CHICAGO – Carlos Beltran gave the Houston Astros a jolt, just the way they hoped.

In his fifth game since being traded from Kansas City, Beltran homered off LaTroy Hawkins with two outs in the top of the ninth inning Wednesday to send Houston over the Chicago Cubs 3-2.

After Roger Clemens’ bid for his 11th victory was blown by the Astros’ bullpen, Beltran won it.

Craig Biggio homered twice for Houston, atoning for a costly error the previous day.

Brad Lidge (2-3), who worked out of a bases-loaded jam after the Cubs tied the game in the eighth, got the win by getting the final six outs. Hawkins (1-1) took the loss.

Clemens pitched seven solid innings, allowing five hits and leaving with a 2-1 lead.

Michael Barrett’s homer off reliever Dan Miceli leading off the bottom of the eighth tied it at 2.

Pirates 6, Cardinals 5

PITTSBURGH – Bobby Hill drove in the winning run with a pinch-hit single in the ninth and Tike Redman had three RBIs to lead the Pirates to a 6-5 victory over St. Louis, completing their first three-game sweep of the Cardinals at home in 15 years.

Julian Tavarez replaced St. Louis starter Matt Morris to start the ninth and quickly got the first two hitters, but Jack Wilson and Rob Mackowiak singled – each had three hits – and Hill lined a single into right field to score Wilson.

Reds 2, Mets 0

CINCINNATI – Cory Lidle topped stingy Tom Glavine and shut down the New York Mets for the second time in a week, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 2-0 victory.

Adam Dunn homered and Ryan Freel hit an RBI single off Glavine (7-5), whose 2.16 ERA run average is by far the best in the majors.

Braves 9, Marlins 6

ATLANTA – J.D. Drew homered twice and Sam McConnell earned his first major league win to lead the Atlanta Braves past the Florida Marlins 9-6.

It was the seventh career two-homer game for Drew – his first since Oct. 3, 2001 – and he tied a career high with five RBIs for the Braves, who moved within 3 games of first in the NL East.

Expos 6, Phillies 3

PHILADELPHIA – Juan Rivera hit a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Montreal Expos overcame Jim Thome’s major league-leading 27th homer in a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Tony Batista and Brad Wilkerson homered for Montreal.

Devil Rays 6, Blue Jays 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Rey Sanchez hit his first conventional home run in over two years, and Dewon Brazelton threw five shutout innings to lead the Tampa Bay Devil Rays past the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2.

Sanchez’s second homer of the season – a three-run shot -came during a five-run, fourth inning that gave the Devil Rays a 5-0 lead.

It Sanchez’s 15th career homer in his 4,684th at-bat, and the first homer he hit into the stands since April 30, 2002, at Boston.

Tigers 12, Indians 5

DETROIT – Ivan Rodriguez delivered three more hits and the Detroit Tigers won their sixth in a row, defeating the Cleveland Indians 12-5.

The Tigers’ winning streak is their longest since they took six straight in May 2002.

White Sox 9, Twins 6

MINNEAPOLIS – Freddy Garcia got plenty of run support from his new team, winning his debut with the Chicago White Sox 9-6 over the Minnesota Twins.

Paul Konerko, Jose Valentin and Joe Crede backed Garcia with home runs.

Orioles 13, Royals 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Newly promoted Chad Mottola hit his first major league home run since 1996 and Miguel Tejada and David Newhan also connected in the Baltimore Orioles’ 13-4 romp over Kansas City.

Every Orioles starter scored as they matched a season high for runs.

Royals fire pitching coach Cumberland

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Royals, with the worst record and second-worst staff ERA in the American League, fired pitching coach John Cumberland.

Mike Mason, the organization’s roving pitching instructor, will serve as interim pitching coach for the rest of the season.

Cumberland was in his second season with Kansas City, which went into the season with hopes of gaining its first postseason berth since 1985. But inconsistent pitching as well as other shortcomings left the Royals with a 29-45 record going into Wednesday night’s game against Baltimore, 11 games out in the AL Central. Their staff ERA of 4.96 was next-to-last behind Baltimore’s 5.24.

Mason, 45, previously served nine seasons as pitching coach in the Royals’ minor league system.

His seven-year major league pitching career included stops with Texas, the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota. He was 29-39.