ST. LOUIS – Albert Pujols hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to match a career high with seven RBIs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday.

It was Pujols’ 24th multihomer game and first since Aug. 16, 2008, against Cincinnati. He matched his career best for RBIs set Aug. 22, 2006, against the New York Mets.

Rick Ankiel and Joe Thurston had three hits apiece for the Cardinals, who finished with 19 hits overall. Adam Wainright (1-0) pitched five shutout innings.

Roy Oswalt (0-2) had a rare bad outing at Busch Stadium, allowing six runs and nine hits in six innings for the Astros.

Pirates 10, Reds 2

CINCINNATI – Paul Maholm allowed only three hits in seven innings Saturday and Ryan Doumit hit his first career grand slam – one of three Pittsburgh homers – as the Pirates pulled away for a 10-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Maholm (1-0) got his first road win since July 22, a stretch of futility that was more a reflection of Pittsburgh’s offense than his pitching. The left-hander gave up just seven earned runs in his previous five road starts, but Pittsburgh managed to score only eight runs.

Braves 5, Nationals 3

ATLANTA – Kenshin Kawakami pitched six effective innings to win his major league debut, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.

Kawakami allowed three runs and four hits, walked four and struck out eight. The 33-year-old right-hander is the first Japanese-born player in franchise history.

Phillies 8, Rockies 4

DENVER – Brett Myers remained perfect at Coors Field with an imperfect outing.

Myers allowed three home runs in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 8-4 win over the Colorado Rockies, improving to 5-0 at Coors Field and 7-0 in eight career appearances against the Rockies.

The right-hander allowed four runs and four hits, including homers by Troy Tulowitzki, Garrett Atkins and Clint Barmes. He struck out six and walked one

Dodgers 11, Diamondbacks 2

PHOENIX – Orlando Hudson homered, doubled and drove in three runs against his former team, and the Los Angeles Dodgers spoiled Arizona’s All-Star selection celebration with an 11-2 victory over the Diamondbacks.

Hudson hit his first home run of the season to break a scoreless tie in a three-run fourth inning, Emergency Los Angeles starter Eric Stults gave up one run in 5 1-3 innings a day after being recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque

Mets 8, Marlins 4

MIAMI – Livan Hernandez found a way to beat the Florida Marlins: by throwing curves slower than the team bus.

Hernandez used his off-speed stuff to take a shutout into the seventh inning, helping the New York Mets hand the Marlins their first loss, 8-4.

Florida had been the last undefeated team in the majors.

Cubs 6, Brewers 5

MILWAUKEE – Alfonso Soriano made up for another poor performance by the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen, smacking a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Cubs a 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

American League

White Sox 8, Twins 0

CHICAGO – Bartolo Colon pitched six strong innings and Carlos Quentin homered, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 8-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

After a rough spring training, Colon handled the Twins’ lineup with relative ease. He allowed just three hits with two walks and two strikeouts, helping the White Sox end a three-game skid.

Orioles 6, Rays 0

BALTIMORE – Melvin Mora’s third career grand slam capped a five-run first inning against Tampa Bay rookie Jeff Niemann, and the Baltimore Orioles got six shutout innings from Jeremy Guthrie in a 6-0 victory.

Nick Markakis had two hits and an RBI for the Orioles, who have won two straight over the defending AL champions to clinch their first series win against Tampa Bay since Aug. 3-5, 2007. Evan Longoria went 2-for-4 for the Rays.

Tigers 4, Rangers 3

DETROIT – Placido Polanco hit a tiebreaking double and five Detroit Tigers pitchers combined on a two-hitter in a 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Nate Robertson (1-0) earned the win with two shutout innings of relief, and Fernando Rodney struck out the side in the ninth for his first save. Detroit’s bullpen didn’t allow a baserunner in four innings of work.

Mariners 8, Athletics 5

OAKLAND, Calif. – Kenji Johjima had a two-run single in a four-run eighth inning and the Seattle Mariners rallied twice from deficits to beat the Oakland Athletics 8-5.

Russell Branyan homered and Franklin Gutierrez and Jose Lopez each drove in two runs for the Mariners, who won their third straight. Mike Sweeney added an RBI single in the ninth.

Blue Jays 5, Indians 4

CLEVELAND – Cliff Lee lost his second consecutive start and the Indians, expected to contend this season, remained the AL’s only winless team, losing 5-4 to Roy Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays to fall to 0-5 for the first time in 24 years.

Halladay (2-0), a 20-game winner last season who finished second to Lee in Cy Young balloting, held Cleveland to one run and five hits in seven innings.

Yankees 6, Royals 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – CC Sabathia rebounded smartly from his disappointing Yankees debut, and Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher drove in three runs apiece in New York’s 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Sabathia, signed to a $161 million, seven-year contract in the offseason, gave up only six singles in 7 2-3 scoreless innings.

. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.