WASHINGTON — Elijah Dukes drove in three runs, Ryan Zimmerman had three hits and the surprising Washington Nationals won their eighth straight with a 9-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday.

The Nationals' eight-game run is the second longest in their five seasons in the nation's capital. They won 10 straight from June 2-12, 2005.

"I knew we were capable of playing like this," said Nationals first baseman Adam Dunn, who hit a two-run home run. "I wish we would have played this loose and had fun early in the year, and we wouldn't be how many games back."

J.D. Martin (1-2) allowed one run and five hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out one.

Martin's only mistake came three pitches in, when Trent Oeltjen led off the game with a homer. It was Oeltjen's second home run in four major league games.

ASTROS 2, BREWERS 0:

Wandy Rodriguez (11-6) pitched seven shutout innings and Geoff Blum hit a two-run homer as host Houston won two of three from Milwaukee. Blum hit his fifth homer since the All-Star break in the fourth inning off Yovani Gallardo (10-9) after Carlos Lee walked.

CARDINALS 7, PIRATES 3:

Skip Schumaker's first career pinch-hit home run started a five-run eighth-inning rally for visiting St. Louis that included Pirates pitcher Matt Capps' ejection for hitting Albert Pujols, and the Cardinals finished off a three-game sweep. Joel Pineiro (10-9) fell behind 3-0 as Steve Pearce hit a two-run homer, but stayed in to pitch seven innings and improve to 4-0 in his last seven starts.

REDS 5, GIANTS 2:

Aaron Harang (6-13) scattered seven hits in seven innings, Brandon Phillips and Adam Rosales each homered and Cincinnati won two of three at San Francisco. The Giants, who had won six straight home series, fell into a tie with Colorado for the NL wild card lead after the Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs at Coors Field.

ROCKIES 11, CUBS 5:

Todd Helton had three hits to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, Dexter Fowler scored three times and host Colorado won two of three against Chicago. Milton Bradley went 4-for-5 for the Cubs, who played most of the game without manager Lou Piniella, who was ejected after arguing with second base umpire Chris Guccione over a second-inning double play.

METS 5, PADRES 1:

Johan Santana (13-8) scattered five hits in eight innings and tied his career high with two hits and an RBI as New York avoided a four-game sweep at San Diego. The win snapped the Mets' eight-game losing streak at Petco Park and was just their third win against San Diego in 15 games.

BRAVES 8, DODGERS 2:

Javier Vazquez won his fifth straight decision by allowing one run in eight innings and Atlanta beat host Los Angeles to take three of the four games. Vazquez (10-7) reached double digits in wins for the 10th consecutive season.