HOUSTON - Aramis Ramirez hit a three-run homer as the Cubs beat the Astros 11-6 in a game with three ejections.
In the third, Chicago's Todd Walker hit a ground-rule double to score Corey Patterson. Walker scored on an error by Mike Lamb to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.
Moises Alou then walked. Sammy Sosa doubled, and Ramirez followed with a shot to centerfield that dropped into the balcony along the outfield wall.
Roy Oswalt hit Michael Barrett in the back on the next pitch. Both benches emptied as Barrett jawed at Oswalt and approached the mound. No punches were thrown.
"I was a little disappointed in Roy," Barrett said. "I thought he was better than that. We're going to see him again."
With the Cubs up 10-2 in the fifth, Kerry Wood, returning from a five-game suspension for arguing with an umpire, was ejected for hitting Jeff Kent on the left arm. Wood already had hit Lamb and Carlos Beltran. Cubs manager Dusty Baker came out to argue and also was tossed.
Oswalt insisted he didn't hit Barrett intentionally.
"I don't see why (Wood) gets three chances and I get one," Oswalt said. "I only wanted to pitch inside. It's part of the game."
Wood denied throwing at Kent, saying he lost control.
"Considering that I'm two outs away from the easiest win of my career, obviously I'm not trying to hit the guy," Wood said. "If I was going to hit somebody, I would have got him a lot better than that."
CARDINALS 11, PIRATES 4: Edgar Renteria capped a 13-pitch at-bat with a three-run homer and matched his career high with five RBIs for host St. Louis.
Down 2-0 with one out in the first, St. Louis' Larry Walker walked on the 10th pitch and went to second on an error. One out later, Jim Edmonds was walked intentionally. Renteria fouled off seven pitches after an 0-and-2 count before homering on a full count. Walker's grand slam, his second in five days, put the Cardinals up 11-4.
PHILLIES 9, BREWERS 6 (10): Jason Michaels' single snapped a tie as visiting Philadelphia scored five in the 10th.
After Gary Bennett's sacrifice fly tied it in the seventh for Milwaukee, Jim Thome walked to lead off the 10th for Philadelphia. David Bell followed with a single. With the infield drawn in expecting a bunt, Michaels bounced a single to centerfield to score Thome.
Lou Collier walked, and Doug Glanville reached on a fielder's choice. Chase Utley's pinch-hit single drove in Michaels and Collier, and Jimmy Rollins' double drove in Doug Glanville. Placido Polanco's sacrifice fly then scored Utley.
GIANTS 3, METS 1: Barry Bonds hit a two-run homer for host San Francisco, which remained a half-game ahead of the Cubs for the wild card.
Ray Durham led off the first with a homer for the Giants. One out later, Edgardo Alfonzo singled, and Bonds followed with his 693rd homer and 35th of the season. The ball landed in the back row of the rightfield bleachers.
EXPOS 8, ROCKIES 2: Juan Rivera homered and drove in two runs and Ryan Church had three hits and two RBIs in his debut for visiting Montreal. Rivera was 4-for-5 with three runs scored for the Expos, whose first five runs came with two outs. The Expos scored two off Jason Jennings in the first on two-out singles by Church and Alex Gonzalez.
MARLINS 8, PADRES 3: Carl Pavano pitched six solid innings, homered and drove in two for visiting Florida. Pavano led off the second with his second homer of the season, sending a 413-foot shot off Sterling Hitchcock into the upper deck in leftfield for a 2-1 lead. Pavano added a run-scoring double as part of the Marlins' four-run sixth.
Hitchcock, who had ligament replacement surgery on his left elbow in 2000, left the game after four after straining the same elbow.
BRAVES 10, DODGERS 1: Chipper Jones' three-run homer capped an eight-run second and Jaret Wright won for the 10th time in 11 decisions for visiting Atlanta. Seven of the eight batters Wilson Alvarez faced in the second got hits. J.D. Drew's bases-loaded two-run double made it 5-0 and chased Alvarez. Then Jones greeted Elmer Dessens with his 22nd home run.
REDS 11, D'BACKS 1: D'Angelo Jimenez hit a three-run homer and Sean Casey had a homer and run-scoring double for Cincinnati, which won only its second road series since the All-Star break. Stephen Randolph lasted only three innings in his second start for Arizona, which has lost 13 of 16.
