Dodgers sock it to Martínez

Eric Gagne earned his first save in nearly a year and Nomar Garciaparra homered off former teammate Pedro Martínez, leading Derek Lowe and the Dodgers over the New York Mets, 8-5, last night in Los Angeles.

Matt Kemp also homered for the fourth time in his last six games for the Dodgers, who took advantage of two errors and a wild pitch to score six runs in the sixth.

Lowe (5-3) won his fourth straight start in his first matchup against Martínez, who was Lowe's teammate when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. Lowe gave up two runs and five hits over six innings.

In the ninth, Gagne and catcher Russell Martin became the first All-French-Canadian battery in the major leagues. Gagne struck out two in a perfect inning for his first save since June 12, 2005. The 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner returned May 30 from his second elbow surgery in an 11-month span, but had never thrown to Martin in a regular-season game.

Martínez (5-2) was charged with seven runs -- six earned -- and eight hits in five-plus innings. The three-time Cy Young winner struck out six but remained winless in his last seven starts, the longest stretch since he went winless in his final seven outings of 2001.

Giants 2, Marlins 1 -- Jason Schmidt matched a 102-year-old club record with 16 strikeouts, fanning his final three batters to escape a ninth-inning jam and preserve San Francisco's win over visiting Florida.

Moises Alou hit a tiebreaking double in his first game back from the disabled list and Lance Niekro had an RBI single for the Giants. Schmidt (6-2) won his sixth straight decision -- and closed it out with a flurry.

He gave up consecutive singles to start the ninth, and a wild pitch put runners at second and third with none out. But San Francisco manager Felipe Alou stuck with his ace, who fanned Miguel Cabrera, Josh Willingham, and Jeremy Hermida in succession to end it.

Schmidt finished with a seven-hitter for his 20th career complete game and third this season. He tied the franchise record for strikeouts set by Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson on Oct. 3, 1904, against the Cardinals.

The NL pitcher of the month for May after going 4-0 with a 1.17 ERA, Schmidt also broke the San Francisco record of 15 strikeouts accomplished by Gaylord Perry on July 22, 1966, against Philadelphia.

Mariners 4, Twins 2 -- Felix Hernandez outlasted Minnesota's Francisco Liriano in a matchup two of the best young arms in baseball, and host Seattle handed Liriano his first loss.

The 20-year-old Hernandez (5-6) allowed one run and scattered six hits over seven innings, winning for the third time in his last four starts. Seattle scraped a pair of runs off the 22-year-old Liriano (4-1) in the fourth, just the second and third runs he has allowed since moving into the Twins' rotation May 19.

A's 7, Indians 6 -- Eric Chavez's clutch two-run homer and Dan Johnson's RBI single in the eighth inning rallied visiting Oakland over Cleveland.

Barry Zito (6-3) went seven innings to win his third straight start.

White Sox 4, Tigers 3 -- Alex Cintron hit a three-run homer off reliever Fernando Rodney in the eighth inning to lead host Chicago over AL Central-leading Detroit, which has dropped seven of its last nine.

Blue Jays 6, Orioles 4 -- Alex Rios snapped a tie with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, and Aaron Hill had two RBIs to help visiting Toronto beat Baltimore.

Phillies 10, Diamondbacks 1 -- Cole Hamels combined with three relievers for a four-hitter to get his first major league win, leading visiting Philadelphia to its third straight victory.

Reds 7, Cardinals 0 -- Eric Milton (4-2) threw seven sharp innings and visiting Cincinnati got homers from Felipe Lopez and Adam Dunn to beat Cris Carpenter and win its sixth straight and cut St. Louis's lead in the NL Central to one game.

Astros 4, Cubs 1 -- Wandy Rodriguez (7-3) threw seven shutout innings and Lance Berkman homered, helping host Houston end its five-game losing streak and get its first win since re-signing Roger Clemens.

Angels 12, Devil Rays 2 -- Ervin Santana (5-3) allowed two hits in seven innings and Vladimir Guerrero drove in two runs, leading visiting Los Angeles.

Braves 5, Nationals 3 -- Horacio Ramirez (2-1) threw eight strong innings, helping host Atlanta end a five-game losing streak.

Brewers 5, Padres 1 -- Dave Bush (4-5) pitched a three-hitter and Geoff Jenkins went 4 for 4 to lift host Milwaukee past San Diego.

Rockies 5, Pirates 4 -- Jamey Carroll went 4 for 4 with a homer to help host Colorado snap a six-game losing streak.

Rangers 6, Royals 2 -- Brad Wilkerson homered and doubled as Texas handed Kansas City its eighth straight home loss.