ST. LOUIS (AP) – Ken Griffey Jr. trotted around the bases as if it were just another home run. It was anything but that.

Griffey hit a 2-2 fastball from Matt Morris into the right-field stands to lead off the sixth inning Sunday, securing a spot in the record books as the 20th player with 500 homers.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever accomplish this,” Griffey said. “All the aches and pains I’ve had this year were gone for like two minutes. It was awesome.”

The star center fielder ended a frustrating stretch with the swing, which helped the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0. At 34, he became the sixth-youngest player to reach the milestone.

Griffey, stuck on No. 499 for a week, took a few extra seconds to watch his drive fly into the seats, then dropped his bat and slowly trotted around the bases with his 19th homer of the season.

“I’m sure he’s relieved,” manager Dave Miley said. “I’m sure he’s happy to get it over with.”

The base coaches simply shook Griffey’s hand as he passed by. When Griffey crossed the plate, he tapped fists with teammate Adam Dunn, who then patted Griffey on the helmet. All of his teammates then came out on the field to congratulate him after the historic homer.

“I just told him, About time,”‘ Barry Larkin said. “That’s all.”

Griffey then went to a box next to the Reds’ dugout and hugged his father, Ken Griffey, and children. The elder Griffey said Junior told him, simply, “Happy Father’s Day.”

Astros 3, Angels 1

HOUSTON – Wade Miller threw seven strong innings and Eric Bruntlett hit his first home run of the season to help the Houston Astros beat the Anaheim Angels 3-1 on Sunday.

Miller (7-6) allowed six hits and one unearned run while striking out four and walking four.

Cubs 5, Athletics 3

CHICAGO – Moises Alou hit a two-run homer and Carlos Zambrano won his fourth straight decision, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 5-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

Zambrano (8-2) outpitched Oakland starter Barry Zito, giving up one run on five hits and striking out eight in 6 2-3 innings. The 23-year-old left to a standing ovation and lowered his ERA to 2.25 – second-best in the NL behind Tom Glavine.

Blue Jays 3, Padres 0

SAN DIEGO – Light-hitting Orlando Hudson homered and drove in two runs, and Miguel Batista flirted with his second shutout in three starts to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 3-0 win over the slumping San Diego Padres on Sunday.

The Padres lost for the seventh time in eight games, and this one was particularly ugly. Catcher Ramon Hernandez had to be helped off the field after being injured making a putout at the plate in the seventh inning, and the fans booed repeatedly as the offense continued to struggle at home.

Batista (5-5) pitched well until loading the bases with one out in the eighth and making way for Vinnie Chulk.

Devil Rays 2, D-backs 1

PHOENIX – Robert Fick, a late addition to the Tampa Bay lineup, had a go-ahead RBI triple in the Devil Rays’ 11th straight win, 2-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.

Rocco Baldelli added a sacrifice fly, Carl Crawford scored two runs and Mark Hendrickson worked six innings to help the Devil Rays post the best winning streak in the majors this season. With the win, manager Lou Piniella moved past Miller Huggins for 20th all-time with 1,414 victories.

Fick was playing for Jose Cruz Jr., who was hit by a pitch Saturday and was scratched from the lineup with a bruise on the back of his left leg. Fick’s triple came in the third and put Tampa Bay up 2-1.

Indians 5, Braves 2

ATLANTA – Jason Davis threw seven solid innings to win for the first time in almost seven weeks and also hit his first major league home run, leading the Cleveland Indians over the slumping Atlanta Braves 5-2 on Sunday.

The Braves have lost eight of 12 games and five straight series, including four straight against American League opponents. With Sunday’s loss, they again matched their low point of the season at four games below .500 – at 32-36.

Mariners 5, Pirates 4

PITTSBURGH – Ichiro Suzuki hit a go-ahead double in a three-run seventh inning for Seattle and the Mariners finally gave Freddy Garcia some run support, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

The Pirates were swept in three of their four interleague series and went 2-10 against the AL West, the sixth time in seven seasons they’ve had a losing record in interleague play.

Seattle won its fourth in a row and ninth in 13 games, again getting strong starting pitching from a staff that has a 2.17 ERA in its last 15 starts.

Orioles 4, Rockies 2

DENVER – Brian Roberts hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning, helping the Baltimore Orioles end a seven-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.

Colorado headed into the ninth ahead 2-0 behind seven strong innings from Joe Kennedy, but Shawn Chacon (0-5) walked two with one out and another with two outs before Roberts lifted his third career grand slam over the wall in right.

Rangers 4, Marlins 2

MIAMI – Hank Blalock hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning to give the Texas Rangers a 4-2 victory Sunday and a weekend sweep of the Florida Marlins.

Blalock’s homer off newly acquired reliever Billy Koch came after Texas closer Francisco Cordero blew a save in the ninth and prevented Kenny Rogers from becoming the first 10-game winner in the majors.

Michael Young opened the 11th with a single, and Blalock followed with his 17th homer of the season on the first pitch from Koch (0-1).

Phillies 8, Royals 2

PHILADELPHIA – Jim Thome hit a pair of two-run homers and Jimmy Rollins had an inside-the-park home run to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Thome connected in his first two at-bats – his league-leading 22nd and 23rd home runs – for the 34th multihomer game of his career and his second this year. He added a double in the fourth inning and a sacrifice fly in the sixth for his fifth RBI of the day, pushing his team-high total to 50.

Mets 6, Tigers 1

NEW YORK – Richard Hidalgo homered for his first hit with the Mets, Mike Piazza also connected and New York beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Steve Trachsel pitched six solid innings for the Mets, who got a two-run double from Eric Valent in their fourth consecutive victory. They moved back to .500 for the first time in two weeks by winning for the sixth time in seven games.

Twins 4, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE – Johan Santana struck out a season-high 12 in eight strong innings and drove in a run to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

Santana (5-4) struck out the side in the fifth and seventh innings and had eight strikeouts over his last four innings in winning his third straight after four losses. He is 10-1 against the National League in 21 games.

Expos 4, White Sox 2

MONTREAL – Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning, giving the Montreal Expos a 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Cabrera connected off Jon Garland (5-4) for his fourth homer of the season – his first since May 2 – after Jose Vidro’s one-out double.

It was Montreal’s first game-winning homer since last Aug. 16 when Brad Wilkerson hit a grand slam off San Francisco’s Todd Worrell for a 4-2 win over the Giants.

Dodgers 5, Yankees 4

LOS ANGELES – Eric Gagne struck out Alex Rodriguez with a runner on second base in the eighth inning then finished for his 81st straight save, preserving the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-4 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday.

Gagne gave up a homer to Jason Giambi leading off the ninth before getting his second save of the series in the first regular-season meeting between two of baseball’s most storied franchises, who have met 11 times in the World Series. The Yankees lost their first series since dropping two of three at Texas on May 21-23.

Shawn Green triggered a four-run second inning with a homer and Jose Lima shrugged off consecutive home runs to Hideki Matsui and Miguel Cairo for the Dodgers.

The matchup of division leaders set a franchise weekend attendance record of 165,240.

The rubber game drew 55,157, third-largest in Dodger Stadium history. Friday night’s game attracted the largest crowd in stadium history – 55,207.