CINCINNATI – D’Angelo Jimenez drove in a pair of runs and the Cincinnati Reds extended their best start in 10 years, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 on Saturday.

At 4-1, the Reds are three games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 19, 2002, when they were still playing at Cinergy Field. They never got more than two games above the break-even mark in their first year at Great American Ball Park. It’s their best start since they opened the 1994 season 6-1.

Adam Dunn hit a solo homer – his second in two games – and Jimenez had a sacrifice fly and an RBI double, setting up the Reds’ fourth straight victory.
Brewers 6, Astros 1
MILWAUKEE – Ben Sheets struck out a career-high 10 in six scoreless innings, and Wes Helms hit a three-run homer to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday.

Sheets (1-0) has beaten the Astros seven straight times since losing his first two decisions against them in 2001.

He was locked in a scoreless duel with Tim Redding (0-1) until the fifth, when the Brewers rallied with two outs.
Marlins 5, Phillies 3
MIAMI – Hee Seop Choi homered twice, and Miguel Cabrera’s two-run shot propelled the Florida Marlins to a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.

The victory capped a special day for the Marlins, who received their elaborate World Series rings before the game.

The ceremony delayed the game for more than 15 minutes and seemed to incite Philadelphia, which took an early 3-0 lead before the bullpen blew it for the second consecutive night. The loss was the Phillies’ 12th in the last 14 games against Florida.

The Marlins started their comeback in the fourth when Choi homered to right with two outs.
Braves 5, Cubs 2
ATLANTA – Julio Franco hit a tie-breaking, three-run double off Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth, and the Atlanta Braves rallied past the Chicago Cubs 5-2 Saturday night.

In the game only because rookie Adam LaRoche fouled a pitch off his foot earlier, Franco fought back from an 0-2 count by fouling off five straight pitches at one point. He eventually worked the count full, then drove a fastball from Farnsworth over Sammy Sosa’s head in right.

That capped a four-run inning and gave the Braves the win a night after they blew a 1-0 lead in the ninth.
Expos 1, Mets 0
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – John Patterson pitched seven stellar innings in his Montreal debut, and Peter Bergeron’s two-out RBI single in the seventh sent the Expos to a 1-0 win over the New York Mets on Saturday night.

The teams split the first two games of their series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, where the Expos will play 22 “home” games for the second consecutive season.

Montreal managed only four hits against Al Leiter and reliever Jae Weong Seo until the seventh.

Brad Wilkerson opened the inning with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Einar Diaz. Pinch-hitter Ron Calloway grounded out, but Bergeron hit a grounder down the third-base line to score Wilkerson.

Patterson (1-0), acquired from Arizona in a trade late in spring training, allowed just two hits, struck out six and walked one.

Chad Cordero pitched the eighth, giving up a double to pinch-hitter Todd Zeile. Rocky Biddle worked the ninth for his second save.

Leiter also had a strong performance in his first outing of the season. His start was pushed back two days after he was hit in the head by a line drive during his final spring training appearance.

The left-hander threw five shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out four. Seo (0-1) gave up one run and three hits in two innings.

The first real threat by New York came in the second, when Mike Cameron hit a single and stole second. Jason Phillips then walked, but Ty Wigginton struck out and Joe McEwing flied to center to end the inning.

Cliff Floyd opened the fourth with a double and advanced to third on a grounder by Mike Piazza. But a groundout by Cameron and a popout by Phillips ended the threat.

Montreal had runners on second and third with none out in the fourth. But Leiter got out of the jam by striking out Tony Batista, inducing a groundout by Luis Lopez and getting a running catch from Floyd on Diaz’s liner to left.

Notes: Cameron had two stolen bases, pushing his total to four this season. … Batista got just his second hit of the season, a sixth-inning single, after opening the season with a 1-for-17 slump in the first four games. … Piazza is slated to make his first start at first base for the Mets on Sunday.

AP-ES-04-10-04 2210EDT