Contreras fires blanks

Jose Contreras and two relievers combined on a one-hitter last night as the Chicago White Sox sent Kansas City to its eighth straight loss, beating the Royals, 9-0.

Paul Konerko and Joe Crede homered in a five-run first off Joe Mays as Chicago sailed to its seventh win in eight games.

Contreras (2-0), now 6-0 in his career against Kansas City, retired the first 10 batters before Mark Grudzielanek doubled past third base with one out in the fourth for what turned out to be the Royals' lone hit.

Contreras, who won his final eight starts of the 2005 regular season to lead the White Sox into the playoffs, walked one and struck out six in seven strong innings on a cool 48-degree night.

Boone Logan and Cliff Politte completed the shutout with one inning each.

Chicago, which has won seven of its last eight, jumped on Mays (0-2) early. Tadahito Iguchi singled, Jim Thome walked and after a high-and-tight pitch from Mays brushed him back, Konerko hit a three-run homer to left, his fifth of the season.

Jermaine Dye reached on third baseman Mark Teahen's error and after a fielder's choice, Crede homered to left for a 5-0 lead.

Indians 10, Tigers 2 -- Paul Byrd pitched seven solid innings and Casey Blake's solo homer sparked a six-run third inning in Cleveland's victory at Detroit.

Chris Shelton hit his ninth homer for the Tigers. He is tied for the major league lead. Despite the solo shot, the Tigers went 2-5 on their homestand.

Byrd (2-1) also gave up a solo homer to Carlos Guillen, which made it 8-2 in the fourth, but quieted Detroit's bats for the most part. He gave up four hits -- after allowing 11 runs in his two previous starts.

Orioles 4, Angels 2 -- Miguel Tejada hit a two-run homer and Daniel Cabrera allowed one run in seven innings for host Baltimore.

Brian Roberts drove in two runs for the Orioles, who built a 4-0 lead in the first two innings against Jeff Weaver (0-2). Baltimore took three of four from Los Angeles after going 2-4 against the Angels a year ago.

Cardinals 2, Pirates 1 -- Albert Pujols tied a major-league record with a home run in his fourth consecutive at-bat, Jason Marquis (3-0) pitched eight innings of three-hit ball and St. Louis prevailed at Pittsburgh.

A day after hitting three homers, including a gamer-winner, Pujols homered to center off Pirates starter Paul Maholm (0-2) in the top of the first to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

Jason Isringhausen allowed a lead-off double to Jack Wilson in the ninth before retiring the middle of the Pittsburgh lineup -- Jason Bay, Jeromy Burnitz, and Craig Wilson -- for his fourth save.

Giants 10, Diamondbacks 9 -- Mark Sweeney hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth and Steve Finley delivered a sacrifice fly in the ninth, lifting San Francisco over host Arizona.

The Diamondbacks overcame a seven-run deficit to go ahead, 9-7, on Luis Gonzalez's three-run homer in the sixth. It would have been the biggest comeback in team history had the Giants not rallied.

Astros 8, Brewers 7 -- Jason Lane hit a three-run homer in a five-run seventh inning to lift host Houston to a come-from-behind win over Milwaukee.

Back-to-back RBI-singles by Lance Berkman and Morgan Ensberg got the Astros within one before Lane hit his third homer deep into left-field bleachers off Matt Wise to put Houston up, 8-6.

Cubs 4, Dodgers 1 -- Greg Maddux threw eight innings of three-hit ball in his first start since his 40th birthday and Chicago defeated host Los Angeles.

Off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1994, Maddux ripped through the Dodgers' lineup in quick succession, retiring the first nine batters he faced before giving up a leadoff single to Rafael Furcal in the fourth.

Reds 9, Marlins 1-- Adam Dunn hit his eighth homer and Brandon Claussen pitched seven shutout innings, leading host Cincinnati over Florida.

Dunn extended his week-long power surge with a two-run homer in the first inning -- his last six hits have been homers.

Padres 5, Rockies 2 -- Chris Young (2-0) pitched seven strong innings and added an RBI double, and Josh Barfield hit his first career homer to lift San Diego over host Colorado.