In St. Louis, Scott Spiezio started in place of Albert Pujols and had two RBIs, and Jason Marquis pitched into the eighth inning for his second consecutive strong outing to lead the Cardinals past the Mets 6-3 Thursday.
David Eckstein also drove in two runs and Scott Rolen added a run-scoring single for the Cardinals, who took two of three from Major League Baseball's National League East Division leaders and are 17-5 against them the last four seasons.
Carlos Beltran hit a two-run home run and Jose Valentin had a solo shot for the Mets, who are in a 3-7 slump and have lost their last three series after beginning the season with eight series wins and two splits.
PHOTO: AFP
Brewers 5, phillies 4
In Milwaukee, Geoff Jenkins' two-run double capped a four-run seventh inning as the Milwaukee Brewers rallied past Philadelphia 5-4 and completed a three-game sweep of the Phillies.
Jenkins also bailed out the Brewers Wednesday with a two-out RBI single in the ninth that gave Milwaukee its third straight victory in its final at-bat.
Derrick Turnbow, who was taken out of Wednesday's game after giving up three runs in the ninth, pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 13th save in 14 chances.
Braves 9, Marlins 1
In Atlanta, Jeff Francoeur hit two more homers and Jorge Sosa finally earned a win, helping the Braves complete a four-game sweep of the Marlins.
Chipper Jones, who hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 11th inning the previous night, picked up three more RBIs. His two-run single in the fifth gave the Braves a 5-1 lead, then Francoeur and Matt Diaz put it out reach by homering on consecutive pitches.
Francoeur wasn't done. He homered again in the seventh, his 10th of the season.
Reds 9, Pirates 8
In Pittsburgh, Ken Griffey Jr.'s soft line drive single drove in two runs during a four-run Cincinnati seventh inning and the Reds ended a five-game losing streak, rallying from a six-run deficit in the first to beat the Pirates.
Jason LaRue and Austin Kearns homered as the Reds withstood Jason Bay's grand slam in a six-run first against Dave Williams to deny the Pirates their first three-game sweep of any opponent since July 2004. The Reds had been outscored 28-10 during their losing streak and 16-5 in the first two games of the series.
Nationals 5, Cubs 3
In Chicago, Ryan Zimmerman, Damian Jackson and Alfonso Soriano homered off Kerry Wood (0-1), helping Ramon Ortiz get his first win since last September.
Making his first start since last July 20 and first appearance since a relief outing Aug. 29 before season-ending shoulder surgery, Wood lasted five innings in his latest comeback.
He struck out two of the first three batters in an eight-pitch first inning, but then gave up the long ball to the struggling Nationals, who had been shut out in the first two games of the series.
Ortiz (1-4), winless in his first seven starts this season, got his first victory since last Sept. 10 against the Pirates. He yielded eight hits and three runs in 5 1-3 innings. Chad Cordero pitched the ninth for his fourth save in six chances.
Damon Hollins and Russell Branyan homered to back the solid pitching of Mark Hendrickson and the Tampa Bay Devils Rays defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-4.
Hollins' two-run homer off Javier Vazquez (4-3) wiped out a 3-2 deficit in the seventh inning and Carl Crawford's RBI triple off the White Sox right-hander made it 5-3 heading into the eighth -- a troublesome spot for the Devil Rays' bullpen.
After watching Chicago score six runs against his relievers on Tuesday and three more in the eighth on Wednesday, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon elected to allow Hendrickson (3-3) to stay in the game after limiting the White Sox to six hits in the first seven innings.
When Jermaine Dye homered to pull the defending World Series champions within 5-4, Maddon was left with no choice but to turn to his struggling bullpen again.
This time the move paid off, though not without the White Sox getting the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base.
Tyler Walker, the third Tampa Bay reliever of the inning, got pinch-hitter Scott Podsednick to foul out to end the threat. The Devil Rays closer pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight opportunities.
Tigers 5, Twins 3
At Detroit, Brandon Inge and Placido Polanco homered and Detroit won its seventh straight game, beating Minnesota for its longest winning streak since 1993.
Detroit swept the three-game series against the Twins and have beaten them seven games in a row at home, dating to last season, for its longest winning streak against the American League Central opponent since 1981-82. The Twins have dropped five straight games.
Kenny Rogers (7-2) allowed two unearned runs, five hits and two walks while striking our four in 5 2-3 innings for his fourth consecutive victory.
Indians 6, Royals 5
At Cleveland, Casey Blake drove in two runs and extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games as Cleveland edged Kansas City.
Ronnie Belliard also had two RBIs as the Indians won their third in a row after a six-game losing streak and handed Kansas City its sixth straight loss. The Royals have lost seven straight on the road and are 2-20 away from home.
Kansas City also fell to 0-9 in day road games and 0-10 overall against left-handed starters.
Cliff Lee (3-4) pitched six-plus innings to earn the win, avoiding a career-high fourth straight loss and improving to 7-2 in his career against the Royals. He allowed four earned runs and eight hits. Lee struck out seven and walked three.
Bob Wickman worked the ninth for his seventh save and 23rd in a row since Aug. 6.
Runelvys Hernandez (1-3) allowed five runs and seven hits in 3 1-3 innings.
Rangers 6, Yankees 2
At New York, Vicente Padilla pitched into the seventh inning and Brad Wilkerson hit a two-run homer to lift Texas past New York.
Kevin Mench also had two hits for the Rangers, who salvaged a split of their four-game series against New York. Padilla (4-3) allowed two runs and three hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Yankees starter Jaret Wright (2-2) was strong in the first six innings but ran into trouble in the seventh when the Rangers broke through for four runs. Mench led off with a single and Wilkerson then hit a 2-2 pitch from Wright into the first row of the upper deck in right for his seventh homer.
Akinori Otsuka struck out the side in the ninth in his first appearance since he allowed Jorge Posada's game-winning homer in the ninth inning of New York's 14-13 win Tuesday.
Athletics 6, Mariners 3
At Oakland, California, Frank Thomas and Bobby Crosby hit two-run singles and Oakland prepared for Barry Bonds' arrival by finishing a three-game sweep of Seattle.
Kirk Saarloos (2-1) allowed eight hits but just one earned run while pitching into the seventh inning for the A's, who won their fourth straight overall with the same timely hitting and impressive pitching they displayed in Wednesday's 7-2 win.
The first Bay Bridge Series of the season begins on Friday night, with Bonds and the San Francisco Giants visiting the Coliseum for three games. Bonds has been stuck on 713 homers since May 7 in his quest to surpass Babe Ruth's career total.
But the A's are headed into the series with the momentum of their second-longest winning streak of the season, which has kept them in a first-place tie with Texas in the AL West. Oakland has won six straight against Seattle after opening the season series with a loss.
Crosby's bases-loaded single highlighted the A's three-run first inning against Joel Pineiro (4-4), who got his second straight loss after opening May with two impressive victories.
Blue Jays 8, Angels 4, 10 innings
At Anaheim, California, Aaron Hill had an RBI double and Russ Adams added a two-run single in a four-run 10th inning, lifting Toronto to victory over Los Angeles.
Lyle Overbay opened the inning with a double against Los Angeles closer Francisco Rodriguez, who was pitching his second inning. One out later, Rodriguez (0-1) intentionally walked former Angels catcher Bengie Molina, and Hill followed with a drive toward the gap in left-center.
Adams added some insurance with a single to left-center that chased K-Rod and Reed Johnson singled home the final run.
Jason Frasor (1-0) pitched 1 2-3 innings, striking out Tim Salmon with the bases loaded to end the ninth.
Jim Lemon, who hit 164 home runs and earned a visit with a box-seat fan named Dwight D. Eisenhower after slugging three consecutive homers in a game for the Washington Senators in 1956, died Sunday at his home in Brandon, Miss. He was 78.
The cause was cancer, his son Patrick said.
During the original Senators' final years in Washington before they became the Minnesota Twins, Lemon, an outfielder who hit right-handed, teamed with Harmon Killebrew, Roy Sievers and Bob Allison in a power-hitting lineup. In 1959, Lemon hit 33 home runs with 100 runs batted in. He was an All-Star the next season, when he had 38 homers and 100 RBI.
On the night of Aug. 31, 1956, in his first full major league season, Lemon became the first Senators player to hit three home runs in a game at Griffith Stadium in Washington, connecting against the Yankees' Whitey Ford. The Yankees' Joe DiMaggio was the only player with a three-homer game at Griffith Stadium before Lemon's feat.
Eisenhower, in a rare appearance at the park aside from opening day ceremonies, called Lemon to his seat to shake hands after he sent three drives into the left-field bleachers.
"At least a dozen guys have claimed they caught two of the homers," Lemon once told The Washington Post. The Senators nonetheless lost, 6-4.
Lemon, a native of Covington, Virginia, made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1950. He played for the Senators and the Twins from 1954 to early 1963 and finished his career in '63 with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox. He had a .262 career batting average for 12 major league seasons.
He managed the second Washington Senators franchise to a 65-96 record in 1968 and was a coach and instructor for the Twins.
In addition to his son Patrick, of Brandon, he is survived by his wife, Ella; his son Joseph, of Lynchburg, Virginia, a daughter, Le Lemon, of Darnestown, Maryland; a brother, William, of Roanoke, Virginia; and seven grandchildren.
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