Ivan Rodriguez and Luis Castillo hit back-to-back solo homers in the seventh inning on Tuesday as the Florida Marlins withstood a ninth-inning rally to beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3.
Dontrelle Willis was impressive again, allowing four hits and striking out seven in 5 2-3 scoreless innings against the team that drafted him. He left after a rain delay of 1 hour, 24 minutes in the bottom of the sixth.
Nate Bump (2-0) won and Braden Looper pitched the ninth for his 16th save.
PHOTO: AFP
"The kid did a good job coming in," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said of Bump, who was called up from Triple-A on June 29. "I threw that kid right in the fire."
Mike Remlinger (5-3) allowed two homers and a walk in two-thirds of an innings. Sammy Sosa hit his 14th homer.
It was the 10th loss in 14 games for the Cubs.
"You can't go get drunk every time you have a bad game, or you'd be drunk all the time," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "So these are the games where you sit around, you think about it ... and try not to take it home to your wife and family. They know how you feel."
Giants 8, Cardinals 3
In San Francisco, Jose Cruz Jr. homered off Dan Haren (0-2) in the first inning and drove in four runs.
Jim Brower (5-1), pitching after starter Kirk Rueter strained his left shoulder, allowed one run and two hits in 4 1-3 innings as San Francisco completed a two-game sweep of St. Louis.
Braves 5, Mets 3
In New York, Shane Reynolds (6-4), came back from a string of three starts to allow two runs and eight hits in six innings as Atlanta beat New York for its fifth straight win.
Vinny Castilla homered and drove in three runs for the Braves, while John Smoltz worked the ninth for his 33rd save.
Rookie Jason Roach (0-2), promoted from minor league team Norfolk a day earlier when Al Leiter was put on the disabled list, made his second major league appearance and gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings.
Phillies 13, Expos 6
In Montreal, Mike Lieberthal had three doubles and four RBIs, and Bobby Abreu hit a three-run homer as Philadelphia beat Montreal to stop a four-game losing streak.
Placido Polanco had four hits, including his seventh homer.
Marlon Byrd, who batted leadoff for the first time this season, had three hits and three RBIs, including a two-run homer.
Brett Myers (9-6) won his fourth straight start, allowing four runs -- three earned -- and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings. Claudio Vargas (6-4) gave up six runs and eight hits in seven innings.
Astros 6, Reds 3
In Houston, Tim Redding stopped his four-game losing streak and Morgan Ensberg hit a two-run homer as Houston handed Cincinnati its sixth straight loss.
Redding (5-8) allowed two runs and four hits in 5 2-3 innings to win, and Billy Wagner pitched the final 1 1-3 innings for his 23rd save.
Jimmy Haynes (1-9), who lost his fourth consecutive decision, gave up six runs, six hits and five walks in 5 2-3 innings. He struck out six.
Pirates 8, Brewers 7, 10 innings
In Milwaukee, Jack Wilson hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning as Pittsburgh overcame another blown save by Mike Williams to beat Milwaukee.
Trailing 8-6, Milwaukee put runners on first and second with two out in the 10th inning. John Vander Wal singled off Salomon Torres, scoring Scott Podsednik, but center fielder Kenny Lofton's strong throw got Geoff Jenkins at third.
Wilson's homer off Mike DeJean (2-7) with two outs in the 10th provided the winning margin.
The Pirates were extended to extra innings when Williams (1-3) gave up a two-run homer to Wes Helms with one out in the ninth.
Torres got two outs for his second save.
Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 3
In Phoenix, pinch-hitter Carlos Baerga broke a seventh-inning tie with a three-run homer as Arizona beat Colorado for its 17th win in 20 games.
Shea Hillenbrand, who had three homers, five hits and seven RBIs in Arizona's 14-6 win on Monday, went 2-for-3 with a double. He has 10 hits in his last 12 at-bats, raising his average with the Diamondbacks to .364.
Padres 8, Dodgers 5
In San Diego, Mark Loretta went 4-for-4 with three runs and Sean Burroughs had three RBIs as San Diego beat Los Angeles for the fifth straight time.
The Dodgers, whose .240 team batting average is better only than Detroit's, have lost 13 of their last 15. It was just the third time in that span that the Dodgers scored more than three runs.
Rookie Billy Traber pitched a one-hitter for his first complete game Tuesday, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 4-0 win over the New York Yankees, who rested Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano.
Traber (4-5) dominated a depleted Yankees' lineup that struggled with the left-hander's offspeed pitches and unorthodox delivery.
"It was Greg Maddux-like," Yankees manager Joe Torre said of Traber needing just 2 hours, 11 minutes to shut out New York. "He didn't throw hard, but you don't have to when you throw strikes. When somebody throws soft, it frustrates you. But you certainly admire and respect it."
After giving up a leadoff single to John Flaherty in the third, Traber retired the final 21 in a row and 27 of 28. He walked none, struck out five and didn't allow a Yankee to reach second base.
Matt Lawton homered and Casey Blake had three hits off Jeff Weaver (4-7).
Traber and Lawton both came to the Indians in the eight-player deal that sent Roberto Alomar to the Mets.
"He had no predictability and that was impressive," said Torre, whose team was coming off two emotional wins over the Boston Red Sox. "Don't say it was a letdown after a big series, there was none of that. It was all him."
Red Sox 2, Blue Jays 1, 12 innings
In Toronto, Jason Varitek hit a go-ahead single in the 12th inning to lead Boston over Toronto.
Johnny Damon led off with a double off Jeff Tam (0-3) and Varitek, who had entered as a pinch-hitter in the 10th, singled to center to drive in the tiebreaking run.
Boston manager Grady Little removed the struggling Damon from the leadoff spot before the game. Damon, who batted eighth, went 3-for-4 with a walk after entering in a 4-for-37 slump.
Tigers 2, White Sox 1
In Detroit, Carlos Pena hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning and Chris Spurling got his first major league victory as Detroit beat Chicago.
Spurling (1-1), making his 36th major league appearance, won in relief of Wilfredo Ledezma, who made his first major league start and allowed five hits in five shutout innings.
Chris Mears pitched two innings for his first career save.
Jon Garland (6-7) gave up both runs and six hits in seven innings as Chicago lost for the third time in four games.
Rangers 8, Twins 6
In Arlington, Texas, Juan Gonzalez hit a tiebreaking homer as Texas rallied past Minnesota.
Rafael Palmeiro hit his 511th career homer, his 21st this season, and Michael Young had three hits for Texas, which overcame a 5-0 deficit.
Jay Powell (2-0) pitched 2 1-3 innings in relief of starter Tony Mounce. Ugueth Urbina pitched the ninth for his AL-leading 25th save in 29 opportunities.
Kyle Lohse (6-7) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in three-plus innings.
Royals 4, Angels 0
In Anaheim, California, Kansas City's Aaron Guiel hit a two-run homer and Darrell May (3-4) allowed four hits in seven innings to beat Anaheim and win a third straight decision for the first time in his career.
Jason Grimsley pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and D.J. Carrasco was perfect in the ninth as the AL Central-leading Royals won for the sixth time in seven games.
John Lackey (6-8) allowed four runs and six hits in seven innings.
Devil Rays 9, Athletics 3
In Oakland, California, Travis Lee had three hits and three RBIs, and Ben Grieve doubled and drove in two runs as Tampa Bay beat Oakland to stop a five-game losing streak.
Mariners 6, Orioles 5
In Seattle, Joel Pineiro (10-5) won his fifth straight start, allowing five hits and four walks in six innings and leaving with a 6-1 lead.
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