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Mets fight back to stun Cubs in ninth

Carlos Delgado's two-run single capped a five-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning and set off a wild celebration at home plate as the New York Mets stunned the Chicago Cubs 6-5 in the National League on Thursday.

The Mets pulled off their biggest ninth-inning comeback since 1999.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella watched relievers Ryan Dempster (1-2) and Scott Eyre blow the big lead.

Down 5-1, the Mets loaded the bases. Dempster walked Endy Chavez to force a run and Ruben Gotay's RBI single brought Eyre from the bullpen. David Wright singled for 5-4. Delgado followed with a grounder just beyond the reach of diving second baseman Ryan Theriot.

Ambiorix Burgos (1-0) won in relief.

Chicago's Angel Guzman was heading for his first big league win after giving up one run and six hits in five innings. He tweaked his hamstrings while batting in the sixth and left the game.

Aramis Ramirez homered and drove in three runs for the Cubs.

Diamondbacks 3, Rockies 1

At Denver, Livan Hernandez allowed four hits over seven innings, singled twice and scored a run to lead Arizona.

The win gave the Diamondbacks two victories in the three-game series and their sixth series win of the year.

Hernandez (4-2) gave up a run while walking four and striking out two. He was 2-for-3 for his 30th multiple hit game of his career and a hit short of his career high. He raised his season batting average to .333.

Nationals 4, Braves 3

At Washington, Felipe Lopez returned from a rare day off by stopping an 0-for-13 skid with a single, double and go-ahead triple as Washington came back to beat Atlanta.

Last-place Washington won three of four against Atlanta, taking two consecutive series after failing to win any of its first 12 this season.

Chipper Jones' two-run homer in the fourth inning helped Atlanta take a 3-1 lead off rookie starter Matt Chico (3-4), who allowed three runs and five hits in six innings, but relievers Billy Traber, Jesus Colome, and Jon Rauch combined for three perfect innings.

Brewers 3, Phillies 2

At Philadelphia, Ben Sheets struck out eight in seven-and-two-thirds innings and Gabe Gross hit a pair of solo homers for the first multi-homer game of his big league career, helping to end Milwaukee's four-game losing streak.

Freddy Garcia (1-3) gave up two runs and seven hits in five-and-two-thirds innings for Philadelphia.

Sheets (4-2) gave up only three hits, including Pat Burrell's solo homer, through seven innings and five hits in all. He ran into trouble in the eighth and left after Shane Victorino's RBI single made it 3-2 and put runners on the corners for Francisco Cordero, who finished to remain perfect in 16 save chances.

Pirates 7, Marlins 2

At Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh tied a team record with four sacrifice flies and took advantage of a team-record tying five Florida errors for the win.

Ronny Paulino had three RBIs and Shawn Chacon (1-0) pitched five shutout innings out of the bullpen for the Pirates, who earned a split of the four-game series.

The Pirates, who committed two errors, tied a club record set on Sept. 9, 1988, against Philadelphia with four sacrifice flies.

Giants 2, Astros 1, 12 innings

At Houston, Randy Winn beat out a grounder off Brad Lidge to score Pedro Feliz in the 12th inning, helping San Francisco avoid a three-game sweep.

Winn also singled in the eighth and scored a run after two wild throws by Houston on the same play.

Astros ace Roy Oswalt and Giants rookie Tim Lincecum put on an impressive duel through the first seven innings, but neither figured in the decision. Oswalt had a no-hitter through five-and-two-thirds innings, while the 22-year-old Lincecum struck out 10 in his third career start.

Eric Hinske slammed his chin into the ground making a spectacular, run-saving catch and hit a go-ahead homer two innings later to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-2 win on Thursday night and a doubleheader sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

Hinske, making a rare start in place of injured right fielder J.D. Drew, hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot into Boston's bullpen in right-center field, to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning. Boston won the opener 2-1 behind starter Julian Tavarez's most effective game of the season.

The sweep increased Boston's lead in the American League East over the second-place New York Yankees to nine-and-a-half games. The last time the Yankees were that far back was Sept. 6, 1997.

Hinske's go-ahead homer came with two outs against Wilfredo Ledezma (3-1). Brendan Donnelly (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning and Hideki Okajima got his second save, extending his streak of scoreless innings to 19.

White Sox 4, Yankees 1

At Chicago, Jon Garland limited New York to a run and six hits over seven innings and Jermaine Dye homered and had four RBIs to lead Chicago.

The Yankees had two runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but couldn't score against Garland (3-2) until Doug Mientkiewicz hit a two-out RBI double in the seventh.

Garland walked four and struck out two and was backed by three double plays in running his career record to 2-5 against the Yankees. Bobby Jenks pitched the ninth inning to record his 13th save in 14 chances.

Indians 2, Twins 0

At Cleveland, Fausto Carmona outpitched Johan Santana again and Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko homered in a three-pitch span off Minnesota's ace in the seventh inning, leading Cleveland to victory.

Carmona (5-1) allowed four hits for his first career shutout and complete game, a 121-pitch performance that beat Santana (4-4) for the second time in less than a month.

Cleveland swept the three-game series and improved to 5-0 this season against one of their AL Central rivals.

Royals 7, Athletics 4

At Oakland, Scott Elarton got his first victory since last July, slumping Mike Sweeney had a pair of hits and Kansas City beat a left-handed starter for the first time this year.

Kansas City, which had been 0-10 when opponents started lefties, got to Dallas Braden (1-3) early. Making his fourth major league start, Braden allowed five runs and six hits in five innings.

Devil Rays 8, Rangers 6

At Kissimmee, Florida, Delmon Young's second homer of the night, a two-run shot in the 10th inning, helped Tampa Bay beat Texas and extend its season-high winning streak to four games.

Young's winning homer off Willie Eyre (1-2) completed a successful trip to Disney World, where the series was played as part of the Devil Rays' effort to expand their fan base and increase marketing opportunities in the Orlando area.

Sammy Sosa was 1-for-6 with three strikeouts for Texas and remained three homers shy of becoming the fifth player to hit 600 in a career.

Gary Glover (1-2) pitched the 10th to earn the victory for Tampa Bay, which hadn't won four in a row since May last year.

Angels 7, Mariners 3

At Seattle, Vladimir Guerrero homered for the first time in 12 games and drove in three runs and Bartolo Colon stayed undefeated as Los Angeles beat former Angels player Jarrod Washburn and Seattle.

Colon (5-0) allowed three runs and nine hits in seven innings as the Angels won for the seventh time in nine games. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth to send Los Angeles to a season-high six games over .500 entering their rivalry series this weekend against the Dodgers.

Colon, who struck out one and walked three, is perfect since making his season debut three weeks late because of a partial tear to his rotator cuff.

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