Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first inning for his 1,000th career hit and finished with four RBIs to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 9-3 on Friday night.
The game was the first for the Cubs since losing NL batting champion Derrek Lee for at least two months with two broken bones above his wrist. Lee's bat could not have saved the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series, with starter Jerome Williams (0-2) getting pounded for seven runs in 1 1-3 innings.
Mark Mulder (2-0) worked eight strong innings and Jim Edmonds homered for the second straight game for the Cardinals, who have won five of six.
PHOTO: AP
The only damage off Mulder, who retired 13 of his last 14 batters, was a three-run homer in the fourth by Michael Barrett.
Pujols tied Todd Helton of the Rockies as the second-fastest active player to reach 1,000 hits with his 11th homer. He and Helton needed 3,003 at-bats, 26 more than Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners.
Astros 3, Pirates 2
At Houston, Morgan Ensberg homered in his Astros-record sixth straight game, hitting a two-run shot to back Wandy Rodriguez as Houston edged Pittsburgh.
Ensberg has seven home runs in the last six games and leads all major league third basemen with eight. He is hitting .411 this season.
Rodriguez (3-0) allowed five hits, including Jason Bay's solo homer, in six innings. Brad Lidge struggled in the ninth before earning his sixth save.
Bay's fifth homer, with two outs in the sixth inning, marked the 16th straight game that he has reached base safely and the 17th time in the first 18 games.
Jason Lane homered in the bottom of the sixth on a 1-0 pitch off starter Zach Duke (1-2) to push Houston's lead to 3-1.
Reds 3, Brewers 1
At Milwaukee, Bronson Arroyo struck out eight in eight innings to outpitch Ben Sheets in Cincinnati's victory over Milwaukee.
Arroyo (3-0) allowed Gabe Gross' home run on his first pitch, then limited the Brewers to five hits the rest of his outing. Arroyo retired 10 in a row at one point to pin the loss on Sheets (0-2), who struck out 10 in seven innings.
David Weathers pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
Marlins 4, Phillies 3
At Philadelphia, Scott Olsen limited the Phillies to one earned run in 6 2-3 innings, and Dan Uggla stole home to help Florida take a 4-0 lead in the fifth.
The 22-year-old Olsen (1-1) allowed eight hits, seven of them singles. Joe Borowski worked the ninth for his second save.
Jon Lieber (0-4) was the loser for the Phillies, 2-8 at home.
Rockies 9, Giants 8
At Denver, Garrett Atkins' run-scoring single capped a four-run rally in the ninth inning, lifting the Colorado over San Francisco.
The Giants had an 8-5 lead going into the ninth but Tim Worrell (2-1) failed to record an out and was tagged for four earned runs.
Eli Marrero led off the ninth with a home run and Worrell gave up singles to Luis Gonzalez, Danny Ardoin and pinch-hitter Choo Freeman. Steve Kline then relieved Worrell and struck out Cory Sullivan.
Armando Benitez, who came off the disabled list Thursday night after recovering from left knee bursitis, followed Kline. He gave up a sacrifice fly to Clint Barmes and an RBI single to Holliday before surrendering Atkins' game-winner.
David Cortes (2-0) picked up the win with a perfect ninth inning.
Pedro Feliz hit his first two homers of the season for the Giants.
Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with three walks and watched his homerless start stretch to 12 games and 30 at-bats.
Nationals 7, Braves 3
At Washington, Alfonso Soriano hit three homers, including a three-run shot in the eighth inning after a wild pitch in the rain allowed the go-ahead run to score for Washington's win over Atlanta.
It was Soriano's first three-homer game, and his five RBIs matched his career high. He hit leadoff shots in the first and third innings off John Smoltz, and he now has six homers this season.
Rain delayed the first pitch by 2 hours, 18 minutes.
Braves reliever Mike Remlinger threw a wild pitch that allowed Ryan Church to score from third and put Washington up 4-3. Church had hit Washington's first triple of the season off Lance Cormier (0-1).
Mike Stanton (1-2) got the last out of the eighth for Washington.
The Nationals wasted another strong start from John Patterson, who took a two-hit shutout and 3-0 lead into the eighth.
Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 3
At Los Angeles, J.D. Drew homered and drove in three runs, Odalis Perez pitched six innings of four-hit ball to improve to 3-0 for Los Angeles.
Danys Baez worked the ninth for his fourth save. Orlando Hernandez (1-3) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings for Arizona.
Padres 2, Mets 1, 14 innings
At San Diego, Brian Giles doubled in Geoff Blum with the winning run in the 14th inning for San Diego's win over New York.
Blum led off the 14th with a single to center off Chad Bradford (0-1). Giles sliced the first pitch down the left-field line that went all the way to the fence. Blum beat the relay throw home from shortstop Jose Reyes.
Brian Sweeney (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings to pick up the win.
The Mets took a 1-0 lead on Carlos Delgado's home run to center field leading off the third against Woody Williams.
The Padres tied it in the bottom of the fifth when Adrian Gonzalez singled in Josh Barfield, who led off the inning with a base hit.
Lyle Overbay doubled in the winning run in the 12th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays overcame Manny Ramirez's first two homers of the season for a 7-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Trying to protect a 6-2 lead in the eighth, Boston starter Josh Beckett got a Toronto rally going by plunking Aaron Hill. Russ Adams followed with a homer and Vernon Wells chased Beckett with his second homer of the game to cut Boston's lead to 6-5.
Mike Timlin relieved and allowed a tying home to Troy Glaus.
Keith Foulke (0-1) walked Glaus with two outs in the 12th before Rudy Seanez relieved and allowed Overbay's double to left center. Glaus slid headfirst for the winning run.
Justin Speier (1-0) pitched two innings for the victory.
But the victory could come at a price for the Blue Jays because starter A.J. Burnett left after four innings because of a sore right elbow.
Orioles 6, Yankees 5
At New York, Kris Benson pitched just well enough to escape trouble and Kevin Millar hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth inning in Baltimore's victory over New York.
Dealt by the Mets to Baltimore during the offseason, perhaps because of attention-grabbing wife Anna, Benson (2-2) never retired the side in order. He allowed four runs -- three earned -- and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, and rookie reliever Sandy Rleal got out of a two-on jam he inherited in the sixth. Chris Ray loaded the bases in the ninth before getting his sixth save in six chances.
Millar spent the previous three seasons with Boston, helping the Red Sox beat the Yankees in 2004 en route to their first World Series title since 1918. He was booed loudly each time he came to the plate, and got a pair of big hits for the Orioles.
After doubling and scoring to spark a three-run third against Wang Chien-ming (
Robinson Cano hit a two-run homer for New York.
White Sox 7, Twins 1
At Chicago, Mark Buehrle outpitched Johan Santana, and Jim Thome his his eighth homer in the sixth inning to Chicago thrash Minnesota for its sixth straight win.
Buehrle (3-0) allowed four hits over eight innings to get his third straight victory as the defending World Series champions won for the 10th time in 11 games. He lost his shutout when Lew Ford hit a two-out homer in the eighth.
Santana dropped to 0-3.
Rangers 13, Devil Rays 7
At Arlington, Texas, Michael Young had five hits with a career-high five RBIs and Kevin Mench hit a grand slam to lead Texas over Tampa Bay.
Mench capped a five-run first for the Rangers with his first home run of the season and second career grand slam. He also knocked in five runs to match a career high.
Young broke a 6-all tie with a three-run double in the third and added a two-run double in the fourth. He equaled a career high by going 5-for-5.
C.J. Wilson (1-0) won in relief, and Seth McClung (1-3) was the loser.
Phil Nevin also homered for Texas. Ty Wigginton hit his seventh home run and Russell Branyan also homered for Tampa Bay.
Indians 6, Royals 5
At Kansas City, Missouri, Jhonny Peralta had a three-run double in the seventh inning and matched his career high with four RBIs in Cleveland's victory over Kansas City.
The Royals have lost 11 straight games to drop to a major league-worst 2-13. They have only two longer losing streaks in franchise history _ 12 games in 1997 and 19 games last season. The Royals have been outscored 78-32 during the skid.
Ronnie Belliard led off the seventh with a single off Elmer Dessens (1-1), and Grady Sizemore's infield single and Jason Michaels' walk loaded the bases with two out. Peralta then hit Dessens' first pitch of the at-bat into the left-field corner.
Danny Graves (2-0) retired the only batter he faced in the sixth to pick up the victory.
Tigers 2, Mariners 1
At Seattle, Mike Maroth outpitched Jarrod Washburn, and Placido Polanco had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the sixth inning as Detroit edged Seattle.
While the Tigers won their third straight game and improved to 8-2 on the road under new manager Jim Leyland, the Mariners lost for the fifth time in six games.
Maroth (3-0), who came into the game with an 0-2 record and a 15.95 ERA in three previous starts at Safeco Field, pitched six innings and limited the Mariners to four hits, all singles, with three walks, three strikeouts and a hit batter.
A 21-game loser for the Tigers in 2003, Maroth improved his scoreless innings streak to 17 1-3 and lowered his ERA to 0.49. He has allowed one earned run in three starts and 18 1-3 innings in 2006. Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his first save.
Jarrod Washburn (1-3) was the loser.
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