MIAMI – Dontrelle Willis couldn’t get Adrian Beltre out, and he couldn’t get pitcher Odalis Perez out, either. In fact, by the third inning he couldn’t get anybody out.

Willis retired only six batters and gave up seven runs, including a three-run homer by Beltre that helped the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins 9-3 Monday night.

In a rare show of offense by the Dodgers, their first eight hitters reached base in the third inning as they scored six times. Nine runs matches their best since April 20.

Willis (11-3) lasted only two-plus innings, matching his shortest outing. The rookie’s ERA rose from 2.56 to 3.10, and in five starts since the All-Star break it’s 6.48.

Perez (8-9) allowed two runs and seven hits in eight innings and retired 13 batters in a row. An .050 hitter, he also walked and scored the run that put Los Angeles ahead to stay.

Expos 3, Rockies 1

MONTREAL – Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run homer and Zach Day pitched six strong innings to lead the Montreal Expos to a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Montreal, which returned from a 1-5 road trip, improved to 27-16 at Olympic Stadium.

Colorado lost its third in a row, falling to 19-42 on the road to begin a seven-game trip.

Guerrero followed Jose Vidro’s one-out double in the third off Jason Jennings (10-10) with a drive over the center-field wall for his 14th homer.

Day (6-4) struck out a career-high seven while allowing five hits, including Chris Stynes’ RBI double in the third.

Day walked two of the first three batters he faced but escaped the first inning unscathed. Major league RBI leader Preston Wilson lined to Vidro, and the second baseman stepped on the bag to get Ronnie Belliard for an inning-ending, unassisted double play.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 4

PITTSBURGH – Albert Pujols and Bo Hart homered in the first and the St. Louis Cardinals, relying again on solo homers and Jim Edmonds’ exceptional arm, held on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4.

Edmonds twice threw out runners at the plate, including Abraham Nunez in the eighth with the potential go-ahead run on base. The Pirates had four consecutive singles in the eighth, yet didn’t score as relievers Pedro Borbon and Cal Eldred each retired a batter with the bases loaded.

Pujols’ homer was his 32nd and his ninth in 21 career games at PNC Park. He extended his hitting streak to 25 games.

Astros 3, Cubs 1

CHICAGO – Wade Miller outpitched Kerry Wood and Jeff Kent hit a two-run double as the Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1.

Craig Biggio homered for the Astros, who maintained their two-game lead over St. Louis in the NL Central after the Cardinals beat the Pirates 6-4. The third-place Cubs fell 31/2 back.

Miller (9-10) gave up five hits and a run in six innings, striking out nine. Octavio Dotel pitched two scoreless innings, and Billy Wagner worked the ninth for his 34th save in 37 chances.

Wood (11-9) allowed seven hits and three runs in seven innings. He also struck out nine and reached 1,000 career strikeouts faster than any major league pitcher, achieving the milestone in his 134th game.

American League

Royals 12, Yankees 9

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Mike DiFelice hit three doubles as Kansas City and the New York Yankees combined to set an American League record with 19 two-base hits in the Royals’ 12-9 victory.

The teams broke the AL mark of 18 doubles by Cleveland and Minnesota on July 13, 1996.

The major league record is 23 by St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs on July 12, 1931.

Mike Sweeney, Joe Randa and DiFelice all doubled during a four-run eighth inning off Yankees newcomer Bret Prinz that put the Royals ahead 12-7.

Twins 5, Indians 3

MINNEAPOLIS – Luis Rivas hit a two-run homer and Kyle Lohse pitched smoothly into the ninth inning to lead the Minnesota Twins to their fourth straight victory, 5-3 over the Cleveland Indians.

Lohse (9-9) won his third consecutive start for the Twins, who improved to just 3-5 against the Indians this year. They’re 17-8 since the All-Star break – the second-best record in the majors in that time.

Jody Gerut went 3-for-4 for Cleveland, which is 1-12 on the road in the second half.

Devil Rays 4, Orioles 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Pinch-hitter Jared Sandberg doubled home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Tampa Bay Devil Rays over the Baltimore Orioles 4-3.

Julio Lugo singled with one out off Hector Carrasco (1-3) and B.J. Ryan relieved. After Carl Crawford popped out, Sandberg doubled into the left-center gap for the victory.

Travis Harper (2-6) worked two scoreless innings. Tampa Bay tied it at 3 when Travis Lee hit a two-run, two-out homer off reliever Eric DuBose in the eighth.

Baltimore’s Brook Fordyce homered and drove in two runs.

Pat Hentgen gave up one run and six hits over six innings.