By The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard each hit a two-run homer, and the Philadelphia Phillies snapped a five-game losing streak with a 12-5 win over the Florida Marlins on Friday night.

Burrell surpassed 100 RBIs and Chase Utley tripled, doubled and singled for the Phillies, who entered the three-game series 21/2 games behind Houston in the NL wild-card race.

Royals 12, Tigers 2

DETROIT – Emil Brown drove in three runs, and Aaron Guiel homered among his three hits Friday night as the Kansas City Royals beat Detroit 12-2, the Tigers’ season-high ninth consecutive loss.

John Buck homered, Matt Stairs had two RBIs as Kansas City had 18 hits against seven Detroit pitchers. Justin Huber had three hits and three runs.

Indians 4, Twins 2

CLEVELAND – The surging Cleveland Indians retained the AL wild-card lead, beating Johan Santana for the first time behind six strong innings from Jake Westbrook in a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Grady Sizemore led off the first inning with a homer off Santana (13-7), who came in 5-0 with a 2.84 ERA in 18 career games against Cleveland.

Nationals 8, Braves 6

WASHINGTON – Jose Guillen broke a tie with a two-run double in the eighth inning for his 1,000th career hit, capping the Washington Nationals’ comeback for an 8-6 victory over the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

Guillen’s big hit came on the first pitch from reliever Dan Kolb. As he stood on second base, Guillen pumped his fist, then clapped his hands over his head, while the portable stands at RFK Stadium shook as they haven’t for some time.

Cardinals 3, Mets 2

ST. LOUIS – Larry Walker hit a tiebreaking home run off the right-field scoreboard with two outs in the eighth inning and Jason Marquis threw eight strong innings, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 3-2 Friday night.

Albert Pujols and Hector Luna each drove in a run for the defending NL champions, who reduced their magic number for clinching the Central division to nine.

Pirates 8, Reds 4

CINCINNATI – Jason Bay hit a pair of two-run homers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 Friday night in Oliver Perez’s first start in more than 10 weeks.

Nate McLouth and Jack Wilson each had two hits and scored two runs to help send the Reds to their third loss in four games, all on their current homestand.

Athletics 9, Rangers 8

ARLINGTON, Texas – Eric Chavez drove in four runs, Mark Ellis homered and had four hits, and the Oakland Athletics held off the Texas Rangers 9-8 on Friday night.

Mark Kotsay also homered and got three hits for the A’s, and Dan Johnson added a home run as Oakland remained 11/2 games behind Cleveland in the AL wild-card race.

Jason Kendall had three hits.

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