Major League Baseball

Nats have a hot 4th, beat Bumgarner and Giants 9-4

Published Jul. 4, 2012 10:08 p.m. ET

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Ryan Zimmerman's line drive to right-center field kept going - and going and going - until it landed in the first row, highlighting another big Fourth of July for the resurgent third baseman as the National League East-leading Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 9-4 Wednesday.

Zimmerman missed another home run by inches - he had to settle for an RBI double - on a humid day when the ball carried well at Nationals Park. He is 10 for 20 with four homers and 13 RBIs in six Independence Day games.

PHILLIES 9, METS 2

At New York, Cliff Lee finally posted his first win of the season as Philadelphia hit three late homers, breaking past New York and stopping a six-game losing streak.

Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz hit consecutive home runs in the seventh inning as the Phillies rallied from a 2-0 deficit. Ty Wigginton's two-run homer in the ninth capped the surge.

Lee (1-5) had gone a puzzling 13 starts this year without a victory, a big reason the five-time NL East champions have fallen far behind. The lefty ace hadn't been awful, nor had he been consistently good.

PIRATES 6, ASTROS 4

At Pittsburgh, Mike McKenry and Pedro Alvarez drove in two runs each as Pittsburgh looked pretty comfortable during their first day in first place, beating Houston.

Kevin Correia (5-6) won his third straight decision as the streaking Pirates moved nine games above .500 (45-36) for the first time since Barry Bonds was swinging for the fences at Three Rivers Stadium 20 years ago. Joel Hanrahan pitched the ninth for his 21st save. Garrett Jones added two hits for Pittsburgh, which has won seven of eight.

J.D. Martinez hit his 10th homer for the Astros, while Scott Moore and Brian Bogusevic each had two hits, though it couldn't stop Houston from dropping its seventh straight.

MARLINS 7, BREWERS 6, 10 innings

At Milwaukee, Hanley Ramirez hit an RBI single off reliever Manny Parra in the 10th inning as Florida went on to beat Milwaukee.

Ramirez's big hit came after the Marlins rallied from a one-run deficit in the ninth, when Gaby Sanchez hit a solo home run off Brewers closer John Axford to tie the game at 6.

After the Brewers left a pair of runners on base on the bottom of the ninth, Parra got two quick outs to start the 10th. But he gave up a double to Donovan Solano, then Ramirez singled up the middle to give the Marlins the lead.

Parra (0-3) took the loss, and Wade LeBlanc earned the win (1-0).

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