Astros rip Reds 10-3

CINCINNATI -- Vinny Castilla homered, doubled twice and drove in six runs as the Houston Astros shook up their struggling lineup and beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-3 Wednesday night.

With Jeff Bagwell and Moises Alou watching from the bench, Castilla led the Astros to their best offensive showing in more than two weeks. His six RBIs matched his career high.

The Astros padded their lead in the NL Central to a season-high five games over the Cubs, who lost to Florida 7-6.

Manager Larry Dierker decided to rest Bagwell for the first time this season and give the slumping Alou a day to regroup.

Dave Mlicki (5-1) was the winning pitcher. Chris Reitsma (7-14) took the loss.

MARLINS 7, CUBS 6

MIAMI -- Preston Wilson hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, rallying the Florida Marlins over the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs dropped five games behind Houston in the NL Central race. They began the day with a half-game lead over San Francisco for the wild card.

Wilson connected off Tom Gordon (1-2) for his 19th home run of the season.

The Marlins won consecutive games for the first time since July 31-Aug. 1 at Milwaukee. They have won only six of 24 overall.

Armando Almanza (2-2) picked up the victory in relief.

EXPOS 10, BRAVES 4

MONTREAL -- Vladimir Guerrero hit a run-scoring single for his 500th career RBI and added his 33rd homer as the Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves.

Guerrero hit an RBI single off John Burkett (11-10) in the third inning to reach his RBI milestone in his 708th career game.

Guerrero added a solo homer in the fifth as Montreal took a 6-1 lead.

Julio Franco homered off Mike Thurman (8-10) with two out in the third for his first major league homer since Sept. 24, 1997.

METS 7, PHILLIES 4

PHILADELPHIA -- Robin Ventura had three RBIs and missed a cycle by a triple as the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies to complete a three-game sweep.

The free-falling Phillies have lost four straight and 15 of 20. They remained three games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.

Philadelphia starter David Coggin (4-5) faced six batters. He walked the first three, allowed three straight singles and left trailing 4-0.

Al Leiter (11-10) won his fourth straight start.

PIRATES 5, BREWERS 1

PITTSBURGH -- Todd Ritchie pitched a three-hitter and Pittsburgh beat the Milwaukee Brewers, giving the Pirates their first three-game winning streak in more than two months.

The Pirates, with the worst record in the NL, hadn't won three consecutive games since beating the Reds in Cincinnati July 2-4.

Jamey Wright (9-10) took the loss.

-- From wire reports