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Astros tee off on Cubs' Maddux

HOUSTON - Greg Maddux scrunched up his face in disgust as he watched yet another of his pitches land in the outfield seats.

Maybe the Houston Astros weren't in a slump after all.

Jeff Bagwell, Jeff Kent and Lance Berkman each homered off Maddux, and the Astros overcame the early loss of Andy Pettitte to complete a two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 7-3 victory Wednesday night.

Chicago was swept for the first time this season, and it was the first time the Astros did it against their NL Central rivals since May 2001.

"I think I pitched (terrible)," Maddux said. "I made some mistakes and they took advantage of it."

Pettitte was pained in a different way, leaving in the fourth inning with discomfort in his left forearm, and the team said he was day to day.

Pettitte also hurt himself in his debut with the Astros on April 6 and missed the next three weeks with a strained left elbow.

At San Francisco, Barry Bonds hit his second homer in two days, Pedro Feliz hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth and the Giants rallied to beat the Diamondbacks.Felix Rodriguez (2-3) pitched the eighth for the win.Brian Bruney (2-2) took the loss for the Diamondbacks, who fell to 12 games under .500 - their worst record since the club's inaugural season in 1998, when Arizona finished 65-97.

At Montreal, Russ Ortiz (5-4) threw a five-hitter for his first complete game of the season and eighth of his career.Livan Hernandez (3-4) allowed 10 hits and four runs in seven innings for Montreal, which has lost six of seven and has the NL's worst record at 15-31.

At New York, first baseman Mike Piazza's throwing error set up Jim Thome's tiebreaking double for Philadelphia in a six-run seventh inning.Philadelphia snapped New York's four-game winning streak and remained in a virtual tie with Florida atop the NL East.Roberto Hernandez (1-1) walked home a run in the sixth, but struck out Piazza with two outs and the bases loaded. John Franco (0-3) took the loss.

At Denver, Vinny Castilla homered twice to give him 14, tying him with Steve Finley for the major league lead, and drove in four runs to help Colorado end a six-game losing streak.Jason Jennings (3-5) earned his first win at Coors Field this season.

At Cincinnati, Tommy Phelps (1-0) allowed just one double over seven innings, helping end the Reds' seven-game winning streak.Todd Van Poppel (2-2) took the loss. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-3, ending his streak of homers in three consecutive games.

At Milwaukee, third baseman Adrian Beltre's throwing error on Keith Ginter's sacrifice bunt allowed Geoff Jenkins to score the winning run for the Brewers in the 12th inning.Matt Kinney (2-3) pitched a perfect 12th for the win.

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