seven innings. Jose Jimenez pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save in as many chances, striking out pinch-hitter Barry Bonds.

        Livan Hernandez (5-5) lost for the fifth time in six decisions.

        Brewers 4, Padres 3

        SAN DIEGO — A bizarre throwing error set up Mark Loretta's suicide squeeze in the ninth inning, giving the Milwaukee Brewers a win over the San Diego Padres.

        Ronnie Belliard led off the inning with a double, chasing reliever Alan Embree (3-3). After Trevor Hoffman came in, Jose Hernandez hit a ball off Hoffman's glove, first baseman Ryan Klesko fielded it and threw to Ramon Vazquez at first. The throw knocked his glove off and both runners advanced a base on the play.

        After Hoffman retired Luis Lopez, Loretta bunted down the first-base line to score Ronnie Belliard with one out.

        Mike DeJean pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances. Luis Vizcaino (3-1) pitched a one-hit eighth for the win.

        Marlins 9, Mets 7

        MIAMI — Preston Wilson hit two home runs and Mike Lowell homered to break a seventh-inning tie, helping the Florida Marlins end a four-game losing streak by beating the New York Mets.

        A season-high crowd of 33,291 hooted and hollered as Mets catcher Mike Piazza and manager Bobby Valentine were ejected just before Lowell's homer.

        Piazza, upset that he was called out on strikes in the top of the seventh, resumed his complaint while catching in the bottom of the inning and was thrown out by plate umpire Mark Wegner.

        One batter later, Lowell hit a solo homer off Satoru Komiyama (0-2) for a 7-6 lead. Pinch-hitter Tim Raines delivered a two-out, two-run single later in the inning.

        Florida won despite blowing a 5-1 lead. Oswaldo Mairena (2-0) pitched a perfect seventh, and Vladimir Nunez earned his 13th save in 15 chances.

        Phillies 8, Expos 4

        PHILADELPHIA — Scott Rolen had two home runs and five RBIs — matching his total for all of May — to lead the Philadelphia Philles past the Montreal Expos.

        Rolen, batting second for the first time in his major-league career, broke a 2-all tie with a three-run homer off Tony Armas (5-7) in the seventh. Bobby Abreu followed with a solo shot to make it 6-2.

        Vicente Padilla (7-4) allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings.

        Cardinals 9, Pirates 4

        ST. LOUIS — Edgar Renteria hit a three-run double as the Cardinals staked Darryl Kile to a six-run lead in the first inning, leading St. Louis over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

        Kile, who received a team-low average of 3.2 runs of support before this game, pitched seven innings to even his record. He allowed six hits and two walks while striking out two.

        The Cardinals have won each of Kile's last four starts. In those starts, Kile (3-3) has allowed five runs in 26 innings

        Bronson Arroyo (0-1) lasted just three innings, giving up seven hits and six runs while walking two.

Braves 7, Reds 1 Reds box, runs What's not to love about JUNIOR? Draft: Reds struck gold in '98 Reds Q & A Baseball 90210 Castro fills the gap in depth of infield Cinergy Countdown - July 25, 1974 On the farm Reds chatter Toledo 8, Louisville 2 Baseball notebook NL roundup AL roundup Notes from Saturday's games John Fay's MLB power rankings

Bengals Q & A
QB Warner gives health thumbs up
Milford making school history
State trip Anderson's first
Braves take state lacrosse championship
Doubles the fun for St. X
Comptons claim coveted title
Hamilton has return date at state
Hanners riddles McNicholas
Kenton Ridge 9, Waynesville 0
Lawrence North claims second straight Indiana boys track championship
Ohio boys track and field
Ohio girls track and field
Baseball pairings, results
Softball pairings, results
Kentucky boys track
Kentucky girls track
Kentucky state tennis
DAUGHERTY: World Cup? Wake us when it's over
Crafty Italy coach ready for World Cup exam
Denmark 2, Uruguay 1
Germany 8, Saudi Arabia 0
Ireland 1, Cameroon 1
Senegal players still buzzed after upset
Senegal upset buoys Americans
World Cup notebook
World Cup TV schedule
CRC has plenty to keep you busy
Unique way to give back
Yasutoko brothers steal inline show
Agassi rolls into fourth round in Paris
French Open notes
D'Amico falls from mount in sixth race; horse euthanized
McArdle wins $500,000 New Jersey Classic
O'Brien thinks the Nets will win NBA title
Wild West series comes down to Game 7
Green wants wins in Indy and Milwaukee
Kenseth loses No. 1 start because of blown engine
Ky. Busch race draws NASCAR president
Norman falters; Burns, Estes share Kemper Open lead
Coming up this week
Enquirer Page Two power rankings
Golf results
Holyfield beats Rahman in 8th round stoppage
Hurricanes say they won't change for talented Red Wings
NCAA baseball regionals scores, schedule
Saturday's NCAA baseball roundup

• Return to Reds front page...