Tuesday’s games
Cubs 5, Cardinals 4: At St. Louis, Aramis Ramirez hit a two-out, two-run double off Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen in the eighth inning to give Chicago a victory over St. Louis. The Cubs have won nine of 10 to cut the Cardinals’ Central Division lead to one game. The Cardinals have won 15 of 21 but lost their last two.
Mets 7, Reds 4: At New York, Mike Piazza hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning and the Mets won their season-high fifth straight, beating Cincinnati. In his first game since hitting his 500th homer, Ken Griffey Jr. went 1 for 5 with a single. The Mets won for the seventh time in eight games.
Marlins 4, Braves 3: At Miami, pinch-hitter Lenny Harris walked and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning, giving Florida a win over Atlanta and stopping a three-game losing streak. Florida had just two hits and trailed 3-0 after five innings, but Miguel Cabrera got the rally started with an RBI double in the sixth, and the World Series champions went on to beat the Braves for just the second time in seven games.
Expos 5, Phillies 2: At Montreal, Livan Hernandez (4-7) doubled twice and got his first win in five weeks, leading the Expos to a victory over Philadelphia. Brad Wilkerson, who fell a triple short of his second cycle in two seasons, and Brian Schneider each had three hits for Montreal.
Astros 5, Pirates 4: At Houston, Roy Oswalt pitched eight solid innings, Morgan Ensberg hit a tiebreaking triple in the seventh and the Astros came from behind for the second consecutive night to defeat Pittsburgh. Oswalt (5-6) allowed three runs, nine hits and did not walk a batter, sending Pittsburgh to its 10th straight road loss and fifth in a row overall.
Giants 11, Dodgers 5: At San Francisco, Edgardo Alfonzo drove in a career-high six runs, and the Giants moved a half-game ahead of Los Angeles in the West with a win over the Dodgers.
Brewers 6, Rockies 2: At Milwaukee, Colorado reliever Javier Lopez broke a seventh-inning tie when he hit consecutive batters with the bases loaded, helping the Brewers beat the Rockies.
Padres 2, Diamondbacks 1 (10): At San Diego, Khalil Greene scored from second base when Scott Hairston botched a potential double-play ball with one out in the 10th inning, giving the Padres a win over Arizona.