Edmonds turns on power

His 2 HRs in fourth lift Cubs past White Sox

With Babe Ruth's daughter, Julia, looking on, Alex Rodriguez accepts the Babe Ruth Home Run Award. (Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)

The Cubs have the best record in the majors, so it's no surprise they're proving to be the top team in their own city.

Jim Edmonds, once with the St. Louis Cardinals and booed as loudly at Wrigley Field as some of the White Sox are now, hit two homers in a nine-run fourth inning yesterday, lifting the host Cubs to an 11-7 victory.

"Whenever you get done tying me to the Cardinals, it'll be fine so I can start getting a little bit of Cubs history in my background," Edmonds said. "It's a great win."

Everything Jose Contreras of the White Sox threw, the Cubs seemed to hit in their biggest inning of the season.

Edmonds and Mike Fontenot hit back-to-back homers to open the inning and Aramis Ramirez and Edmonds had consecutive shots to close it.

The White Sox led, 4-1, after two-run homers from Jermaine Dye and DeWayne Wise, before the Cubs jumped all over Contreras to win for a second straight day.

Rays 4, Astros 3 - Pinch hitter Gabe Gross doubled with the bases loaded, driving in two runs in the bottom of ninth to lift Tampa Bay over Houston.

With a 3-2 lead in the ninth, Houston manager Cecil Cooper turned to Doug Brocail (2-3) instead of calling on closer Jose Valverde to finish the game. It turned out to be the wrong move; Brocail failed to record an out.

Gross was the third straight pinch hitter to come through for the Rays, who got a leadoff single from Cliff Floyd off Brocail. The Houston pitcher then allowed pinch hitter Eric Hinske to single and hit pinch hitter Dioner Navarro with a pitch to load the bases for Gross.

Reds 6, Yankees 0 - Edwin Encarnacion broke up an unlikely pitchers' duel with a two-run single in the seventh inning and visiting Cincinnati beat New York.

Encarnacion's two-out hit off Dan Giese (1-2) gave Cincinnati the lead and Corey Patterson followed with a drive to right off Jose Veras for his 100th career homer. Brandon Phillips tacked on a two-run single in the eighth.

Daryl Thompson worked five innings in his major league debut for Cincinnati, which has won the first two games in its first trip to the Bronx since it swept New York in the 1976 World Series.

Indians 7, Dodgers 2 - Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia hit a tape-measure home run and struck out 10, highlighting the Indians' 11-inning victory in Los Angeles.

Jamey Carroll opened a six-run 11th for Cleveland with a single and capped the burst with a sacrifice fly.

Sabathia launched a home run estimated at 440 feet and improved to 12 for 40 (.300) lifetime as a hitter with two career homers. On the mound, he allowed one run and five hits over seven innings, improving his league-leading strikeout total to 107.

Rockies 7, Mets 1 - Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe homered on Pedro Martínez's first two pitches in the fifth inning, touching off a six-run burst that powered host Colorado.

Martínez (2-1) lasted just 4 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since coming off the disabled list June 3. He'd struck out five before Atkins homered over the left-field wall and Hawpe hit a drive to right.

Pirates 6, Blue Jays 3 - Jason Bay, Raul Chavez, and Jose Bautista hit two-run homers, helping host Pittsburgh extend Toronto's season-high losing streak to seven.

Rod Barajas had two hits and two RBIs for the Blue Jays, who lost for the second consecutive night in Pittsburgh under new manager Cito Gaston.

Marlins 6, Athletics 4 - Dan Uggla hit a tiebreaking, three-run double in the ninth as visiting Florida got to Oakland closer Huston Street for the second straight game.

Rangers 13, Nationals 3 - Former Red Sox pitcher Kason Gabbard (2-3) won for the first time since April 4, David Murphy and Ramon Vazquez had three RBIs each, and visiting Texas beat Washington.

Angels 6, Phillies 2 - Erick Aybar hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, Vladimir Guerrero connected twice, and Joe Saunders (11-3) tied Brandon Webb for most wins in the majors as visiting Los Angeles beat Philadelphia.

Brewers 3, Orioles 2 - Corey Hart hit a two-run homer, Seth McClung continued his superb June (3-1, 2.55 ERA), and host Milwaukee snapped Baltimore's four-game winning streak.

Braves 5, Mariners 4 - Miguel Batista, filling in for injured closer J.J. Putz, couldn't get an out as Greg Norton doubled home the tying run and then scored on Brian McCann's single in the ninth inning in host Atlanta's win over Seattle.

Twins 6, Diamondbacks 1 - Joe Mauer started a six-run seventh inning with a surprise bunt single and Nick Blackburn (6-4) pitched seven shutout innings to push host Minnesota to its fifth straight victory.

Royals 5, Giants 3 - Gil Meche won consecutive starts for the first time this season and Jose Guillen hit a two-run homer, lifting host Kansas City past San Francisco.

Tigers 7, Padres 5 - Marcus Thames's two-run, pinch-hit homer in the seventh lifted visiting Detroit.