ATLANTA -- Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones homered in the same game for the 56th time, and the Atlanta Braves won their fourth straight game, 8-3 over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.
At 7-1, the Braves are off to their best start since 1995, when they won their only World Series title in Atlanta.
Washington fell to 1-8, the franchise's worst start since the Montreal Expos had the same record through nine games in 1998. The Nationals have been outscored 61-21 and have yet to score in the first three innings of a game. In every game, they have fallen behind by at least 3-0.
Before Ryan Church's RBI double in the eighth off Rafael Soriano, the Atlanta staff had pitched 23 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, a streak that started in the third inning of a 3-2 win over the New York Mets on Sunday.
Chuck James scattered five hits in six innings, walking three and striking out five. James (2-0) has 13 wins since last June 25, tied with teammate John Smoltz for the most in the National League during that span. James is 9-1 with a 2.58 ERA in his last 13 starts. Full story
Reds 3, Diamondbacks 2
PHOENIX -- Josh Hamilton homered for the second straight game and Javier Valentin hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning as the Cincinnati Reds defeated Arizona.
Reds starter Matt Belisle (2-0) allowed one run on three hits in six innings, walking one and striking out three as Cincinnati ended a three-game losing streak and salvaged the finale of a three-game series between early season division leaders.
Hamilton, making his second big league start, drove an 0-1 pitch from Brandon Medders 366 feet into the left field seats with no one aboard in the eighth inning. Hamilton, who was out of baseball from 2003-05 as he struggled with cocaine addiction, also homered on Tuesday night for his first big-league hit.
The Diamondbacks rallied for a run in the ninth on a two-out Chad Tracy double, but Reds closer David Weathers got Conor Jackson to ground out to short for his third save in three chances.
Dodgers 3, Rockies 0
LOS ANGELES -- Brad Penny allowed two hits over 6 1/3 innings and Nomar Garciaparra hit a tiebreaking two-run single, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Penny (2-0) struck out three, walked four and retired 11 consecutive batters before hitting Chris Iannetta with his 108th and final pitch. The burly right-hander, energized by a game-time temperature of 63 degrees, a slight breeze and an airtight defense, beat the Rockies for the sixth straight time after going 5-0 with a 2.67 ERA against them last season.
Colorado's only hits were Iannetta's one-out infield single in the second inning and Garrett Atkins' one-out single to left field in the third.
Jonathan Broxton retired all four batters he faced and Takashi Saito pitched the ninth for his fifth save in as many chances.
Astros at Cubs, ppd.
CHICAGO -- The Houston Astros-Chicago Cubs game scheduled was postponed because of rain and snow and is expected to be made up on July 12.
Both teams juggled their starting rotation.
The Cubs moved Rich Hill's start to Saturday against Cincinnati, with Carlos Zambrano pitching Friday and Ted Lilly going Sunday. Jason Marquis will start Monday against San Diego and Wade Miller on Tuesday.
The Astros will skip Wandy Rodriguez's turn and go with Roy Oswalt Friday at Philadelphia, with Jason Jennings and Woody Williams pitching Saturday and Sunday. Rodriguez is scheduled to pitch Monday against Florida.
