LOS ANGELES - Brandon Duckworth rid himself of a lot of bad memories from his previous outing at Dodger Stadium.

The Philadelphia Phillies right-hander pitched shutout ball through the first five innings and watched gleefully as the bullpen helped secure his 4-1 victory over Los Angeles on Thursday night.

Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal homered in support of Duckworth (2-1), who was charged with an unearned run and seven hits in five-plus innings. He struck out seven and walked none.

"He had a good changeup going and he would keep it away from guys. Then he would zip that fastball in there that looked about 100 mph because of how well he was throwing his changeup," Dodgers outfielder Daryle Ward said. "He threw the ball in the spots he wanted to and didn't make any mistakes."

Last Aug. 5, Duckworth struck out his first six batters in a start against Los Angeles at Philadelphia. But five days later, he allowed five runs in 1 1-3 innings at Dodger Stadium, wasting Lieberthal's three home runs. He was demoted to the bullpen the following day after a 20-minute closed-door meeting with manager Larry Bowa, but was back in the rotation after missing one turn.

"That's one of the first things I thought of when I knew I was going to be pitching here," Duckworth said. "I just wanted to go out there and throw up some good innings and make up for that."

Duckworth began this season on the disabled list because of tendinitis in his elbow. He was activated April 19 and gave up six earned runs over 1 1-3 innings in his first start at Atlanta, before regaining his form last time out against San Francisco.

"I just needed to do what I was capable of," Duckworth said. "The last time I wasn't throwing every pitch with conviction. But that's what I did tonight and that's what I did in my last outing. Things tend to happen much better when you're throwing every pitch with everything you have."

Dodgers starter Hideo Nomo (3-4) allowed four runs and five hits in seven innings, including Abreu's fourth homer and Lieberthal's third.

Expos 5, Brewers 0

MILWAUKEE - Cincinnati native Zach Day threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout as Montreal finished a three-game sweep.

The only hits off the LaSalle High grad (3-1) were infield singles by pitcher Wayne Franklin (1-3) in the third and Royce Clayton in the eighth, and a single to left by Keith Ginter in the ninth.

Day struck out five, walked one and faced 31 batters, only four above the minimum, in his eighth career start. Montreal leads the majors with six shutouts this season.

Michael Barrett and Brad Wilkerson each hit solo home runs for the Expos, who have won six of seven and are eight games over .500 for the first time since they were 25-17 on May 23, 2000.

Milwaukee (9-19) has the worst record in the NL and has lost eight of nine.

Braves 8, Astros 7

HOUSTON - Pinch-hitter Mark DeRosa came through with a tiebreaking two-run homer off Billy Wagner (1-2) in the ninth inning, and Atlanta completed a three-game sweep of Houston.

Andruw Jones also hit a two-run homer for the Braves, who have won five in a row, seven straight on the road and 14 of 16 overall following a 4-8 start.

Lance Berkman, breaking out of a season-long slump, tied a career high with six RBIs for Houston, including a three-run homer off former Astros pitcher Shane Reynolds in the first inning.

Roberto Hernandez (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, and John Smoltz worked the ninth for his 11th save in as many tries and 27th in a row dating to last season.

Marlins 4, Diamondbacks 3

PHOENIX - Brian Banks hit his first homer of the season off Oscar Villareal (1-2) leading off the eighth inning to lift Florida over Arizona.

Armando Almanza (3-0) pitched 1 1-3 perfect innings for the win, and Braden Looper worked a hitless ninth for his fifth save in six chances.

Arizona's Rod Barajas tied it at 3 leading off the seventh, driving a 1-1 fastball from Josh Beckett a half-dozen rows into the left-field stands for his first homer.

Barajas' home run was his seventh consecutive hit dating to Monday, matching the club record held by Tony Batista. Barajas flied out in the ninth to end the streak.

Cubs 5, Giants 1

SAN FRANCISCO - Alex Gonzalez hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning for his second home run of the game, and Sammy Sosa followed with another shot, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 5-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

After an error by third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo put two runners on with two outs in the 10th, Gonzalez connected off Tim Worrell (1-1) for his second homer of the year. Sosa's 505th career homer made it 5-1.

Juan Cruz (1-0) pitched two perfect innings for the win.

Gonzalez's first homer tied it at 1 leading off the sixth and snapped a 17-inning scoreless streak by Giants starter Damian Moss.

Both benches cleared in the third after Cubs starter Mark Prior plunked slugger Barry Bonds in the upper right leg on a 1-1 curveball. Bonds, hit twice on breaking pitches by Kerry Wood on Tuesday, began walking to the mound and Prior motioned him on as they exchanged words. No punches were thrown.

The Giants, off to their best start in 30 years, dropped two of three in the series against former manager Dusty Baker.

Cardinals 6, Mets 5, 10 innings

ST. LOUIS - Jim Edmonds homered off Scott Strickland (0-2) with one out in the 10th inning as St. Louis completed a three-game sweep.

The NL Central champions won the first two games 13-3 and 13-4. New York has lost five in a row and is 11-17 overall, last in the NL East, despite a $117 million payroll.

Rey Sanchez had four hits for the Mets, who rallied from a 5-1 deficit with a run in the seventh and three in the eighth. The big blow was Joe McEwing's two-run double off the top of the left-field wall against Steve Kline. Pinch-hitter Roberto Alomar tied it with a sacrifice fly.

Cal Eldred (2-0) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win. Cardinals starter Brett Tomko hit a two-run double and Scott Rolen had a three-run double.

Pirates 5, Padres 2

SAN DIEGO - Jack Wilson hit a three-run homer off Jake Peavy (4-2) and Kip Wells pitched into the eighth inning as Pittsburgh beat San Diego for a three-game sweep.

The Pirates came into the series having scored just 11 runs in five straight losses, then outscored the Padres 20-9. San Diego lost its fifth consecutive game.

Wells (1-1) won for the first time in six starts. He gave up four hits and was chased on his 105th pitch, allowing Mark Loretta's pinch-hit home run leading off the eighth.

Mike Williams worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.