CHICAGO – The Rocket was nowhere in sight. Matt DeSalvo was there in his place – but not for long.

And whatever good vibe the New York Yankees created over the weekend quickly disappeared as Jon Garland and the struggling Chicago White Sox knocked out DeSalvo in the second inning on their way to a 6-4 victory Monday night.

DeSalvo, starting because Roger Clemens pushed back his 2007 debut after experiencing some groin pain, left with one out in the second after the White Sox scored three times to take a 3-1 lead.

Garland (4-3) pitched into the ninth inning, allowing seven hits while striking out three and walking three for Chicago, which won for just the second time in nine games.

Jim Thome hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, and Paul Konerko added a solo shot in the seventh. Konerko and Tadahito Iguchi had three hits each.

DeSalvo (1-3) simply didn’t have it, and the defense didn’t help.

Devil Rays 4, Royals 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – James Shields took a two-hitter into the eighth inning and Carlos Pena homered for the second straight day to lead the Tampa Bay Devil Rays over the Kansas City Royals 4-2.

Shields (5-0) struck out five, walked one and appeared set to go for his second straight complete game before giving up John Buck’s second home run of the day and a single to Tony Pena with one out in the eighth.

Dodgers 6, Pirates 5

PITTSBURGH – Derek Lowe pitched six no-hit innings until giving up three runs in the seventh, and the Los Angeles Dodgers built a five-run lead before holding on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 on Monday night.

Jeff Kent, in a 1-for-26 slump, doubled in a run, Rafael Furcal hit a two-run double and Russell Martin hit his fourth homer in his last five starts as the Dodgers took three of four in Pittsburgh. They have won nine of 12.

Lowe (6-5) didn’t allow anything resembling a hit until Freddy Sanchez singled up the middle with no out in the seventh, though Furcal did make an excellent play at short to get Jose Bautista to end the sixth.

Giants 8, Phillies 1

PHILADELPHIA – Barry Zito allowed only an unearned run over six innings and Ryan Klesko hit a three-run homer to lead the San Francisco Giants over the Philadelphia Phillies 8-1.

Zito (6-5) pitched out of trouble throughout the afternoon to win his third straight start.

Barry Bonds was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a walk to remain at 746 career homers, 10 shy of breaking Hank Aaron’s record. After homering 11 times in his first 76 at-bats, the Giants slugger has only one home run in 61 at-bats since connecting May 8.

Marlins 6, Braves 4

ATLANTA – The Florida Marlins scored four runs off Tim Hudson during a strange fifth inning and went on to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-4 behind Wes Obermueller, starting on three day’s rest for the first time in his career.

Obermueller (2-3) hung around long enough for the win, giving up eight hits and three runs in five innings. The had gone seven innings in his last start, a no-decision at Milwaukee on Thursday.

Cubs 7, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE – Alfonso Soriano had five hits, including a three-run homer, to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2.

The win was the second in a row for the Cubs since manager Lou Piniella was ejected on Saturday in Chicago, after a dirt-kicking tantrum against an umpire following a close play at third base.

Piniella was suspended four games by Major League Baseball for the incident.

Soriano, who also had four singles, has homered in each of his last three games. The last time he had five hits in a game was as a member of the New York Yankees on Sept. 17, 2002, a 9-7 loss to Tampa Bay.