National League
David Wright hit a three-run homer and the New York Mets won their eighth straight game, getting off to another fast start to beat the fading Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 on Thursday.
Steve Trachsel pitched six effective innings and the National League East division-leading Mets (42-23) extended their lead to 9-1/2 games over second-place Philadelphia by completing a three-game sweep. They finished 9-1 on their road trip against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Phillies.
New York set a major league record by winning its eighth consecutive game on the road when scoring in the first inning. The 1939 Yankees did it in seven.
Pat Burrell hit a pair of homers for the Phillies, who fell to 33-33 with their sixth loss in seven games.
Trachsel (4-4) allowed four runs and six hits in six innings. Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez followed with perfect innings, and Billy Wagner finished for his 14th save in 17 chances.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 5
At Pittsburgh, Chris Duncan tripled and doubled to key a pair of two-run rallies and St. Louis won despite another subpar start by Mark Mulder.
Mulder (6-4), coming off three consecutive ineffective outings, lasted five innings and got the win despite giving up nine hits and four runs. He has permitted 23 earned runs and 36 hits in 19 innings over his last four starts, a 10.89 ERA.
But, as usual, Mulder beat Pittsburgh -- he is 6-0 with a 2.68 ERA in eight career starts against a team which struggles against St. Louis. The Cardinals are 34-12 in Pittsburgh since PNC Park opened in 2001 and have won 12 of their last 16 series against the Pirates, losing one and splitting three.
The Pirates led 2-1 before Duncan tripled, and Gary Bennett and Mulder walked ahead of So Taguchi's two-out single off Victor Santos (4-7) in the fourth.
American League
Todd Hollandsworth broke out of his slump with an RBI double and a three-run homer, and the Cleveland Indians defeated the New York Yankees 8-4 on Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep.
Cliff Lee (5-5) won for just the third time since April 26, limiting the Yankees to five hits -- three of them homers -- over 6 2-3 innings. Ronnie Belliard got four hits and scored three times, and Jhonny Peralta ended his own slump with three hits and two RBIs.
Cleveland, which improved to 3-14 at Yankee Stadium since the start of 2002, won for only the fourth time in 12 games overall. The Indians tagged starter Mike Mussina (8-3) for three straight doubles in the second inning to grab a 2-0 lead. Melky Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez and Bernie Williams homered for the Yankees.
New York Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson was suspended for five games by the MLB commissioner's office on Thursday for intentionally throwing at Cleveland's Eduardo Perez the day before.
Johnson is expected to appeal the penalty, allowing him to make his next scheduled start on Monday in Philadelphia. New York manager Joe Torre was suspended for one game. There is no appeal process available for Torre.
Also, Johnson and Torre were each fined an undisclosed amount by Bob Watson, MLB vice president of on-field operations.
Johnson threw way inside to Perez in the seventh inning of New York's 6-1 victory over the Indians on Wednesday. Both benches had been warned by the umpires in the sixth, when Yankees catcher Jorge Posada and Cleveland starter Jason Johnson exchanged words after Posada was hit by a pitch.
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