PITTSBURGH (AP) -Albert Pujols hit a three-run double to reach the 100 RBIs mark for the ninth consecutive season and Adam Wainwright limited Pittsburgh to one run over 6 2-3 innings, leading the Cardinals past the Pirates 5-3 on Saturday night.

Pujols, who hits better in Pittsburgh than any other hitter, missed a chance to possibly break open the game when he grounded into a double play in the fifth with two on and none out. He made up for it an inning later with a bases-loaded double down the left-field line that made it 5-0.

Pujols is the only National League player to begin his career with nine consecutive seasons of 100 or more RBIs. The only major league hitter with a longer streak is Hall of Famer Al Simmons, who had 11 consecutive seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1924-34.

Pujols, who went 1 for 5, is hitting .429 against Pittsburgh this season with three homers and 11 RBIs in 11 games. He is career .380 hitter at PNC Park, where he has 64 RBIs in 67 career games.

Wainwright (13-7) didn’t need much support in dealing the Pirates their seventh consecutive loss, all at home. The Pirates’ only run off the right-hander came on Delwyn Young’s RBI single in the sixth, and Wainwright was pulled an inning later only because he threw 112 pitches, 83 for strikes.

Wainwright won his sixth in a row on the road – he hasn’t lost away from Busch Stadium since May 31 – and is 9-1 in 11 road starts. He struck out six and didn’t walk any as the Cardinals, back in first place in the NL Central, won for the eighth time in 11 games.

Ronny Cedeno hit a two-run homer with two out in the ninth against Jason Motte, but the Pirates still dropped their 12th in 14 games. They are 2-7 during a 10-game homestand that began July 31, when they finished up a series of trades that stripped their roster of five opening day starters.

The deals also weakened a bullpen that has given up 26 runs in 29 innings since left-hander John Grabow was traded to the Cubs.

Pirates starter Charlie Morton (2-5) was effective, limiting the Cardinals to one run on Matt Holliday’s RBI single in the fifth, but St. Louis scored four times in the sixth against Chris Bootcheck in his Pirates debut.

Bootcheck gave up Yadier Molina’s single and walked Julio Lugo, Skip Schumaker and Colby Rasmus in a span of five batters to force in a run, and Pujols followed with his double.

After Cedeno homered, Ryan Franklin came on to get the final out and his 26th save in 28 attempts.

Cubs 6, Rockies 5

DENVER  -Kosuke Fukudome and Derrek Lee homered, leading the
Chicago Cubs past Jason Marquis and the Colorado Rockies 6-5.

The win allowed the Cubs to remain a game behind the
St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central and snapped the Rockies’ 15-game
winning streak over teams from that division.

Ryan Dempster (6-5)
ended a four-game road skid for his first win away from Wrigley Field
since April 12. He went six innings and give up nine hits. Of the five
runs he surrendered, only two were earned.

Dempster also
vanquished – to some degree – his demons in Denver. Dempster entered
the game 0-2 at Coors Field with a 15.23 ERA in seven appearances.

Marlins 6, Phillies 4

PHILADELPHIA  -Cody Ross hit a go-ahead two-run homer off Cole Hamels in the sixth inning and the Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 on Saturday night.

The Marlins moved within five games of the NL East-leading Phillies and try to complete the three-game sweep with ace Josh Johnson on the mound Sunday.

Chris Coghlan hit a leadoff homer and Brian Sanches (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning in relief to earn the win against his former team.

Five Marlins relievers held the Phillies to one run over five innings after starter Sean West lasted four innings in his first start since July 11.

Leo Nunez allowed a run in the ninth, before finishing for his 11th save in 14 tries.

Hamels (7-7) gave up four runs, five hits and walked four in 5 1-3 innings. Last year’s World Series and NLCS MVP, Hamels has battled inconsistency all season. He has a 4.77 ERA.

Called up from Double-A to make the start, West allowed three runs and seven hits. The left-hander left after Ryan Howard led off the bottom of the fifth with a double off the wall in left-center. But Sanches came in and stranded the runner.

Hamels walked Jorge Cantu to start the sixth. After Dan Uggla struck out, Ross drove one out to left to make it 4-3, giving him 20 homers, two shy of his career-high set last year.

Pinch-hitter Jeremy Hermida and Coghlan added RBI singles off Chan Ho Park in the eighth to extend the lead to 6-3.

Shane Victorino tripled and scored on Chase Utley’s groundout in the ninth to cut it to 6-4.

Helped by shaky defense, the Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the third. Howard led off with a walk and one out later Raul Ibanez reached when West couldn’t field his bouncer near the mound. With two outs, first baseman Nick Johnson dropped Carlos Ruiz’s pop-up, allowing Howard to score.

Philadelphia scored twice in the second to take a 2-1 lead. Hamels dropped a perfect bunt and beat West’s high throw to first for an infield single that loaded the bases.

Jimmy Rollins drove in a run with a fielder’s choice grounder. Hamels broke up the double play with a hard takeout slide at second. Victorino followed with an RBI single off shortstop Hanley Ramirez’s glove, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

Ramirez drove in the tying run with a bases-loaded grounder to second in the third.

Brewers 12, Astros 5

HOUSTON  -Prince Fielder and Mike Rivera drove in three runs apiece and the Milwaukee Brewers beat up Houston’s bullpen in a 12-5 win over the Astros on Saturday night.

Fielder hit his 27th home run, Ryan Braun had a two-run single and Casey McGehee, Bill Hall and Felipe Lopez added RBIs for the Brewers, who finished with 14 hits.

Milwaukee led 3-0 when Houston starter Mike Hampton (7-9) left after two innings with a sprained right knee. The Astros’ bullpen gave up nine runs the rest of the way and the Brewers reached their highest run total since a 14-12 win at Cleveland on June 16.

Carlos Lee hit his 300th home run and Ivan Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Astros.

Rodriguez doubled and scored in the second inning off Manny Parra (7-8).

Yorman Bazardo, whose Triple-A contract was purchased by the Astros after Friday night’s game, relieved Hampton and got into immediate trouble, giving up a leadoff double to McGehee and walks to Hall and J.J. Hardy.

Rivera cleared the bases with a double to the left-field corner. Parra then bunted to the third-base side, Bazardo scooped it up and threw wildly to first and Rivera scored for a 7-1 lead. Bazardo was charged with an error.

Fielder added an RBI single off Bazardo before Wesley Wright relieved for the fourth.

Parra struck out one hitter in each of the first four innings. Houston loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth and Wright scored when Hunter Pence grounded into a fielder’s choice. Lee then grounded into a double play and fans started filing for the exits.

Fielder doubled off Wright leading off the sixth and scored on Hall’s single to center.

The Astros strung together three singles in their half of the sixth to make it 9-3. Parra walked Geoff Blum to load the bases and Claudio Vargas relieved.

Jason Michaels scored on Kaz Matsui’s sacrifice fly, but Vargas struck out Jeff Keppinger to stop the rally.

Fielder hit a two-run homer to left in the seventh against Tim Byrdak to make it 11-4. Lee answered with a solo shot in the bottom half against Vargas to become the first Panama-born player to reach 300 homers.

The Astros are the first team in history to have three players reach 300 home runs in the same season. Rodriguez hit his 300th homer against the Cubs in Chicago on May 17 and Lance Berkman reached the mark in Arizona on June 13.

Alberto Arias pitched the ninth for the Astros and gave up Lopez’s RBI double.

Nationals 5, Diamondbacks 2
WASHINGTON -Garrett Mock pitched six innings for his first win of the season, Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer and the Washington Nationals won their seventh straight, 5-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Nationals’ seven-game run is their first since last Aug. 26-Sept. 1 and their longest since a 10-game streak from June 2-12, 2005.

Mock (1-4) pitched six innings for just the second time in eight major league starts. He allowed two runs on Mark Reynolds’ homer in the fourth inning. Mock gave up five hits, walked three and struck out seven.

Sean Burnett pitched two perfect innings. Jorge Sosa pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save since Aug. 6, 2006.

After Reynolds’ 35th home run – second best in the majors – and his 14th since July 1 gave the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead, Willingham’s 18th homer off Dan Haren (11-7) turned the game around for Washington.

Willie Harris followed Willingham’s home run with a triple, and Harris scored on Alberto Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly, and Washington led 4-2.

Josh Bard connected in the sixth, giving the Nationals a 5-2 lead.

Haren entered the game holding opponents to a paltry .198 average – best in the major leagues. He left after six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. He struck out four, and lost for just the second time in his last eight starts.

Washington scored its first run in the first on an RBI single by Adam Dunn.
Twins 11, Tigers 0
DETROIT -Carl Pavano allowed only five hits over seven innings in his Minnesota debut, Denard Span went 5-for-5 and Joe Mauer homered and drove in three runs to lift the Twins to a 11-0 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Jose Mijares and Glen Perkins completed the combined six-hit shutout with an inning each for third-place Minnesota, which moved to within 4½ games of first place Detroit in the A.L. Central.

It was the second time in a week that Pavano (10-8) handcuffed the Tigers. Last Sunday, while with the Cleveland Indians, Pavano allowed Detroit only a run on six hits in eight innings in an 11-1 win.

The Twins acquired him for a player to be named later on Friday.

Pavano didn’t walk a batter and struck out five.

It was the second five-hit game of Span’s career. The first was this past July 3, against Detroit. He is 9-for-11 in his last two games and a lifetime .444 hitter (40-for-90) against the Tigers.

“He hits us like he’s in our meeting before the game,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said.

Justin Verlander (12-6) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings, walking two and striking out six.

Mauer’s two-run homer in the first gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead. He drove Verlander’s first pitch over the left-field fence for his 20th home run. It also scored Span, who led off with a double.

Pavano worked out of a bases-loaded one out jam in the second by striking out Adam Everett and getting Curtis Granderson on a groundout.

Alexi Casillas’ sacrifice made it 3-0 in the fifth.

An outstanding play by third baseman Nick Punto got Pavano out of a first and third, one out situation in the Tigers’ fifth. Playing even with the bag, Punto dove to his left to nab Placido Polanco’s grounder. Punto then threw from his knees to Casillas at second, who made the relay to first for an inning-ending double play.

The Twins scored eight runs in the in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

White Sox 8, Indians 5

CHICAGO  —Jim Thome
hit a two-run shot for his 562nd career homer and Gordon Beckham had a
go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth, helping the Chicago White Sox
rally for an 8-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night.

D.J.
Carrasco (4-1) pitched 2 1-3 innings of scoreless relief as the White
Sox moved within two games of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

Indians
reliever Tomo Ohka couldn’t hold a 4-1 lead in the fifth. He walked
Beckham, and Thome followed with a 442-feet drive to center on a 1-2
pitch. It was Thome’s 21st of the season.

Ohka then allowed back-to-back singles, and Carlos Quentin followed with a two-run double to tie the game at five.

Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits for the Indians who had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Dewayne Wise led off the sixth with a double off Indians
reliever Jess Todd (0-1) and moved to third on Scott Podsednik’s ground
out. Beckham followed with a sacrifice fly to give the White Sox the
lead.

The White Sox got an insurance run in the seventh. With a runner on second and two outs, Indians manager elected to walk Quentin to get to Chris Getz. Getz came through with an RBI single off Rafeal Perez.

Matt
Thornton pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings and Bobby Jenks, making his
first appearance since Aug. 1 after having a laser procedure to break
up kidney stones on Wednesday, got two outs in the ninth.

Indians
starter Justin Masterson, making his first start since joining
Cleveland as part of the deal that sent Victor Martinez to Boston, was
on a 60-pitch count. Masterson took the mound in place of Carl Pavano,
who was traded to the Twins on Friday and pitched four solid innings.
He allowed one run on four hits. He struck out four and walked one.

Jhonny
Peralta hit a two-run double to left off White Sox starter Carlos
Torres. White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez had a chance of throwing out
Shin-Soo Choo at the plate, but Ramirez fumbled the relay throw.

Torres, making his second major league appearance, allowed four runs on three hits and six walks in 3 1-3 innings.

Beckham singled in the first inning and scored on A.J. Pierzynski’s RBI single.

Royals 12, Athletics 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  -Zack Greinke earned his first win over an American League club since May 26, Mike Jacobs and Billy Butler each drove in three runs and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Oakland Athletics 12-6 Saturday night.

Butler had three doubles and every Royals starter had at least one hit and scored a run. Jacobs and Miguel Olivo hit back-to-back home runs in a four-run fourth.

Although Greinke (11-7) leads the league with a 2.43 ERA, he was 0-5 and the Royals were winless in his previous nine starts against AL teams. Greinke went seven innings and yielded three runs on seven hits to pick up his first victory since June 28 at Pittsburgh. He struck out five and ranks second in the AL with 167.

A’s right-hander Clayton Mortensen (0-1), who was making his first big league start, gave up eight runs on eight hits and three walks in four-plus innings, after striking out five of the first eight batters he faced.

Jacobs homered into the right-field fountains with Alberto Callaspo aboard in the four-run fourth. Olivo homered to center four pitches after later. The two share the club lead with 15 home runs. It was the fourth time this year the Royals have hit consecutive home runs. Jacobs also had a RBI single in the eighth.

David DeJesus’ sacrifice fly scored Alex Gordon with the other run in the fourth. DeJesus also contributed a RBI double in the third and scored on Butler’s sacrifice fly.

The Royals chased Mortensen, who was acquired July 24 from St. Louis as part of the Matt Holliday trade, in the fifth. Edgar Gonzalez replaced Mortensen after Butler led off the inning with a double and Mark Teahen had a bunt single. Callaspo had a RBI single and Teahen scored on a wild pitch.

Butler also added RBI doubles in the sixth and eighth innings. His three doubles give him 36, tied for second in the AL.

Greinke gave up all his runs in the second, including Mark Ellis’ two-run single. Adam Kennedy’s groundout scored Ryan Sweeney with the other run. Greinke allowed just three hits and no runner past second base after the second.

Ellis and Tommy Everidge homered in a three-run ninth off Joakim Soria. It was the second time in his career Soria had allowed two homers in a game.

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