Ludwick lifts Cardinals

Homer in 10th inning makes Rays' rally moot

Ryan Ludwick hit his second home run of the game off Dan Wheeler in the 10th inning, allowing the host St. Louis Cardinals to recover after squandering a four-run cushion for a 9-8 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday.

Albert Pujols also homered and had two RBIs a day after his 42-game streak of reaching base ended, helping the Cardinals win for only the third time in 11 games. The Rays lost for just the second time in 10 games.

Ryan Franklin (2-1) allowed two walks in two scoreless innings to earn the win.

Carlos Peña's three-run homer off Randy Flores in the seventh made it a one-run game and Evan Longoria's bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth off Kyle McClellan tied it.

Reds 4, Indians 2 - Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Masa Kobayashi, rallying host Cincinnati to its season-high fifth straight victory.

Dunn's third homer in three games helped the Reds survive another shutdown pitching performance by Cleveland's Fausto Carmona, who turned a 2-1 lead over to a bullpen in transition.

Kobayashi (2-1), who saved more than 200 games in Japan, opened the ninth by giving up a single to Joey Votto and hitting Edwin Encarnacion. Dunn then drove a belt-high fastball deep into the right-field seats for his ninth homer.

Dodgers 6, Angels 3 - In Anaheim, Calif., Blake DeWitt hit a two-run homer in the second inning to put the Dodgers ahead to stay, and they went on to hand Ervin Santana his first loss of the season.

Since Chan Ho Park pitched just four innings, Hong-Chih Kuo (3-1) earned the win by shutting out the Angels for four innings.

Santana (6-1) gave up four runs on five hits in six innings. He walked three, hit a batter, and struck out five.

Orioles 6, Nationals 5 - Nick Markakis homered and drove in three runs, Brian Burres pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning, and host Baltimore held on to beat Washington for its fourth straight win.

Ryan Zimmerman hit a home run and Aaron Boone had two RBIs for Washington, which has dropped three of five games. Jay Payton added a two-run homer and Alex Cintron matched a career high with four hits for Baltimore.

Pirates 7, Cubs 6 - Nate McLouth hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off Carlos Marmol in the ninth to lift visiting Pittsburgh over Chicago, even though Alfonso Soriano hit two home runs for the second straight day.

Freddy Sanchez beat shortstop Ryan Theriot's throw to first on a grounder up the middle with one out before McLouth's drive off Marmol (1-1) to the basket above the right-field wall. Pittsburgh won for the ninth time in 12 games.

Marlins 7, Royals 3 - Wes Helms hit a three-run, pinch-hit homer and Mike Jacobs added a two-run shot in the seventh inning, helping host Florida snap a season-high four-game losing streak.

Luis Gonzalez opened the seventh with a single and Mike Rabelo walked to set up Helms's blast off Brian Bannister (4-5), his sixth career pinch-hit homer. Jeremy Hermida singled moments later and Jacobs homered off reliever Ron Mahay.

Rangers 6, Astros 2 - Milton Bradley and Marlon Byrd hit two-run homers early as Texas beat visiting Houston to clinch its seventh straight series victory for the first time since 1999.

Vicente Padilla (6-2) matched his victory total from last season by winning his fourth consecutive decision over five starts.

Tigers 3, Diamondbacks 2 - Carlos Guillen hit a two-run single and Matt Joyce homered as visiting Detroit halted a five-game losing streak.

Athletics 5, Braves 4 - Jack Cust hit a solo home run and Ryan Sweeney added a three-run shot as visiting Oakland held on to beat Atlanta and end a season-worst four-game losing streak.

Blue Jays 6, Phillies 3 - Rod Barajas hit two homers, including a grand slam, and A.J. Burnett pitched 6 1/3 impressive innings to power visiting Toronto.

White Sox 3, Giants 1 - Mark Buehrle (2-5) won a matchup of struggling starters, pitching into the seventh inning to lead visiting Chicago past Barry Zito (0-8) and San Francisco.

Rockies 3, Twins 2 - At Denver, Ryan Spilborghs hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as Colorado ended a six-game losing streak.

Mariners 4, Padres 2 - Adrian Beltre snapped a monthlong slump with a tiebreaking, two-run homer off reliever Cla Meredith in the seventh inning, as host Seattle's anemic offense came to life just in time to make Erik Bedard (3-2) a winner.

Notables

The final game of the Reds-Indians series matches the ERA leaders in each league: Cleveland's Cliff Lee (0.67) and Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez (1.12). It will be only the third time the leagues' ERA leaders have faced off, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Before yesterday, Chan Ho Park's last start with the Dodgers was Oct. 5, 2001, when he gave up Barry Bonds's 71st and 72d homers of the season.

Astro Lance Berkman upped his hitting streak to 16 games and matched Pete Rose as the only players since 1956 with 31 hits in a span of 50 at-bats.