NATIONAL LEAGUE
Johan Santana pitched his seventh complete game, Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro hit two-run homers and the New York Mets pounded Kyle Lohse and the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 to wrap up another successful homestand on Sunday.
Santana (9-7) allowed six hits and a walk in winning for just the second time since June 1, a maddening stretch during which he was tagged with four losses and four no-decisions. He also scored a run and drove in another while throwing his first complete game since a shutout of the Mets in June last year when he was with Minnesota.
PHOTO: AP
Lohse (12-3) allowed seven runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings, and Albert Pujols homered for the Cardinals.
CUBS 9, MARLINS 6
At Chicago, Derrek Lee homered and Mike Fontenot had a pinch-hit, three-run double during a four-run seventh inning, helping Chicago rally for a win that gave them sole possession of the National League Central division lead.
Chicago split its four-game series with Florida.
Mike Jacobs homered twice and drove in five runs for the Marlins.
ASTROS 11, BREWERS 6
At Milwaukee, Geoff Blum hit a pair of home runs for Houston, including a three-run shot that capped a seven-run fifth.
Blum hit both homers off Jeff Suppan (5-7), and is batting .542 (13-for-24) in his career against the pitcher.
Ryan Braun connected for his 28th homer and eighth in Milwaukee’s last 20 games.
PHILLIES 12, BRAVES 10
At Philadelphia, Pat Burrell hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the fifth inning and Philadelphia rallied for the win again.
Chris Coste, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth and Jimmy Rollins also went deep for Philadelphia, which overcame a 5-0 deficit a day after coming back from a 9-3 hole.
Since June 5, the Phillies are 8-1 against Atlanta and 12-22 against everyone else.
Braves All-Star catcher Brian McCann left with a mild concussion after a collision with Victorino in the sixth inning. X-rays were negative and McCann was to be re-evaluated yesterday.
PADRES 3, PIRATES 1
At Pittsburgh, Jake Peavy struck out 10 in seven innings and Scott Hairston hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth for San Diego.
Hairston hit a 2-0 pitch from John Grabow (5-3) into the left-field bleachers for his 17th home run of the season.
Peavy (8-6) allowed one run and four hits.
Josh Bard also homered for San Diego, which took three of four in the series. The Padres have won eight straight series in Pittsburgh dating to 2001.
Rockies 11, Reds 0
At Cincinnati, Garrett Atkins and Jeff Baker homered, Ubaldo Jimenez turned in another terrific start and Colorado completed a three-game sweep.
Chris Iannetta also homered for the Rockies, who wrapped up their first sweep of a road series this season and first in Cincinnati since June 2001.
Colorado extended its winning streak to five games, matching its season high, and finished with 14 hits in its biggest win of the season. The Rockies are 9-1 since the All-Star break.
Josh Fogg (2-3) lasted just 3 2-3 innings for Cincinnati. He allowed seven runs and eight hits against his former team.
In other games, it was:
• Diamondbacks 7, Giants 2
• Dodgers 2, Nationals 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, BOSTON
Manny Ramirez drove in two runs and shifted the focus from his talk about being traded by helping the Boston Red Sox end New York’s eight-game winning streak with a 9-2 victory over the Yankees on Sunday.
Ramirez doubled twice just hours after saying he was “tired” of the Red Sox and would agree to a trade if it made him and the team happy. David Ortiz homered and drove in three runs in just his third game after missing 45 with an injured left wrist.
Boston, preventing a three-game sweep, scored in the first four innings, taking a 7-0 lead against Sidney Ponson (6-2), who hadn’t lost since May 26.
Jon Lester (9-3) stayed unbeaten since his last loss on May 25.
ORIOLES 5, ANGELS 2
At Baltimore, the home team ended its run of 15 straight losses in Sunday games, defeating Ervin Santana and Los Angeles behind a sharp pitching performance by Garrett Olson.
Olson (7-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in six-plus innings, helping the Orioles end a five-game losing streak.
Just as important, it provided Baltimore with its first win on Sunday since April 6.
Since that game, the Orioles compiled the longest skid on one day of the week since Arizona dropped 15 successive Saturday games in 2004.
Santana (11-5) gave up five runs and seven hits in five-plus innings, the All-Star’s shortest outing of the season.
TIGERS 6, WHITE SOX 4
At Detroit, Curtis Granderson and Marcus Thames homered and Detroit beat Chicago to avoid a three-game sweep.
Miguel Cabrera drove in two runs and Ivan Rodriguez went 4-for-4 for Detroit. Zach Miner (5-3) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings to earn his first win against Chicago after losing five decisions.
In other games, it was:
• Twins 4, Indians 2
• Mariners 5, Blue Jays 1
• Royals 6, Rays 1
• Athletics 6, Rangers 5
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