Adam Dunn homered twice, including a tiebreaking drive in the 10th inning, and Ken Griffey Jr. homered for the third time in five games to lead the Cincinnati Reds over the Florida Marlins 7-6 Tuesday night.
"I relaxed and cleared my head," Dunn said. "I had some things worked out in the batting cage. Today, I felt pretty good."
PHOTO: AFP
With the score 5-all in the 10th, Dunn connected off Nate Bump (0-3) for his 14th homer of the season. Wily Mo Pena added an RBI single for a 7-5 lead.
Mike Mordecai had an RBI single in the bottom half off Danny Graves, who then retired Larry Sutton on a game-ending flyout for his 25th save in 29 chances.
"When you get to extra innings, there's no margin for error, and they have more guys who can pop it out of the park than we do," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said.
Brian Reith (1-1), Cincinnati's sixth pitcher, got one out for the victory, the Reds' 10th in 13 games.
Cardinals 8, Pirates 1
In Pittsburgh, Albert Pujols homered and had two doubles among his five hits and drove in three runs, and Jeff Suppan pitched into the eighth inning as St. Louis trounced Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals overcame the loss of third baseman Scott Rolen, who was hit in the batting helmet with a pitch by Ryan Vogelsong in the first inning.
Rolen remained in the game and scored in the Cardinals' three-run first, but did not take the field in the bottom half. He was taken out for precautionary reasons and will be reevaluated Wednesday.
Pujols went 5-for-5, his second career five-hit game, and tied a career high by scoring three runs for St. Louis.
Suppan (5-4) won for the second time in a week against his former team. Vogelsong (1-5) allowed five hits and five runs.
Braves 7, Expos 6
In Atlanta, rookie Nick Green hit a three-run homer and J.D. Drew followed with another home run in the ninth inning to give Atlanta a victory over Montreal.
Green, filling in for the injured Marcus Giles, hit a tying shot off Rocky Biddle (0-3) with two outs, and Drew hit the winner on the next pitch.
The ninth-inning collapse by Biddle came after Tony Armas Jr. limited Atlanta to two runs and three hits in 5 2-3 innings. It was his first start since being sidelined by a strained right rotator cuff during spring training as he recovered from season-ending shoulder surgery last May 23.
Atlanta's Chipper Jones aggravated his right hamstring in the fourth inning, an injury that caused him to miss 16 games earlier this season. He is listed as day to day.
Armando Almanza (1-1) pitched 1 1-3 perfect innings for Atlanta.
Astros 5, Cubs 3
In Chicago, pinch-hitter Michael Lamb had a go-ahead double in the eighth inning as Houston took advantage of an error to beat Chicago.
With two outs and the score 3-3 in the eighth, Brad Ausmus hit a weak grounder to second baseman Todd Walker, who rushed his throw. The ball sailed wide of first baseman Derrek Lee, pulling him off the bag, and put runners on first and second with two outs.
Lamb then lined a hit into left-center off Kyle Farnsworth (0-3).
Dan Miceli (2-2) threw two hitless innings, Brad Lidge pitched the eighth, and Octavio Dotel finished for his eighth save. Houston relievers combined to work six scoreless inning, striking out eight.
Diamondbacks 6, Giants 5
In Phoenix, Luis Gonzalez singled home Scott Hairston in the ninth inning as Arizona stopped San Francisco's 10-game winning streak.
Steve Finley homered twice to tie Albert Pujols for the major league lead with 16, and the Diamondbacks won for just the third time in 13 games.
Hairston and Finley homered on consecutive pitches from Scott Eyre to tie it at 5 in the seventh after the Giants had rallied for four runs in the top of the inning to go up 5-3.
Jose Valverde (1-2) threw a perfect ninth to get the victory. Jason Christensen (1-1) was the loser.
Corey Koskie hit two of Minnesota's five home runs to lead the Twins over the error-prone Tampa Bay Devil Rays 16-4 on Tuesday night.
Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones also homered and Carlos Silva (6-3) pitched seven strong innings for Minnesota, which scored a season-high 16 runs to win for just the fourth time in 12 games.
"Today I just tried to relax a little more," Silva said. "I think today was my day."
Tino Martinez hit a two-run homer for the Devil Rays, who had a season-high four errors, along with three wild pitches and eight walks.
Paul Abbott (2-5) allowed seven runs, six earned, and five hits in four-plus innings, while walking four and striking out two.
"Sometimes these things are kind of predicated on the guy who starts the game," Abbott said. "I didn't do my part and put us in a hole."
Royals 5, Tigers 3
In Detroit, Mike Sweeney hit a go-ahead single in the ninth as Kansas City downed Detroit.
With the score 3-all, pinch-hitter Desi Relaford singled off Esteban Yan and moved to second on an error by Yan (0-1), who threw wildly to first after catching Tony Graffanino's popup on a bunt attempt.
Sweeney singled up the middle, Carlos Beltran was intentionally walked and Ken Harvey singled for his third hit of the game.
Jason Grimsley (3-1) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the win, and Jeremy Affeldt got three outs for his fourth save in five chances, retiring Rondell White on a game-ending popout with two on.
Yankees 8, Orioles 7
In New York, Derek Jeter hit two solo homers, and Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada added two-run shots as New York beat Baltimore.
Coming off last week's three-game sweep in which they outscored Baltimore 41-17 at Camden Yards, New York backed Mike Mussina (6-4) in his fifth straight victory.
The Orioles made it interesting in the ninth inning when Miguel Tejada and Javy Lopez each hit two-out, two-run singles off Mariano Rivera. But B.J. Surhoff hit an inning-ending flyout with two on for Rivera's 19th save.
Sidney Ponson (3-6) fell to 3-10 against the Yankees.
Blue Jays 6, Mariners 5
In Seattle, Vernon Wells hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to help Toronto beat Seattle and win without Roy Halladay.
The American League Cy Young pitching award winner was scratched because he experienced soreness in his right shoulder when playing catch before the game.
Aquilino Lopez (1-1) got the victory with 2 1-3 innings of relief when Wells hit his seventh homer of the season off rookie Clint Nageotte (0-1), making his major league debut in relief of Gil Meche. The homer followed a single by Reed Johnson and gave Wells three RBIs for the night.
Athletics 6, White Sox 4
In Oakland, California, Bobby Kielty hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning as Oakland defeated Chicago.
Erubiel Durazo led off the inning with a sharp single to right field before Kielty hit a 3-2 pitch off Neal Cotts (0-3) that just cleared the left-field fence.
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