San Diego

Travelin' Local welcomes tourists to the Southland and gives a guided tour complete with good-quality photos, walking maps and budget-conscious attractions for families as well as independent travelers. What's hot: Hyperlocal blogs are all the rage, so I've had my eye on Travelin' Local for a while now. It's written by Lisa Newton, a relatively recent East Coast transplant to Los Angeles, and she shows off her new city as if she's been here longer than just a few years. Tourists will find the "Where to Go" and "Metro" sections most helpful for getting to know the different neighborhoods and how to get around.

at San Diego 4, Chicago 1: Rookie Kyle Blanks hit a three-run homer with two out in the ninth inning for the Padres, who scored four times off Cubs closer Kevin Gregg. at Atlanta 9, Arizona 4: Ryan Church hit a three-run double in a six-run third inning for the Braves. Tommy Hanson (8-4) gave up six hits, no walks and two runs in six innings for his third straight win. at Pittsburgh 9, Milwaukee 5: Andy LaRoche, Garrett Jones and Ronny Cedeno homered and the Pirates won for only the second time in their last 14 games.

at New York 4, Philadelphia 2: Mike Pelfrey outpitched a struggling Cole Hamels, who is 0-3 in August. Florida 5, at Atlanta 3: The Marlins hung on after a 2 1/2 -hour rain delay in the ninth inning. at Houston 1, Arizona 0: Roy Oswalt gave up three hits in seven innings. at San Diego 4, St. Louis 0: The Padres ended a nine-game losing streak against the Cardinals. Milwaukee 7, at Washington 3: Prince Fielder homered for the Brewers.

St. Louis 5, at San Diego 2: John Smoltz had a brilliant debut with the St. Louis Cardinals, striking out a season-high nine -- including seven straight -- and holding San Diego to three hits over five scoreless innings. at Colorado 4, San Francisco 2: Ubaldo Jimenez threw eight strong innings, outpitching Tim Lincecum. Arizona 7, at Houston 5: Ryan Roberts had four hits to help the Diamondbacks end a seven-game skid. Cincinnati 4, at Pittsburgh 1: The Reds ended the Pirates' five-game winning streak.

San Diego 2, at Atlanta 1 (12 innings): David Eckstein's 12th-inning double drove in Nick Hundley. at Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 4: Andrew McCutchen hit a game-ending two-run homer off closer Brad Lidge. at St. Louis 1, Houston 0: Adam Wainwright became the league's first 15-game winner. Cincinnati 8, at Milwaukee 6 (13 innings): Joey Votto and Laynce Nix hit solo home runs in the top of the 13th inning to give the Reds the win. at San Francisco 5, Arizona 4: Travis Ishikawa hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning.

San Diego stunned Atlanta with a six-run sixth inning, and Kevin Kouzmanoff finished off the Braves with a two-run homer that sent the Padres to a 12-5 rout Wednesday. The last-place Padres won their second straight over the Braves, whose playoff hopes have taken a big blow during two sparsely attended games at Turner Field. Today, San Diego will go for its first series sweep since taking three games from the Chicago Cubs on May 22-24. The Padres sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth and scored more runs that inning than their last three games combined.

San Francisco 3, at Milwaukee 2: Matt Cain (13-4) gave up four hits in seven-plus innings for his first victory in more than six weeks. at Houston 5, Philadelphia 4: Kaz Matsui's bases-loaded single against Brad Lidge (0-7) drove in the tying and winning runs in the ninth inning. St. Louis 2, at Pittsburgh 1 (10 innings): Albert Pujols lead off the top of the 10th inning with his second career pinch-hit home run. Florida 9, at Washington 5: Hanley Ramirez hit a home run to back up Josh Johnson (14-4)

Budget travelers, if you avoid looking for hotels on the beach because you think you can't afford them, think again. Hotwire Travel-Ticker has the skinny on a San Diego beachfront deal that's hard to pass up -- especially if you have kids. The deal: The Catamaran Resort Hotel & Spa, right on Mission Bay and only 3 1/2 miles from Sea World, has rooms starting at $129 a night. This special is good every day of the week for the rest of the year. A spa and water sports rental facility are on site.

When the velvet curtain parts, the Steel Curtain will slam shut. The Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers hope that happens, at least, when they open the 2009 NFL season tonight against the visiting Tennessee Titans (5 p.m., Ch. 4). After a summer of headlines concerning Brett Favre, Michael Vick, Terrell Owens, and the Dallas Cowboys' video board, the football world is ready for some, well, actual football . Is the wildcat here to stay? Can Tony Romo finally win a playoff game?

San Diego 4, at San Francisco 2: Adrian Gonzalez hit his career-high 37th home run and drove in three runs and Wade LeBlanc (2-1) pitched a career-best seven innings to win his second straight start. St. Louis 5, at Milwaukee 1: Albert Pujols hit two home runs for a majors-leading 47 and Adam Wainwright picked up his 18th win with seven scoreless innings for the Cardinals, who have won 25 of their last 31 games. Philadelphia 6, at Washington 5: Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz hit consecutive homers in the eighth inning and Ryan Madson pitched the ninth in place of struggling closer Brad Lidge, earning his sixth save.