CHICAGO - Mark Prior had his best stuff when he needed it most.
Prior scattered seven hits in his second complete game in a week against Los Angeles as the Cubs beat the Dodgers 2-1 on Friday and took over first in the Central.
Prior struck out three of the last four batters he faced and pitched a perfect ninth, striking out pinch-hitter Ron Coomer to end his third complete game of the season.
"I felt a little weak early on," Prior said. "My pitches weren't sharp, but the seventh inning on, I got that extra little life on my fastball and extra little bite on my curveball that kind of gave me the strength to go further."
Sammy Sosa had three hits and drove in two runs as the Cubs won for the fifth time in six games.
"This is our time," Sosa said. "This is our chance to win the division."
REDS 9, ASTROS 7 (10): Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer in the 10th for host Cincinnati. Houston has lost four in a row, matching its worst slump of the season, and fell out of first in the Central for the first time since July 7.
D'Angelo Jimenez led off the 10th with a single off Brad Lidge. One out later, Dunn hit his 27th homer into the Astros' bullpen in right, his first RBI since July 30.
It was the Reds' 13th game-ending hit of the season and their 27th win in their last at-bat, most in the majors.
EXPOS 4, GIANTS 1: Livan Hernandez pitched his NL-leading sixth complete game and Jose Vidro and Brian Schneider homered for host Montreal.
Hernandez, who was traded by San Francisco at the end of spring training, retired the last 19 batters in his fifth complete game in eight starts. It was his 29th career complete game.
PHILLIES 7, CARDINALS 4: Jim Thome and Ricky Ledee homered for host Philadelphia.
Albert Pujols singled, doubled and tripled, extending his hitting streak to 29 for the Cardinals.
Vicente Padilla won his fourth straight decision.
All-Star third baseman Scott Rolen, playing in Veterans Stadium for the second time since he was traded to St. Louis July 2002, heard loud boos each time he came to the plate. Fans booed from the moment he stepped out of the dugout until the second pitch of his first at-bat. Rolen struck out with two runners on to end the first inning.
BRAVES 10, D'BACKS 4: Vinny Castilla, Andruw Jones and Marcus Giles homered against Randy Johnson, and host Atlanta extended Johnson's misery.
The Braves have 21 homers in their past nine games, pushing their NL-leading total to 185.
Johnson (3-5) is not the same pitcher in this season marred by knee problems, his ERA climbing to 5.08 after giving up nine hits and seven runs in five innings.
"It snowballed," he said. "I don't know exactly what's going on right now. You have to point to location, I guess. Everything I'm throwing, they're hitting.
"I'd like to see any pitcher pitch a quality game against that lineup."
METS 5, ROCKIES 0: Tom Glavine tossed six effective innings and host New York got home runs from rookies Jose Reyes and Jason Phillips. Glavine allowed only three hits but walked four and pitched out of trouble throughout. He stranded eight.
Mets catcher Mike Piazza went 1-for-4 with a single in his second game back from the disabled list.
Plate umpire Justin Klemm was hit in the side of the head by the shattered barrel of Phillips' broken bat in the eighth. Klemm stayed down for a few minutes before being helped to his feet by medical staff. He walked off under his own power as a pad was held to his head and received stitches for a cut.
PIRATES 6, BREWERS 3: Milwaukee catcher Eddie Perez's two-base throwing error set up host Pittsburgh's three-run sixth and Matt Stairs hit a three-run homer. It was a winning night all around for the Pirates, whose racing pierogies easily beat the Brewers' famed racing sausages during an in-game match race - and with no involvement from Randall Simon. The first baseman, fined for rapping one of the sausages with his bat last month, was warming up and did not watch the race.
MARLINS 10, PADRES 0: Brad Penny pitched seven shutout innings, and Mike Lowell and rookie Miguel Cabrera homered for host Florida.
