National League
Nomar Garciaparra hit a go-ahead grand slam off Brad Lidge in the ninth inning for his first RBIs with the Dodgers, sending Los Angeles to a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night.
Andy Pettitte held the Dodgers hitless for 6 1-3 innings until J.D. Drew homered to tie the score at 1. Lance Berkman's eighth-inning shot off winner Takashi Saito (2-0) put Houston ahead again, but Lidge (0-1) couldn't hold the lead.
PHOTO: AP
After Kenny Lofton tripled with one out, the All-Star closer walked J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent. Garciaparra then drove a 2-2 pitch to left-center for his sixth career slam and first since June 22, 2004, with Boston against Minnesota.
Garciaparra was playing in only his second game since missing the first 17 with a strained muscle in his rib cage. Mike Gallo replaced Lidge and gave up an RBI single to Dioner Navarro.
Lidge had been 7-for-7 on save opportunities this year.
Danys Baez earned his sixth save. Houston had won seven of eight.
Cardinals 7, Pirates 2
At St. Louis, Albert Pujols hit his major league-leading 12th home run and Chris Carpenter beat Pittsburgh for the sixth straight time.
Pujols added a run-scoring double for his 28th RBI, also tops in the majors, to help send the Pirates to their fifth straight loss. So Taguchi had three hits and two RBIs and Hector Luna had a pair of RBI singles for the Cardinals, who have won four of five.
Jason Bay hit his fifth homer for the Pirates, who have lost 10 of their last 11 on the road and sit at the bottom of the NL with a 5-16 record.
Pujols' shot to left in the first off Oliver Perez (1-3) left him one homer shy of the major league record for April shared by Ken Griffey Jr. (1997) and Luis Gonzalez (2001) with six games left.
Carpenter (3-1) prevailed without his best stuff, working around eight hits, a walk and a hit batter in six innings, with three strikeouts.
Cubs 6, Marlins 3
At Chicago, Jacque Jones hit a three-run homer to cap a six-run eighth inning and the Cubs rallied against Florida's bullpen.
Carlos Zambrano matched a career high with 12 strikeouts but remained winless in five starts this season because Chicago couldn't muster any offense until he was out of the game.
Trailing 3-0 after getting just one hit off lefty Jason Vargas in the first 6 1-3 innings, the Cubs broke through in the eighth against relievers Matt Herges and Josh Johnson (1-2).
David Aardsma (1-0) got the win with a scoreless eighth. Ryan Dempster closed for his fifth save.
Brewers 3, Braves 2
At Milwaukee, Chris Capuano pitched seven strong innings and Corey Koskie hit his first home run for the Brewers.
Capuano (3-2) allowed a leadoff triple to Marcus Giles in the third, then retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced -- his only baserunner coming on an error by Rickie Weeks in the sixth. Capuano gave up one run and three hits.
Derrick Turnbow pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in six chances.
Braves starter Kyle Davies (1-2) pitched well allowing three runs and four hits in seven innings.
Reds 4, Nationals 2
At Washington, Elizardo Ramirez pitched effectively into the eighth inning for his first major league win and Cincinnati rode some early offense to a victory over Washington.
Washington fell to 1-5 at home this season, and the announced crowd of 19,264 was the smallest at 46,382-capacity RFK Stadium since baseball returned to the capital, eclipsing Sunday night's previous low of 21,569.
The 23-year-old Ramirez (1-0) was called up from Triple-A Louisville to make his first appearance for the Reds since a spot start on July 4, 2005. Throwing mostly in the high 80s and low 90s, the right-hander allowed two runs and six hits, five singles, in seven-plus innings. He walked one and even got his first big league hit.
The Reds, who have won five of six, did more damage against Livan Hernandez (1-3) in the opening inning alone, taking a 3-0 lead against the All-Star.
Phillies 6, Rockies 5
At Philadelphia, Cory Lidle struck out 10 and Bobby Abreu drove in three runs to lead the Phillies.
Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were instant hits in their new spots in Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel's latest batting order. Manuel moved Utley from the fourth or fifth spots to second and batted Howard, their best power threat, fifth after stints in the six and seven holes.
Lidle (2-2) fell one strikeout shy of matching his career high and scattered six hits before he was chased with a 6-3 lead and two runners on and two outs in the seventh.
Tom Gordon pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save in six chances.
Josh Fogg (2-1) gave up six runs and eight hits in five innings.
Giants 6, Mets 2
At San Francisco, Moises Alou homered and drove in five runs after a pair of intentional walks to Barry Bonds. Alou, the one the Giants have counted on to come up big behind Bonds, hit a three-run homer in the first inning and then had a two-run single in the seventh.
Matt Cain carried a perfect game into the sixth before Kaz Matsui singled up the middle to start the inning for the Mets' first baserunner.
The 21-year-old Cain (1-2) matched Tom Glavine and is showing he's finally coming around after his early season struggles, though he did face some challenging outs in the later innings and committed two errors trying for pickoffs at first.
Glavine (2-2) allowed six runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings after having given up only one earned run in his previous 14 innings for a 0.64 ERA.
American League
Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez hit consecutive home runs and Joe Blanton pitched six solid innings to help the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers 3-2 Monday night.
Swisher homered for the third straight game -- a two-run shot off reliever C.J. Wilson (1-1). It was his ninth of the season and it gave Oakland a 2-1 lead. Chavez hit his eighth two pitches later off Wilson.
Kevin Mench, who was 3-for-4, hit his fourth home run and added an RBI single for Texas.
Oakland, which left 10 runners on base before the sixth, had lost nine of 12. Texas had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Blanton (2-2) allowed two runs and eight hits.
Angels 3, Tigers 0
At Anaheim, California, Ervin Santana outpitched Kenny Rogers with six sharp innings, Tim Salmon homered and drove in two runs, and Los Angeles snapped Detroit's five-game winning streak.
Santana (2-0) combined with three relievers on the Angels' first shutout this season. The right-hander scattered five hits, set a career high with 10 strikeouts and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third.
Francisco Rodriguez followed Brendan Donnelly and Scot Shields out of the bullpen and struck out all three batters in the ninth for his eighth save.
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