Jhoulys Chacin was the beneficiary of Giambi’s turn-back-the-clock power display. Chacin (5-2) allowed one run and four hits, striking out a season-high nine in seven innings.

Making a rare start at first base in place of Todd Helton, Giambi went deep in his first three at-bats. The 40-year-old former AL MVP entered 3 for 26 (.115) this season with one home run and four RBIs.

Pirates 5 Reds 3: In Cincinnati, James McDonald pitched into the seventh inning and Neil Walker doubled home a pair of runs, leading the Pirates to a victory and a two-game sweep of the Reds.

The Pirates arrived in town with a six-game losing streak and came away with their first series sweep in Cincinnati since 2003. They did it with pitching — Charlie Morton threw a five-hitter for a 5-0 win in the opener.

McDonald (3-3) allowed one run and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Mets 1 Nationals 0: In New York, Dillon Gee shut down Washington once again, tossing hitless ball until pitcher Livan Hernandez grounded a clean single with two outs in the sixth inning, to lead the Mets over the Nationals.

The game ended with Washington manager Jim Riggleman, catcher Ivan Rodriguez and third-base coach Bo Porter hollering at the umpires, moments after a disputed call.

For Gee (3-0) and the Nationals, his performance probably looked familiar. In his major league debut last September, the 25-year-old righty held the Nationals without a hit until Willie Harris homered leading off the sixth.

Cardinals 4 Astros 2: In St. Louis, first-year starter Kyle McClellan became the National League’s first six-game winner and backup catcher Gerald Laird made his 10th start of the season count with a two-run double as the Cardinals beat the Astros for a two-game sweep.

Allen Craig homered in a three-hit game as the stand-in cleanup batter for injured Matt Holliday . The Cardinals completed a 4-0 homestand behind stingy pitching that allowed only five runs.

Cubs 5 Marlins 1: In Miami, Casey Coleman had a career-high seven strikeouts in 5 2-3 shutout innings Thursday, and the Cubs completed a two-game series sweep by beating the Marlins.

Coleman (2-3) walked five but retired five batters with runners in scoring position and lowered his ERA from 7.22 to 6.03.

He departed after throwing 109 pitches, and four relievers completed the eight-hitter, with Carlos Marmol pitching a scoreless ninth. Marmol has thrown 22 2-3 consecutive shutout innings on the road since Aug. 25.

Diamondbacks 2 Braves 1: In Phoenix, Josh Collmenter blanked Atlanta for six innings to run his scoreless streak to 21 and the Diamondbacks handed Jair Jurrjens his first loss of the season with a victory over the Braves.

Collmenter (3-0) gave up two hits with one strikeout and no walks in his second start. The 25-year-old right-hander has allowed two runs in 26 innings, with 15 strikeouts and one walk, since being called up from Triple-A Reno, including a franchise-record 12 scoreless innings in a row as a starter.

He and Jurrjens were locked in a scoreless fight until Chris Young’s solo home run with two outs in the sixth. Juan Miranda , who had three hits, tripled in a run later in the inning.

Padres 1 Brewers 0: In San Diego, Orlando Hudson hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to give the Padres a win over the Brewers.

Activated off the 15-day disabled list before the game, Hudson hit a line drive to right field on the first pitch off Marco Estrada (0-2) with the bases loaded to score pinch runner Eric Patterson with the winning run.

Patterson scored without a throw from right fielder Corey Hart , who had to go backward to make the catch.

Ryan Ludwick led off the inning with a single off Estrada. Patterson stole second base, Estrada intentionally walked pinch-hitter Hawpe to bring up Cameron Maybin .

Giants 3 Dodgers 1: In Los Angeles, Madison Bumgarner came within an out of his first major league shutout and earned his first victory of the season, and Freddy Sanchez drove in two runs to help lead the Giants over the Dodgers.

Bumgarner (1-6) allowed a run and six hits, including a first-pitch RBI double with two outs in the ninth by rookie Jerry Sands The 21-year-old left-hander struck out three and walked two in his ninth start of the season. Bumgarner has a 1.32 ERA over his last five outings.

The only other Giants starter to lose his first six decisions of a season since Terry Mullholland’s 0-6 start as a rookie in 1986 was Barry Zito , who began 2008 with an 0-8 record.