Tuesday’s games
Cardinals 5, Reds 3: At St. Louis, Jim Edmonds homered and saved one with his glove, and Edgar Renteria hit a go-ahead, two-run blast in the seventh inning to lead the Cardinals over Cincinnati. Matt Morris (9-6) overcame a shaky second to work seven solid innings for St. Louis (51-32), which won its fifth straight to improve the N.L.’s best record.
Brewers 4, Cubs 2: At Milwaukee, Keith Ginter hit a two-run homer and Victor Santos won for the sixth time in seven starts as the Brewers beat Mark Prior (2-2) and Chicago. Santos (8-3) allowed two runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings as the Brewers hit the season’s halfway point at 43-38, their first winning record at the 81-game mark since 1998.
Mets 4, Phillies 1: At Philadelphia, Al Leiter pitched seven solid innings and Kaz Matsui went 3 for 5, leading New York to a win over the Phillies. Leiter (5-2) won for the fourth time in six starts.
Marlins 6, Pirates 3: At Miami, Pittsburgh’s 10-game winning streak ended with Alex Gonzalez hitting a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning to lead Florida to victory.
Braves 1, Expos 0: At San Juan, Puerto Rico, Russ Ortiz pitched seven scoreless innings to put Atlanta over .500 for the first time in nearly a month with a win over Montreal. After allowing back-to-back singles to Brad Wilkerson and Endy Chavez to start the game, Ortiz (9-6) retired 14 of the next 16 batters.
Padres 5, Astros 3: At San Diego, Brian Giles and Mark Loretta hit solo home runs to lead the Padres over Houston. Terrence Long hit a two-run double in the first inning to spark the N.L. West leaders, who have won five in a row overall and 12 of their last 15.
Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 1: At Los Angeles, one night after his major league-record 84 consecutive saves streak ended, Eric Gagne started a new streak. Gagne pitched a perfect ninth to save the game for Jose Lima (7-3), and the Dodgers beat Arizona for their fourth straight victory.
Rockies 8, Giants 6: At San Francisco, RBI singles by Jeromy Burnitz and Charles Johnson in the ninth inning carried Colorado to a victory over the Giants.