By Will Bonn

– Weekend Editor

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Houston on Facebook.

Jul 16, 2011 – (Sports Network) – After enduring 18 straight losing seasons and countless last place finishes in the NL Central, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in an odd position on July 16 — in first place.

Percentage points ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central, the Pirates are in first in the division this late in a season for the first time since 1997 when they were in first on July 17. That year’s team finished 79-83, but this time around a young nucleus of talent has the Pirates on top and Paul Maholm could put the Bucs in first place alone tonight against the Houston Astros in the second test of a three-game series from Minute Maid Park.

The 29-year-old Maholm, who has given up one earned run in each of his last two starts — both wins –, will be on the mound this evening. The lefty held down the Astros over six innings on July 4, and then six days later shut down the Cubs in a 9-1 victory.

Maholm has gone 3-1 with a 1.04 ERA in six starts against National League Central teams this year. He has more career wins (11) against the Astros than any other opponent. His 11-6 mark in 19 games against Houston includes a 1-0 record with a 1.38 ERA this season.

Bud Norris, who is 3-4 with a 3.74 ERA in seven games against the Pirates, counters for Houston. The right-hander is coming off a victory in Pittsburgh on July 6 when he allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings.

Last night, Jeff Karstens tossed a five-hit shutout and Andrew McCutchen added a two-run triple in Pittsburgh’s 4-0 win.

“‘Cutch’ is swinging the bat as well as anybody right now,” said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. “He’s in such a good place he’s seeing the ball, getting good looks and hitting it all over.”

Karstens (8-4) turned in his fifth straight positive decision and recorded his first complete-game whitewash since 2008. He needed just 83 pitches (64 for strikes) to finish the outing.

The victory, combined with the Cardinals’ loss in Cincinnati moved the teams into a virtual tie atop the NL Central. Milwaukee is a half-game back and Cincinnati is three games off the pace.

Neil Walker added an RBI single and Alex Presley scored twice for the Pirates, who have won six of their last eight.

Brett Myers (3-10) worked six innings in the loss, allowing five hits and three runs despite striking out a season-high 11 batters for the Astros, who fell to 1-10 in July.

Pittsburgh is 8-2 this season against the Astros and swept a three-game set at Minute Maid Park in its last visit from June 14-16.

Read More: Paul Maholm (P – PIT), Jeff Karstens (P – PIT), Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs

(Sports Network) – After enduring 18 straight losing seasons and countless
last place finishes in the NL Central, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in an odd
position on July 16 — in first place.

Percentage points ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central, the Pirates are in
first in the division this late in a season for the first time since 1997 when
they were in first on July 17. That year’s team finished 79-83, but this time
around a young nucleus of talent has the Pirates on top and Paul Maholm could
put the Bucs in first place alone tonight against the Houston Astros in the
second test of a three-game series from Minute Maid Park.

The 29-year-old Maholm, who has given up one earned run in each of his last
two starts — both wins –, will be on the mound this evening. The lefty held
down the Astros over six innings on July 4, and then six days later shut down
the Cubs in a 9-1 victory.

Maholm has gone 3-1 with a 1.04 ERA in six starts against National League
Central teams this year. He has more career wins (11) against the Astros than
any other opponent. His 11-6 mark in 19 games against Houston includes a 1-0
record with a 1.38 ERA this season.

Bud Norris, who is 3-4 with a 3.74 ERA in seven games against the Pirates,
counters for Houston. The right-hander is coming off a victory in Pittsburgh
on July 6 when he allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings.

Last night, Jeff Karstens tossed a five-hit shutout and Andrew McCutchen added
a two-run triple in Pittsburgh’s 4-0 win.

“‘Cutch’ is swinging the bat as well as anybody right now,” said Pirates
manager Clint Hurdle. “He’s in such a good place he’s seeing the ball, getting
good looks and hitting it all over.”

Karstens (8-4) turned in his fifth straight positive decision and recorded his
first complete-game whitewash since 2008. He needed just 83 pitches (64 for
strikes) to finish the outing.

The victory, combined with the Cardinals’ loss in Cincinnati moved the teams
into a virtual tie atop the NL Central. Milwaukee is a half-game back and
Cincinnati is three games off the pace.

Neil Walker added an RBI single and Alex Presley scored twice for the Pirates,
who have won six of their last eight.

Brett Myers (3-10) worked six innings in the loss, allowing five hits and
three runs despite striking out a season-high 11 batters for the Astros, who
fell to 1-10 in July.

Pittsburgh is 8-2 this season against the Astros and swept a three-game set at
Minute Maid Park in its last visit from June 14-16.

The Sports Network

The Houston Astros began the second half of the season the same way they did the first.

With a loss.

The Astros lost 4-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night to begin a six-game homestand, casualties of a masterful performance by Jeff Karstens, who pitched a five-hitter for his second career shutout and first since 2008.

It didn’t help that the Astros came out of the All-Star break struggling offensively, helping Karstens (8-4) extend his career-best winning streak to five games.

“He’s a hard pitcher to face when you’re coming out of the break after four days off,” Astros center fielder Michael Bourn said.

Houston starter Brett Myers (3-10) struck out a season-high 11 but gave up three early runs on the way to picking up his fourth loss in as many starts.

“After the third inning, I thought he threw the ball extremely well, a lot like he threw last year,” Astros manager Brad Mills said. “To see the six strikeouts out of the 11 hitters he faced after the triple in the third inning, that was pretty good. It was nice to see him so aggressive.”

Houston’s offense, by contrast, was anything but.

It was the Astros’ fifth straight defeat and ninth over the past 10 games. It was Houston’s fourth consecutive home loss and 17th over the past 20 games.

The defeat dropped them to 2-8 against the Pirates this season after finishing 11-4 against them in 2010.

The Astros dropped their April 1 season opener at Philadelphia 5-4. Three games later, they dropped to last place in the NL Central standings, where they have remained since.

Pittsburgh entered the game four over .500 at this point of the season for the first time since 1992. By night’s end, the Pirates were tied for first place in the Central.

Karstens held the Astros to just one hit — Hunter Pence’s single in the second — through the first five innings.

He retired 13 straight after Pence’s hit before allowing consecutive singles to pinch-hitter Chris Johnson and Bourn in the sixth. Karstens improved to 3-0 and dropped his ERA to 0.41 in three starts against the Astros this season.

“You don’t see it very often that a guy throws 83 pitches for a complete game, and he only had 18, 19 balls,” Mills said of Karstens. “It was pretty impressive. Everything was working for him. He was getting ahead of guys.”

And he did it at a fast pace, helping to wrap up the game in 2 hours, 20 minutes, which complicated things further for the Astros.

“He was too efficient,” Mills said. “The guys have done such a good job of lengthening him out, but every time we tried to do that, we were behind 0-2, and it became something that was really tough to get into.

“He wouldn’t really give us a chance (to slow him down). He kept pounding the zone.”

Bourn agreed.

“He was coming out (and) getting ahead real early,” he said. “That’s what was good for him. He wasn’t falling behind. He was attacking with the fastball.

“When (a pitcher’s) attacking, you either take or you swing early. He wasn’t missing too much.”

It was Karstens’ first shutout since Aug. 6, 2008, at Arizona.

Andrew McCutchen hit a one-out triple out of Bourn’s reach in the top of the third inning to drive in two runs for the Pirates, who won their second straight and sixth of their last 10.

“I made a mistake,” Myers said of his pitch to McCutchen. “I tried to go in and I pulled a little bit over the middle of the plate. They’re supposed to hit balls like that. I was hoping (Bourn) could run it down, but it got away from him.”

Alex Presley singled to lead off the game, stole second and scored on a one-out single to right by Neil Walker.

Pence reached third base — the only Astros player to do so — in the seventh on a single by Carlos Lee, but Brett Wallace grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Pinch-runner Xavier Paul scored on a fielding error by Astros second baseman Jeff Keppinger in the eighth to cap the scoring.

NOTES: The Pirates recalled LHP Joe Beimel (left elbow inflammation) from the 15-day DL on Friday. Pittsburgh optioned LHP Daniel Moskos to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday to clear a spot on the roster. … Friday was the 15th time in his career that Myers finished with double-digit strikeouts. … Houston OF Jason Bourgeois (right quadriceps strain) went 0 for 3 on Friday in his rehabilitation assignment with the Gulf Coast League Astros. He is scheduled to join Double-A Corpus Christi on Saturday.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds were having a marvelous homestand, until the (usually) lowly Pittsburgh Pirates showed up.

Jay Bruce hit two solo homers Thursday, but the Pirates beat the Reds 5-3. With the loss, Cincinnati fell out of first place in the NL Central.

Cincinnati had been 5-0 on the homestand with sweeps against St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs. The Reds then were swept in two games against the Pirates and are 1-5 against them this year.

“It shows that in the big leagues, anybody can beat you, no matter who they are or where they are in the standings,” Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. “They’ve had some well-pitched games against us.”

The Reds are a half-game behind St. Louis, which beat Houston 4-2 on Thursday.

Cincinnati was outscored 10-3 by Pittsburgh. Entering the series, the perennially rebuilding Pirates stood fourth in the NL Central and were 6 1/2 games behind the Reds.

Cincinnati had an uneven day that included a throwing error and some baserunning mistakes, but Baker said Pittsburgh starter James McDonald (3-3) was the difference. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound right-hander allowed only one run in 6 2/3 innings.

“He had his control, he kept the ball down, and he was locating and throwing his breaking ball for strikes,” Baker said.

“He pitched well,” said Bruce, who hit one of his two homers against McDonald. “He kept his fastball down for the most part, and he elevated when he wanted to. He made pitches when he needed to.”

Reds starter Johnny Cueto (2-1) was the loser for the first time in three starts since returning from the disabled list. The Pirates scored three runs against Cueto in the fifth inning, the first earned runs he’s allowed in 18 1/3 innings this year.

Cueto lasted five innings, having thrown 94 pitches. The total was elevated by a 31-pitch second inning, when he escaped a bases-loaded jam.

“Johnny was pretty good,” Baker said. “He had a lot of pitches in the second inning, and that kind of did him in.”

Cueto said his problem Thursday was keeping his shoulder squared to home plate, as he threw only 58 strikes.

“I was flying open every time I was throwing,” Cueto said through a translator. “That’s why I was missing my spots and getting behind in the count a lot.”

Bruce homered to center to put Cinicnnati ahead 1-0 in the second inning. Bruce was back in the lineup after being scratched Wednesday by a cold.

“I felt better today, just trying to get some energy back, but, obviously, I wish we’d have won,” Bruce said. “The Pirates have given us a tough time this year.”

Cueto allowed an RBI single by Xavier Paul in the fifth as Pittsburgh tied it at 1. Neil Walker’s two-run double later in the inning made it 3-1.

Ryan Doumit put the Pirates up 4-1 with a solo homer in the sixth inning against reliever Jordan Smith.

Andrew McCutchen hit an RBI double in the eighth against Nick Masset to make it 5-1. Joey Votto’s RBI single in the eighth cut the Reds’ deficit to 5-2.

Bruce’s second homer, an opposite-field shot to left, brought Cincinnati to 5-3 to start the ninth. Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan allowed Bruce’s homer, then retired the next three hitters to get the save.

The Reds visit AL Central leader Cleveland today to begin their longest road trip of the year, a 10-day, 10-game trek. After three games in Cleveland, Cincinnati plays four in Philadelphia and three in Atlanta. The Reds return home May 30 against Milwaukee.

Ryan Dempster’s rough start to the season is becoming a distant memory.

The Canadian threw six solid innings, Aramis Ramirez ended a long home run drought and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 in a rain-delayed game Sunday.

Dempster (4-4) recovered from a poor first inning to post his fifth quality start in his last six outings. After allowing two runs, a walk and Lyle Overbay’s two-run double in the first, Dempster settled down to shut out the Pirates on four hits over the next five innings.

“There is a lot of game left after (the first inning),” the native of Gibsons,B.C., said. “Just keep going out there and getting outs and making pitches.”

Dempster allowed four hits and two runs overall, striking out five and walking three. He beat the Pirates for first time in five starts dating to May 4, 2010.

After a rough April, Dempster is now 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA in his last six outings.

“A few pitches got away from him in that first inning,” Cubs manager Mike Quade said. “We’ve talked a little about him regrouping and getting himself back in tune with command of his pitches. After that first inning, he was able to do that. He’s had a great May.”

Elsewhere in the NL it was: New York 9 Philadelphia 5; Milwaukee 6 San Francisco 0; San Diego 5 Washington 4; Arizona 4 Houston 2; St. Louis 4 Colorado 3; Los Angeles 8 Florida 0; and Atlanta 2 Cincinnati 1.

At Chicago, Ramirez’s line drive solo shot in the second broke a streak of 155 at-bats without a home run, the second longest stretch of his career. Ramirez went 170 at-bats between homers from Aug. 2, 1998, until April 21, 2000.

“He put a great swing on that ball,” Quade said. “Those home runs are going to come for him.”

The Cubs got three scoreless innings from their bullpen, one each from Kerry Wood, Sean Marshall and closer Carlos Marmol, who earned his 10th save.

“That’s kind the way we left spring training drawing it up,” Quade said. “We’ll (like) a three-run lead in the ninth, but those are the kind of things you hope you’ll be able to do.”

The Cubs beat the Pirates for the second time in six games at Wrigley Field this season. Even after Sunday’s loss, the Pirates have beaten the Cubs in 16 of the last 23 meetings.

“It seems like they always give us a tough time,” Ramirez said. “They’ve got good pitching, good young players. But we should play better against them.”

Pirates starter Jeff Karstens (3-4) allowed three runs — two earned — and struck out four over five innings. Karstens, who recently took the rotation spot of injured Ross Ohelendorff, departed after throwing just 71 pitches.

“We take two out of three and I had to be the guy that ended up losing that game,” said Karstens. “We had a lot of road woes, but this year we’re doing a little bit better.”

The Cubs manufactured the go-ahead run in the third. Kosuke Fukudome led off with a double, went to third on Darwin Barney’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Starlin Castro’s sacrifice fly.

Overbay walked and drove in both Pittsburgh runs with his two-run double in the first.

The game was delayed by two hours 34 minutes at the start because of heavy rain. However, once the storm front cleared the Chicago area, it was a mild and pleasant afternoon.

The Cubs scored their first run in the second on the long-overdue homer from Ramirez, who has averaged 28 each of his seven full seasons with the Cubs. Carlos Pena, who followed with a single, has reached base in 21 of his last 23 games.

Speedy Cubs rookie Tony Campana then hit a grounder to shortstop Ronny Cedeno and beat the throw, which skipped away from Overbay. Pena advanced to third on the play and Cedeno was charged with an error, snapping his 35-game errorless streak.

Pena scored on Koyie Hill’s sacrifice fly to right. Pena beat the throw of Pirates right-fielder Garrett Jones, but he slid into catcher Ryan Doumit, who left the game with what the Pirates called an injured left ankle. He was replaced by backup Chris Snyder.

Doumit will undergo an MRI exam in Pittsburgh on Monday.

“(Pena) came in hard and I am sitting there bracing, waiting for the throw and obviously we’ve seen these things happen in the past,” Doumit said. “It’s the nature of the beast.”

Some familiar Cubs nemises got the Pirates out to an early 2-0 lead.

Andrew McCutchen and Neal Walker drew back-to-back walks against Dempster. Both scored on Overbay’s double into the right-field corner.

McCutchen has now reached base safely in his last 21 games against the Cubs. Walker, who singled in the sixth, has hit safely in all 15 games he’s played against Chicago in his career.

“We’re not disappointed,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We went out and played a ballgame and they played better than us. We won the series. That was the objective coming in. We’ll move on. We had a chance to sweep, but we didn’t sweep. We have to do things to win a game. We scored two in the first and we weren’t able to add anything after that.”

At New York, Jose Reyes tripled twice for the third time this season and a refreshed Josh Thole had three hits and three RBIs as the Mets enjoyed a rare offensive outburst in a victory over Philadelphia.

—

At Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo allowed four hits in eight innings to win his fifth straight start, and the Brewers topped San Francisco to wrap up an 8-1 homestand.

—

At Washington, Ryan Ludwick had three hits and two RBIs, including a go-ahead infield single in the ninth inning, Brad Hawpe had two hits and two RBIs, and San Diego beat the Nationals.

—

At Houston, Xavier Nady hit a two-run double in the eighth inning, helping Arizona rally for a victory and a series sweep of the Astros.

—

At Denver, Kyle Lohse pitched six solid innings to match a major league high with his seventh win and Jon Jay hit a two-run homer, helping St. Louis hold off Colorado.

—

At Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw pitched a two-hitter for his second shutout and complete game in the majors, Rafael Furcal hit his first home run of the season and drove in three runs, and the Dodgers routed Florida.

—

At Atlanta, Jair Jurrjens outpitched Johnny Cueto, Martin Prado hit a two-run homer and the Braves beat Cincinnati, putting an end to the Reds’ damaging road trip.

MINNEAPOLIS — Maicer Izturis hit a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning for the Angels after scoring five runs in the eighth off three Twins relievers, and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 6-5 on Friday night.

Erick Aybar’s three-run homer on the first pitch from Dusty Hughes ignited the rally after Twins starter Scott Baker scattered six singles over seven shutout innings. Jim Hoey (0-2) was pitching when Alberto Callaspo’s infield single and Russell Branyan’s sacrifice fly forged a tie for the Angels.

Jordan Walden worked the ninth for his 11th save in 14 tries, reaching 99 mph with his fastball multiple times on the Target Field radar and sending the Twins to their sixth loss in seven games.

Michael Cuddyer and Trevor Plouffe hit back-to-back two-out singles off Walden, but that wasn’t enough.

Scott Downs (3-1) got two outs for the win for the Angels.

Torii Hunter had three hits, hustled home with the tying run and saved the Angels by ending the eighth inning with a blooper-reel catch of a shallow fly with a runner on second.

Hunter called off Peter Bourjos, but he bobbled the ball and Bourjos stuck his glove out. Together, they made sure it didn’t hit the ground to let the Twins take the lead, and the play went down in the scorebook as a rare 8-9 put-out. Full Story

Pirates 4, Cubs 2

CHICAGO — Kevin Correia pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning before the Pittsburgh Pirates held on to beat the Chicago Cubs.

Correia (7-4) limited Chicago to four singles and a pair of walks in 7 1/3 innings. He moved into a tie with Boston’s Jon Lester for the major league lead in wins, and has six of the Pirates’ 14 victories away from PNC Park this season.

Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen remained a thorn in the Cubs’ side with two singles, a walk, an RBI and two stolen bases. He’s reached base in 19 straight games against the Cubs.

Doug Davis (0-3) walked six batters and hit another during 4 2/3 innings. The Cubs committed a pair of errors in the second that led to two unearned runs, and Davis allowed four in all.

Cardinals 10, Rockies 3

DENVER — Colby Rasmus went 4 for 5 and drove in three runs with two triples and the St. Louis Cardinals kept Ubaldo Jimenez winless this season with a win over the sinking Colorado Rockies.

Rasmus, mired in an 0-for-20 funk coming in, matched his career high with four hits. He singled his first two times up, then broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth with an RBI triple off Jimenez. He added a two-run triple in the seventh off Matt Daley.

Jake Westbrook (5-3) wasn’t particularly sharp but still improved to 3-0 all-time against Colorado, giving up three earned runs on five hits over five innings in his first appearance at Coors Field since 2003.

Jimenez, last year’s NL All-Star starter, fell to 0-5 and watched his ERA jump to 5.86.

Nationals 2, Padres 1

WASHINGTON — Michael Morse hit a home run on the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Washington Nationals to a win over the San Diego Padres.

With the game tied at 1, Morse hit Mike Adams’ first pitch into the left field bullpen, and he trotted around the bases, tossed his helmet off and was pounded by his exuberant teammates. Moments later after a postgame interview, he was hit with shaving cream and doused with Gatorade. It was his sixth home run of the year.

Drew Storen (3-1), who blew his first save of the season when Jason Bartlett homered to lead off the ninth, was the winner. He pitched 1 1/3 innings.

Adams (2-1) was the Padres’ third pitcher.

Blue Jays 4, White Sox 2

TORONTO — Yunel Escobar doubled home the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox.

Right-hander Casey Janssen (2-0) pitched one inning of relief for the win as Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak.

Shawn Camp got one out and Jon Rauch finished in the ninth for his sixth save in eight opportunities.

The Blue Jays earned a rare win against White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle, who came in 5-2 with a 1.78 ERA in his previous eight starts against Toronto.

Diamondbacks 7, Astros 6

HOUSTON — Juan Miranda hit two two-run homers and Chris Young’s two-run infield hit in the seventh inning rallied the Arizona Diamondbacks from a 6-0 deficit to a victory over the Houston Astros.

The rally tied Arizona’s all-time record for a comeback and it was Houston’s biggest blown lead of the season.

Pinch-hitter Willie Bloomquist and Ryan Roberts singled to start the seventh inning with Arizona trailing 6-4. Kelly Johnson drove in the fifth run with a single off Wilton Lopez (1-2).

After Stephen Drew walked, Young dribbled the ball in front of home plate. Lopez fielded the ball and threw wildly to catcher Humberto Quintero, allowing two runs to score for a 7-6 lead.

Athletics 6, Orioles 2

OAKLAND, Calif. — Ryan Sweeney hit a tiebreaking single as part of a three-run sixth inning and the Oakland Athletics held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles.

Josh Willingham homered and drove in two runs for the A’s, who won despite manager Bob Geren’s first ejection of the season.

Sweeney also doubled and scored twice while Oakland matched its season high with four double plays.

Vladimir Guerrero singled to extend his hitting streak to 12 games for Baltimore, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.

Article updated: 5/26/2011 7:16 PM

By Bruce Miles

Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field

TV: WGN Friday and Sunday; Comcast SportsNet Saturday

Radio: WGN 720-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs’ Doug Davis (0-2) vs. Kevin Correia (6-4) Friday at 1:20 p.m.; Randy Wells (1-0) vs. Paul Maholm (1-7) Saturday at 12:05 p.m.; Ryan Dempster (3-4) vs. Jeff Karstens (3-3) Sunday at 1:20 p.m.

At a glance: The Cubs opened the season against the Pirates at Wrigley Field and lost two of three. The Pirates opened Thursday a game-and-a-half ahead of the Cubs and in fourth place in the NL Central. Pittsburgh’s team ERA of 3.60 was seventh in the NL while the Cubs checked in last, at 4.69. Lefty Maholm is the league leader in losses. Expect to see Jeff Baker and Reed Johnson in the lineup against Maholm; they’ve hit him well. The Pirates are 13-12 on the road.

Next: Houston Astros at Wrigley Field, Monday-Wednesday

PITTSBURGH — Neil Walker homered and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Detroit Tigers 10-1 on Friday night.

Walker’s two-run double in the sixth off Detroit reliever Brayan Villarreal helped break open a tight game. Walker later added a three-run homer in the ninth as the Pirates won their third straight.

Jeff Karstens (3-2) put together his best performance of the year. He retired the first 14 he faced and gave up just one run on three hits in six innings, striking out four without issuing a walk.

Brad Penny (5-5) took the loss after suffering a rare bout with wildness. He surrendered five runs in 5 2/3 innings, thanks in part to a season-high five walks, as the Tigers lost their fourth in a row. Full Story

Mets 2, Yankees 1

NEW YORK — R.A. Dickey regained command of his knuckleball and confounded the Yankees for six innings, Daniel Murphy homered and a youthful Mets lineup won the Subway Series opener in front of a surprisingly lackluster New York crowd.

Justin Turner had three hits, including a tying double off Freddy Garcia (2-4) to give him an RBI in six straight games. Jose Reyes made a run-saving play at shortstop and Francisco Rodriguez converted his 15th straight save for the resurgent Mets, winners of 10 of 14.

Mark Teixeira homered for the Yankees, who have lost six straight at home for the first time since 2003.

K-Rod, pitching in the Mets’ fifth consecutive game, worked a 1-2-3 ninth. The bullpen put up three perfect innings in relief of Dickey (2-5).

Angels 9, Braves 0

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ervin Santana pitched a four-hitter for his sixth career shutout and the Los Angeles Angels welcomed former Oakland nemesis Tim Hudson back to the Big A for the first time in almost seven years with a six-run third inning that carried them to a rout of the Atlanta Braves.

In the first interleague game of the season for both teams, Santana (2-4) went the distance for the 10th time in 180 career starts. He struck out seven, and walked none for the first time in 10 starts this season.

The right-hander got offensive help from Mark Trumbo with a three-run homer and Alberto Callaspo with three RBI.

Hudson (4-4) threw 77 pitches over 3 2/3 innings, allowing eight runs, seven hits and three walks. The 13-year veteran, facing the Angels for the first time since an 8-4 interleague loss in Atlanta on June 8, 2005, also hit three batters — one more than he plunked in 62 1/3 innings during his nine previous starts this season.

Marlins 5, Rays 3

MIAMI — Logan Morrison hit a game-tying homer in the fourth inning and doubled in the Florida Marlins’ two-run eighth to help them beat Tampa Bay.

Morrison scored Florida’s final run from third on a sacrifice fly to the first baseman.

The Marlins fell behind 2-0 but rallied for their 14th come-from-behind win, which tied them with Colorado for the most in the majors.

Mike Stanton hit his 10th homer for Florida. Chris Coghlan, who had been in a 3-for-33 slump, had two hits and scored a run.

Royals 3, Cardinals 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeff Francis threw 7 2/3 innings, outdueling Chris Carpenter and leading the Kansas City Royals to a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Francis (1-5), who had pitched well several times while failing to get his first win since signing with the Royals, was facing a team he had always fared well against while playing in the National League. The right-hander gave up six hits and two runs, walked two and struck out six while raising his career record over the Cardinals to 5-1.

He was relieved in the eighth after giving up a single to Ryan Theriot and striking out Colby Rasmus for the third time.

Aaron Crow got the final out of the eighth. Joakim Soria worked a 1-2-3 ninth to complete the shutout with his seventh save.

Dodgers 6, White Sox 4 (10 inn.)

CHICAGO — Russell Mitchell tied the game with a two-out homer in the ninth inning, and Juan Castro had the go-ahead single in a three-run 10th as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox.

Jamey Carroll started the 10th with a single off Sergio Santos (2-1) for his fourth hit, and Matt Kemp singled one out later.

Castro, a seventh-inning replacement after second baseman Juan Uribe left with a hip flexor injury, then dumped an RBI single over first base. James Loney followed with an RBI double, and Jay Gibbons greeted Will Ohman with a run-scoring single.

No. 9 hitter Mitchell, who entered batting .091 and was 0 for 3, tied it with a drive down the left field line off Santos, who had not given up a run all season over 20 innings. He blew his first save in seven chances. It was Mitchell’s first homer of the year.

Astros 5, Blue Jays 2

TORONTO — Chris Johnson hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Astros (16-29), owners of the worst record in baseball, had lost five straight and 10 of 12 coming in, but rallied to win despite trailing 2-0 through seven innings.

Toronto left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes looked poised to end a 26-start winless streak after pitching seven shutout innings. But Reyes saw his misery extended when Hunter Pence tied it with a two-run, two-out double off Jon Rauch in the eighth. The blown save was Rauch’s second of the season.

Matt Downs drew a one-out walk off Frank Francisco (1-1) in the ninth and Johnson followed with a two-run shot to left, his fifth.

Diamondbacks 8, Twins 7

PHOENIX — Ryan Roberts doubled in three runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks held off a ninth-inning comeback to beat the Minnesota Twins for their fourth win in a row and sixth in seven games.

The Twins scored three times in the ninth and had the bases loaded with one out before rookie left-hander Joe Paterson came on to strike out Jason Kubel and get Justin Morneau to ground out for a save in his first career opportunity.

Roberts’ bases-clearing shot to left-center off reliever Glen Perkins highlighted a five-run seventh that erased Minnesota’s 2-1 lead. Twins starter Brian Duensing (2-4) faced four batters in the inning without getting an out after cruising through six.

Ian Kennedy (5-1) went 7 2/3 innings to get the victory. Paterson has not allowed a run in the first 19 appearances of his major league career, a franchise record.

Mariners 4, Padres 1

SAN DIEGO — Erik Bedard struck out nine and allowed three singles in eight innings, and Miguel Olivo homered to lead the Seattle Mariners to a win over the punchless San Diego Padres.

The Padres avoided their ninth shutout when left fielder Carlos Peguero, who earlier robbed Jorge Cantu of a two-run homer, couldn’t hang on to Ryan Ludwick’s fly ball as he tried to make a diving catch. Ludwick’s single scored Chris Denorfia, but Ludwick was called for aiding Jason Bartlett, who had turned back to first base.

Bedard (2-4) and Chris Ray combined on a four-hitter as Bedard improved to 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA in 16 career interleague starts. The lefty dominated the Padres, who had just one runner reach third base. Bedard won his second straight decision, over four starts, after losing his first four starts. He walked two. In four career starts against the Padres he is 4-0 with a 1.63 ERA and 31 strikeouts.

Bedard last pitched Saturday, when he recorded two outs before the game at Cleveland was rained out.