Johnson meets match again

The New York Mets picked up right where they left off against Randy Johnson.

Paul Lo Duca and Julio Franco homered against The Big Unit to lead the Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks last night in Phoenix.

John Maine pitched six innings and Jose Reyes had three hits for the Mets, who won their 12th straight game at Chase Field, extending their club record for consecutive victories in a road ballpark.

Last year, the Mets pounded Johnson for 14 earned runs in 11 innings in two interleague starts when he pitched for the rival New York Yankees. They got to Johnson (0-2) for five runs and nine hits in seven innings in his first start against them this year. He struck out seven and walked one in his third start since October back surgery.

Maine (5-0) allowed one run and six hits with a walk in six innings. He struck out seven. Billy Wagner got his sixth save.

Cardinals 3, Astros 2 -- Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth inning, and host St. Louis ended a five-game losing streak.

It was the Cardinals' first home game since pitcher Josh Hancock's fatal accident. The team honored him with a video montage and put his initials and uniform number in a black circle against the bullpen wall not far from an identical remembrance of Darryl Kile, who died in 2002.

Adam Wainwright (2-2) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings in his strongest outing since winning at Houston April 6 in his first major league start.

Braves 4, Dodgers 0 -- John Smoltz beat the Dodgers for the first time in more than eight years, pitching seven shutout innings to lead host Atlanta over Los Angeles in a matchup of first-place teams.

Brian McCann returned to the lineup with a two-run double and Jeff Francoeur drove in Atlanta's other runs with a fifth-inning single.

Smoltz (4-1) escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the fourth on the way to his first win over Los Angeles since April 19, 1999. Eleven days shy of his 40th birthday, he picked up his 197th career win.

Marlins 5, Padres 4 -- Josh Willingham and Joe Borchard hit consecutive home runs to start the eighth inning, rallying host Florida past San Diego.

The back-to-back homers -- the first this season by Florida -- came off Scott Linebrink (1-1), who entered the game with a 4-3 lead. San Diego's Greg Maddux pitched six innings and departed for a pinch hitter leading, 4-3, but was denied his 336th career victory.

Florida's Dontrelle Willis failed in his bid to become the National League's first six-game winner. He took a one-hitter and a 3-0 lead into the sixth, but the Padres rallied with four runs in the inning.

Angels 5, White Sox 1 -- Darin Erstad lost a flyball in the twilight during his first game back at Angels Stadium, resulting in an RBI double by Mike Napoli, and Los Angeles beat Chicago to make Mike Scioscia the winningest manager in franchise history.

The victory was Scioscia's 626th as Angels manager during the regular season, eclipsing Bill Rigney's total. Scioscia has managed the Angels in 1,134 regular-season games, 168 fewer than Rigney.

Athletics 5, Devil Rays 2 -- Nick Swisher hit a tiebreaking three-run homer with two outs in the top of the ninth to lead visiting Oakland past Tampa Bay.

Justin Duchscherer (3-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Huston Street got the final three outs for his eighth save in nine opportunities.

Rangers 7, Blue Jays 1 -- Hank Blalock hit a two-run homer, Brandon McCarthy (2-4) pitched six sharp innings, and host Texas beat Toronto to end a five-game slide.

Orioles 3, Indians 2 -- Nick Markakis singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning, helping host Baltimore end a four-game losing streak.

Cubs 6, Nationals 4 -- Derrek Lee homered and Alfonso Soriano had a key RBI double before scoring the go-ahead run against his former team as host Chicago rallied from four runs down to beat Washington.

Giants 6, Phillies 2 -- Pinch hitter Eliezer Alfonzo hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh that put San Francisco ahead with its first runs of the game, and the Giants scored three more in the eighth to beat visiting Philadelphia.

Tigers 6, Royals 3 -- Justin Verlander improved to 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA against Kansas City, lifting visiting Detroit to its fifth straight victory.

Rockies 6, Reds 5 -- Troy Tulowitzki's two-out single snapped an 11th-inning tie and Colorado overcame Ken Griffey Jr.'s 567th career homer to break its 12-game losing streak in Ohio.

Brewers 10, Pirates 0 -- J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, and Johnny Estrada homered and Claudio Vargas gave up four singles in six innings to lead host Milwaukee.