Votto, Stanton hit walkoff grand slams

JOEY VOTTO hit a grand slam in the ninth inning for his third home run of the game, rallying the Cincinnati Reds to a rain-delayed, 9-6 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals on Sunday.

Votto hit solo homers in his first two at-bats and finished a big day with his second career slam with two outs in the ninth.

Giancarlo Stanton also hit a game-ending slam Sunday for Miami against the New York Mets, making it the first time in 14 years that there were two walkoff slams on 1 day. Mo Vaughn connected for Boston and Steve Finley for San Diego on April 10, 1998.

Washington came into the game with only 15 homers allowed all season, fewest in the majors. Votto broke out of his power drought and helped the Reds avoid a sweep with three perfect swings.

"It's certainly a work in progress," Votto said of his swing, "but I think I hit more barrels today than I have all season."

The last one came against struggling closer Henry Rodriguez (1-3), who had trouble with his control on the wet mound. Rodriguez walked two batters to load the bases with two outs, then left a 2-2 pitch up and over the plate to Votto.

The 2010 NL MVP hadn't homered since April 30 and had only two coming into the game. He finished with a career-high six RBI and the second three-homer game of his career.

The last player to hit a game-ending home run in a three-homer game was Albert Pujols for St. Louis against Cincinnati on April 16, 2006, according to STATS LLC.

Sean Marshall (1-2) got the win at the end of a long day. The start was delayed 3 hours, 36 minutes by rain, which fell throughout the 3-hour, 45-minute game.

A few thousand fans were left to see Cincinnati's first game-ending grand slam since Adam Dunn connected off Cleveland's Bob Wickman on June 30, 2006.

Before the game, Washington learned that catcher Wilson Ramos has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, sustained when he chased a passed ball Saturday.

At Miami, Giancarlo Stanton's two-out, walkoff grand slam capped a six-run ninth inning in the Marlins' 8-4 win over the New York Mets. Miami has won 10 of its last 12 games.

* At Los Angeles, Bobby Abreu hit a three-run double and A.J. Ellis added a three-run homer during a sixth-inning rally that carried Ted Lilly (5-0) and the Dodgers to an 11-5 victory over Colorado. Dodgers star Matt Kemp left the game with an irritated left hamstring after grounding out in the third inning.

* At Milwaukee, Ian Stewart hit a solo homer and scored the go-ahead run on an error as the Chicago Cubs beat the Brewers, 8-2.

* At St. Louis, Jason Heyward's bases-clearing double in third inning helped Atlanta beat the Cardinals, 7-4, to complete a three-game sweep.

* At Pittsburgh, Josh Harrison's 12th-inning single drove in Clint Barmes and the Pirates came back for a 3-2 win over Houston. Pittsburgh tied the game in the ninth against closer Brett Myers, his first blown save in 10 opportunities.

* At Phoenix, Melky Cabrera singled four times to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, Gregor Blanco drove in three runs and San Francisco beat Arizona, 7-3, to take two of three. Brett Pill hit a two-run homer and Barry Zito (2-1) earned his first win since his opening start.