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Cards shut down Reds' hitters

Yankees center fielder Hideki Matsui prepares to throw the ball after fielding a two-run single hit by the Devil Rays' Nick Green during the first inning at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Tuesday. Tampa Bay hammered New York 11-4. PHOTO: AP

Jason Marquis gave up only three hits while taking a shutout into the ninth inning Tuesday, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 victory over Cincinnati, the Reds' sixth straight loss.

A day after they pulled off the biggest ninth-inning comeback in their history -- seven runs for a 10-9 win -- the Cardinals relied on a few well-placed hits and impeccable pitching. Reggie Sanders and Abraham Nunez drove in two runs each.

"We've got some superstars and some guys who know how to play the game the right way," said Marquis, who also had a couple of hits.

Marquis (4-1) allowed three singles. Al Reyes retired D'Angelo Jimenez on a fly ball for the final out, earning his second save. Marquis hasn't thrown a complete game in 78 career starts.

"I would like to finish a game, obviously," Marquis said. "It's a long season. I'd like to throw a complete game in September."

Phillies 10, Mets 3

In New York, Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer off Tom Glavine (1-4), and Bobby Abreu had four RBIs as Philadelphia trounced New York.

Brett Myers (2-1) struck out 10 and allowed four hits in seven innings for the last-place Phillies, who put Jim Thome and Kenny Lofton on the disabled list earlier in the day.

Glavine walked six in 3 2-3 innings, allowing eight runs -- seven earned -- and six hits. The two-time Cy Young pitching award winner has walked 22 batters in 30 2-3 innings this season. He has given up 14 earned runs in his last two starts.

Marlins 11, Braves 6

In Atlanta, Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Delgado had four RBIs each, and Florida beat Atlanta in a game matching the top two teams in the National League East.

The Marlins roughed up Atlanta starter Mike Hampton (3-1), who lost for only the second time in 16 decisions dating to July 4 of last season.

After falling behind 2-0, Florida took control with a five-run third inning. The first two hitters flied out, but Hampton gave up six consecutive hits, including a two-run double to Delgado and a run-scoring single by Cabrera.

Delgado homered off Hampton in the fifth, and Cabrera made it 9-2 with a three-run shot off Roman Colon in the seventh.

Al Leiter (1-2) was the winner.

Brewers 4, Cubs 1

In Milwaukee, Carlos Lee broke a tie in the sixth inning with his second double of the game to help Milwaukee beat Chicago and win its fifth consecutive game.

Chris Capuano (2-2) pitched a season-high seven innings for the Brewers, giving up one run on five hits while striking out six and walking none. Derrick Turnbow worked the ninth for his fourth save.

Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano (2-1) extended his scoreless streak against Milwaukee to 12 1-3 innings before the Brewers scored three times in the sixth to send the Cubs to their third straight loss.

Chicago scored its only run in the third on Henry Blanco's first home run of the year. The Cubs didn't get a runner past first after the third, and managed only one hit in the final six innings.

Dodgers 4, Nationals 2

In Los Angeles, Jeff Weaver (3-2) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings and Jason Phillips, in a 2-for-18 slide, hit a two-out, two-run double in the fifth off Jon Rauch (0-1) to break a 2-2 tie and help Los Angeles beat Washington.

Yhency Brazoban pitched the ninth for his ninth save, completing the Dodgers' fourth win in five games.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays batted around on Kevin Brown in the first inning Tuesday, scoring six runs on their way to an 11-4 victory in the debut of the revamped lineup the New York Yankees are counting on to pull it out of an early season funk.

"All the anticipation went out the window because nobody looked at that. Unless you pitch, nothing really matters," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

"Everything sort of takes a backseat to how you control the game. A game like tonight, we couldn't control."

Nick Green had a two-run single, and Travis Phelps and Aubrey Huff also drove in two runs apiece against Brown (0-4), who allowed eight runs and matched a career high by yielding 13 hits in five innings.

The Devil Rays never gave the Yankees a chance to see whether their revamped lineup works. Eight of the first nine batters had hits off Brown, and the early deficit was too much for New York's sputtering offense to overcome against Doug Waechter (1-1).

"It feels good to win a ballgame. It's been awhile," Tamp Bay manager Lou Piniella said.

Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada hit solo homers for New York.

Torre unveiled a new lineup with Hideki Matsui in center field, Tony Womack in left and minor league prospect Robinson Cano making his major league debut at second base -- a series of moves that bumped Bernie Williams, the regular center fielder since 1993, into a designated hitter's role. Cano went 0-for-3.

Red Sox 5, Tigers 3

In Detroit, Doug Mirabelli hit his third career grand slam and John Halama allowed two runs and four hits in five innings against Detroit in his first start of the year for Boston.

Halama (1-0) won for the first time since last October.

Detroit starter Mike Maroth (2-2) allowed five runs on five hits in six innings.

Ivan Rodriguez also homered for Detroit.

Saburo Omura went 2-for-5 and drove in four runs Wednesday as the Pacific League-leading Chiba Lotte Marines defeated the Rakuten Golden Eagles 10-0 for their 12th straight win.

Omura doubled in the seventh inning at Chiba Marine Stadium when the Marines scored five runs to put the game out of reach. Bobby Valentine's team scored four more runs in the eighth to complete the lopsided win and improve to 24-7 on the season.

Lotte starter Yasutomo Kubo picked up the win after holding the Eagles to five hits over 5-2/3 scoreless innings.

At Invoice Seibu Dome, Jose Fernandez hit a three-run homer in the first inning when the Seibu Lions scored nine runs on their way to a 12-3 rout of the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Seibu starter Koji Onuma picked up the win after holding the Fighters to three runs on six hits over the distance.

At Osaka Dome, Nobuhiko Matsunaka drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Softbank Hawks to a 4-3 win over the Orix Buffaloes.

Closer Koji Mise picked up the win after holding the Buffaloes to one run over the final two innings.

Tony Batista hit a two-run homer and Jolbert Cabrera added a solo shot for Sadaharu Oh's Hawks, who won their second straight game over the Buffaloes.

In the Central League, Makoto Imaoka drove in four runs to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a 6-1 win over the Hiroshima Carp.

Hanshin starter Jamie Brown picked up his first win in Japan after holding the Carp to one run on three hits over five innings at Koshien Stadium. The Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak.
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