Mark Grudzielanek hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats and Chris Carpenter equaled his career best with 12 strikeouts, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 on Wednesday for their 11th victory in 12 games.
Jim Edmonds had two RBIs for the Cardinals, who at 14-5 are off to their best start since the 1968 team opened with that record. The first four in the batting order went 7-for-9 in the first four innings against Victor Santos (1-1) while building a 5-0 lead.
"The Cards have had success against everybody this year, not just us," the Brewers' Geoff Jenkins said. "You have to be on top of your game."
PHOTO: AP
Grudzielanek, batting in the No. 1 spot for the second time this year, hit the second leadoff homer of his career to kick-start a three-run first. He singled and scored in the second, had an RBI double in the fourth and tripled off Jorge De La Rosa in the sixth. The homer and triple were his first of the year.
Julian Tavarez, filling in for the injured Jason Isringhausen, struck out the side in the ninth for his first save.
"I know I can't get too comfortable out there," Tavarez said. "It belongs to the big man, Jason, one of the best closers in the game. And I hope he can come back soon."
Carpenter (4-1) allowed three runs on eight hits in 7 2-3 innings and tying his career high for strikeouts set Sept. 4, 2001, against the Yankees.
Braves 8, Mets 4
In New York, Andruw Jones broke out of a big slump with a homer and three hits, and Mike Hampton improved to 3-0 as Atlanta beat New York.
Wilson Betemit hit his first major league home run and Eddie Perez also connected for the Braves, who roughed up former teammate Tom Glavine (1-3) and took two of three from their National League East rivals at Shea Stadium.
Hampton (3-0) pitched seven innings against his old team, giving up home runs to Cliff Floyd and Doug Mientkiewicz. The left-hander improved to 14-1 with a 2.61 ERA since July 4.
Jones scored three times and finished a triple shy of the cycle, snapping a 3-for-47 slump.
Glavine gave up seven runs, 12 hits and three walks in 4 1-3 innings.
Pirates 2, Astros 0
In Pittsburgh, Kip Wells allowed four hits over seven innings and Jose Mesa earned his 300th career save as the Pittsburgh won its first series of the season and handed Houston its fifth consecutive loss.
Jason Bay went 3-for-3 with an RBI single against Andy Pettitte (1-2) and Jack Wilson had an run-scoring triple to help the Pirates beat the left-hander for the first time.
Wells (2-3) was sharp from the start, working out of a two-on, two-out jam in the first by getting Jason Lane to fly out before settling down to allow only two more hits.
Mesa needed just seven pitches in the ninth for his eighth save in as many opportunities, making him the 19th pitcher in major league history with 300 saves.
Mesa has saved each of the Pirates' eight victories -- the first time a major league reliever has gone so deep into the season by doing so. Previously, no pitcher had saved more than five consecutive wins to start a season.
Cubs 8, Reds 7
In Chicago, Derrek Lee had two home runs and six RBIs, and Corey Patterson hit a one-out homer in the ninth inning to give the Chicago a victory over Cincinnati.
Patterson connected off Matt Belisle (1-3) after Neifi Perez pop-ped up a bunt to start the inning.
Lee went 4-for-4, hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning and a three-run shot in the seventh that tied the game at 7-all.
Glendon Rusch worked a perfect eighth and LaTroy Hawkins (1-1) a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts.
Giants 10, Padres 3
In San Francisco, Kirk Rueter finally got enough run support for his first win of the year and Pedro Feliz hit a three-run homer on his 30th birthday and San Francisco thrashed San Diego.
Jason Ellison had a triple among his three hits and scored three runs for the Giants, who took two of three from the Padres to capture a series for the first time in their last four sets. Yorvit Torrealba doubled and singled, drove in a run and scored twice.
Feliz connected for his fourth homer of the year when he sent a 1-0 pitch from Tim Redding (0-4) over the left-field wall in the Giants' decisive six-run fourth.
Rueter (1-2) pitched 5 2-3 strong innings in his fifth start of the season. He retired the first nine batters and 11 of the initial 12.
Phillies 3, Nationals 0
In Washington, Jimmy Rollins broke a scoreless tie in the ninth inning with a leadoff homer, and Brett Myers pitched seven scoreless innings to lead Philadelphia over Washington.
Rollins pulled a pitch just over the right-field fence and into the Phillies' bullpen, spoiling a masterful pitching performance by Esteban Loaiza (0-2), who faced just three batters over the minimum through eight innings and struck out 11.
Kenny Lofton then singled to chased Loaiza. Later in the inning, pinch-hitter David Bell singled off reliever Luis Ayala to score Bobby Abreu, and Placido Polanco singled home Jim Thome for the insurance runs.
Myers allowed four hits, walked three and struck out seven in seven innings. Rheal Cormier (1-1) worked a perfect eighth for the victory and Billy Wagner pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to finish the four-hitter for his fifth save.
Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 3
In Los Angeles, Luis Gonzalez hit a tiebreaking two-run single in a three-run seventh inning to help Arizona beat Los Angeles for its sixth straight win.
The Diamondbacks took over the NL West lead from Los Angeles with their second straight three-game sweep. They swept only one three-game set last year, and never won more than two in a row on any road trip while finishing a major league-worst 51-111.
J.D. Drew went 3-for-4 with a go-ahead two-run double and Olmedo Saenz homered for the Dodgers, who have lost six of seven after a 12-2 start.
Lance Cormier (1-0) pitched a perfect sixth inning for the victory, and Javier Lopez got three outs for his first save in two tries. Dodgers starter Jeff Weaver (2-2) allowed five runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings.
Erubiel Durazo had three hits and scored the winning run on Marco Scutaro's ninth-inning single in the Oakland Athletics' 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
Durazo also homered for the A's, who won their second straight following a three-game losing streak.
Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ejected White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen for arguing in the ninth inning after ruling that Chicago's Joe Crede made no effort to avoid getting hit by Justin Duchscherer's pitch with two runners on and two outs in a 1-1 game. After Crede popped up on the next pitch, he also was tossed by Wendelstedt.
"Hunter made a great call. Crede leaned into the ball and tried to get hit by the ball," said umpire crew chief Bruce Froemming. "He leaned his shoulder into it."
Durazo opened the ninth with a lazy fly to center against Damaso Marte (2-2), but Aaron Rowand lost it in the sun. With two runners on and one out, Scutaro slapped a single down the left-field line, easily scoring Durazo.
Justin Duchscherer (2-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings to lower his ERA to 0.66.
"I felt like he made an attempt to get hit by it, but you never see that call," Duchscherer said of his pitch to Crede. "I was fortunate to get that call, because you don't know what could have happened after that."
Other results: Angels 5, Yankees 1; Tigers 10, Indians 3; Blue Jays 8, Devil Rays 2; Rangers 8, Mariners 2; Twins 9, Royals 4.
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