Former pitcher Rick Ankiel hit a three-run homer to cap his debut as a major league outfielder and Joel Pineiro worked seven scoreless innings in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
The Cardinals took three of four from the National League West-contending Padres, spoiling the return of Chris Young in the finale.
The day began with utilityman Scott Spiezio going on the restricted list for a substance problem that the Cardinals did not specify, allowing for the callup of Ankiel to take his spot on the roster.
PHOTO: AP
Ankiel, who led the Pacific Coast League with 32 homers for Triple-A Memphis, launched a 2-1 pitch from Doug Brocail over the right-field wall in the seventh with an effortless swing that put the Cardinals ahead 5-0.
Young (9-4) was activated from the 15-day disabled list for a strained left side muscle before the start and was fairly dominant until the Cardinals knocked him out in a four-run seventh.
Braves 7, Mets 6
At New York, left fielder Willie Harris robbed Carlos Delgado of a tying home run in the ninth inning and Atlanta held off New York.
The Mets scored three times in the ninth inning, capped by David Wright's homer that finished Tyler Yates with one out.
Dodgers 5, Reds 4, 11 innings
At Cincinnati, Rafael Furcal homered in the 11th inning and Los Angeles snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over Cincinnati.
Furcal's fifth homer of the season came off Victor Santos (1-4) and helped Los Angeles to avoid a three-game sweep.
Nationals 3, Giants 1
At San Francisco, Jon Rauch retired pinch-hitter Barry Bonds in a key spot and Felipe Lopez hit a two-run homer to lead the Nationals past San Francisco.
Bonds stepped to the plate with the Giants down by two in the eighth inning. After starting Bonds with a ball, Rauch got the slugger to foul out to third base.
Marlins 4, Phillies 2
At Philadelphia, Josh Willingham homered and drove in two runs in his return to Florida's lineup, leading the Marlins over the Phillies.
Pinch-hitter Alfredo Amezaga drove in the tiebreaking run with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.
Cubs 10, Rockies 2
At Denver, Jacque Jones matched a season high with four RBIs and Ted Lilly won for the eighth time in nine decisions as Chicago romped past Colorado.
Jones went 4-for-5 and got his 1,300th hit with a single in the first. Jason Kendall had three hits and drove in two runs for the Cubs.
Diamondbacks 4, Pirates 2
At Phoenix, Tony Clark homered and drove in two runs and Doug Davis won his fourth straight decision as Arizona beat Pittsburgh.
Orlando Hudson drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning for the Diamondbacks.
Kyle Davies pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning in his home debut for Kansas City and combined with three relievers to help the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on Thursday.
Acquired in the trade that sent reliever Octavio Dotel to Atlanta, Davies (1-1) struck out five and walked two over six innings in his second start for Kansas City.
Devil Rays 8, Tigers 1
At Detroit, Scott Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings, Carl Crawford homered and Tampa Bay trounced Detroit to win consecutive road games for the first time in nearly two months.
Kazmir (9-7) gave up three hits, struck out seven and walked one.
Mariners 13, Orioles 8
At Baltimore, Seattle put on another offensive show at the expense of Baltimore, getting three hits and three RBIs each from Ichiro Suzuki and Yuniesky Betancourt to notch a victory.
Jose Guillen homered for the Mariners, who scored 31 runs on 49 hits in their first three-game sweep in Baltimore since September 2000.
Indians 7, White Sox 5
At Chicago, rookie Aaron Laffey outpitched Mark Buehrle for his first major league win and Kelly Shoppach's three-run homer capped a five-run fourth as Cleveland beat Chicago.
The Indians won for just the seventh time in their last 17 games, but increased their lead in the AL Central to 1.5 games over Detroit. In his second major league start, Laffey (1-1) allowed four runs.
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