Wednesday’s interleague games

Pirates 5, Angels 3: At Pittsburgh, Daryle Ward’s three-run homer finished off Pittsburgh’s five-run fifth inning, and the Pirates avoided matching their longest losing streak in 36 years by beating Anaheim. Despite falling behind 2-0, the Pirates averted their first 10-game losing streak since July 6-15, 1968, or two ballparks ago for them. They also ended a 14-game interleague losing streak against A.L. West clubs and a six-game home skid, handing the Angels their eighth loss in 11 games.

Royals 10, Braves 4: At Atlanta, Angel Berroa hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and Kansas City had its most hits in almost four years, rallying for a victory over Atlanta. Joe Randa went 4 for 5 with an RBI double and Berroa had three hits and drove in a career-high four runs for the Royals, who ended a two-game losing skid.

Twins 5, Expos 4 (11): At Montreal, Luis Rivas hit a disputed home run in the 11th inning, sending Minnesota to a win over Montreal.

Tigers at Phillies, ppd., rain: Wednesday night’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers was postponed by rain, and will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader today.

Marlins 4, White Sox 0: At Miami, Carl Pavano pitched a three-hitter, and Mike Lowell homered for the second straight game to give Florida a victory over Chicago. Carlos Lee’s hitting streak ended at 28 games, a team record and the longest in the majors this season. He was 0 for 4 with a groundout, two strikeouts and a flyout. Lee hit .369 (45-for-122) during the streak.

Indians 9, Mets 1: At New York, C.C. Sabathia allowed one run and six hits in eight impressive innings, leading Cleveland to a victory over New York. Sabathia (4-3) shut down the Mets a night after they had 14 hits in a 7-2 win after firing batting coach Denny Walling.

Reds 7, Rangers 4: At Cincinnati, a capacity crowd hoping for home-run history saw Ken Griffey Jr. settle for a single, then reveled in another late comeback that rallied Cincinnati to a victory over Texas. Ryan Freel had a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth inning, and Barry Larkin followed with a two-run single as the Rangers’ bullpen suffered a second straight meltdown.

Cardinals 6, Athletics 2: At St. Louis, Jason Marquis pitched seven sharp innings and hit a two-run double, leading St. Louis to a victory over Oakland. Jim Edmonds and Reggie Sanders homered for the Cardinals, who have won 12 of 15 to move a season-best 11 games above .500.

Rockies 7, Red Sox 6: At Denver, Vinny Castilla drove in three runs, Jason Jennings worked out of two bases-loaded jams for his fourth win in five starts and Colorado held on to beat Boston.

Devil Rays 9, Padres 6: At San Diego, Tampa Bay set a franchise record with its seventh straight win, beating San Diego behind leadoff batter Carl Crawford, who went 4 for 5 with three runs and two RBIs.

Yankees 9, Diamondbacks 4: At Phoenix, Bernie Williams, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter homered and New York won for the 18th time in 21 games, over Arizona. Williams hit his first leadoff home run in nine years and Rodriguez reached base safely for the 52nd consecutive game — 15 more than his previous career best. The streak is the longest in a single season for New York since Jeter had a 53-game run in 1999. Jeter went 2 for 4, is 5 for 8 in the series and is hitting .463 (19 for 42) in his last 11 games.

Dodgers 6, Orioles 3: At Los Angeles, Odalis Perez got his second win in nine starts, Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer and Los Angeles beat Baltimore. Perez struck out eight and walked two in seven innings. He gave up five hits, including Javy Lopez’s ninth home run on the first pitch of the seventh. Eric Gagne finished for his 15th save and major league-record 78th in a row.

Giants 10, Blue Jays 2: At San Francisco, Pedro Feliz and A.J. Pierzynski each hit two-run homers, and Kirk Rueter pitched seven strong innings in San Francisco’s third straight win. Edgardo Alfonzo drove in two runs for the Giants.

Wednesday’s National League game

Cubs 4, Astros 1: At Houston, Greg Maddux earned his 295th win, pitching Chicago past Houston for its fifth straight victory.