CINCINNATI – Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday night, rallying the Cincinnati Reds to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 603rd home run of his career.

Griffey connected off Matt Capps (1-3), who started the ninth with a 3-2 lead but couldn’t get an out. David Ross opened with a double, and Griffey – who got into the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth – hit the second pitch he saw into the seats in right-center.

Francisco Cordero (3-1) escaped a bases-loaded threat in the ninth, helping the Reds get the better of a matchup between the NL Central’s bottom two teams.

Cardinals 7, Mets 1

ST. LOUIS – Kyle Lohse allowed an unearned run in seven innings for his seventh straight win and Albert Pujols had two hits and two RBIs in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 7-1 victory over the New York Mets.

Chris Duncan added a two-run homer, his first since May 16, and Aaron Miles had three hits while extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

The Cardinals won the opener of a four-game series against a team that’s dominated them lately – at least in the regular season. They won the 2006 World Series after upsetting the Mets in a seven-game NLCS, but had lost eight of the previous 10 regular-season meetings.

John Maine (8-6) lasted only four innings to match his season worst for the Mets, who have lost three of four and dropped the opener of an eight-game trip against the Central-contending Cardinals and NL East-leading Phillies. This is the Mets’ first trip to St. Louis since they opened the 2007 season with a three-game sweep, outscoring the defending champs 20-2.

Marlins 6, Nationals 5

MIAMI – Josh Willingham hit a game-winning home run in the 10th inning after Hanley Ramirez’s tying homer in the ninth forced extra innings and the Florida Marlins rallied to beat the Washington Nationals 6-5.

It was the third career walkoff homer for Willingham, whose shot off Jon Rauch (4-2) was his second of the game.

Astros 4, Dodgers 1

HOUSTON – Roy Oswalt struck out nine in six strong innings, then left with an apparent injury in the Houston Astros’ 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Oswalt (7-8) allowed a run and six hits, but walked off the field with an Astros trainer after throwing his warmup pitches for the seventh. There was no immediate word on why he left the game.

Lance Berkman homered and Brad Ausmus added a two-run single off Eric Stults (2-1) to help the Astros win for the seventh time in 10 games.

Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 22nd save.

American League

Rangers 2, Yankees 1

NEW YORK – Scott Feldman and a reshuffled Texas bullpen shut down the New York Yankees on four hits, leading the Rangers to a 2-1 victory.

The win moved Texas to 43-41, the first time since Sept. 22, 2006, the Rangers have been two games over .500.

Rangers relievers threw 3 1-3 perfect innings, never letting a ball out of the infield. C.J. Wilson closed for his 18th save in 20 chances. Josh Hamilton looped an RBI single and recently promoted rookie Chris Davis delivered another key hit for Texas off Mike Mussina (10-6).

Alex Rodriguez hit his 534th home run for the Yankees, tying Jimmie Foxx for 14th place on the career list. Feldman (2-4) won for the first time in nine starts, pitching 5 2-3 effective innings.

Tigers 5, Twins 4

MINNEAPOLIS – Curtis Granderson’s go-ahead RBI single capped Detroit’s two-run eighth inning and the Tigers rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 5-4.

Granderson’s single to right-center fell two steps in front of Carlos Gomez, allowing Matt Joyce to trot home from third and helping Detroit win its sixth straight. Joyce tripled one batter earlier to score Gary Sheffield with the tying run.

Casey Fossum (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings of scoreless relief, and Joel Zumaya got five outs for his first save of the season in his first opportunity.

Royals 6, Orioles 5

BALTIMORE – Miguel Olivo homered off George Sherrill with two outs in the ninth to force extra innings, and Jose Guillen singled in the tiebreaking run in the 11th to give Kansas City a 6-5 comeback victory over Baltimore.

The Royals rallied from a four-run deficit to win their sixth straight on the road, the team’s longest run since 1999. The victory also ended Kansas City’s seven-game losing streak at Camden Yards. Mike Aviles led off the 11th with an infield hit off Chad Bradford (3-3).

After a sacrifice and an intentional walk, Guillen blooped an opposite-field single to right.

White Sox 9, Indians 7

CHICAGO – Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate, hitting his second grand slam in four games and adding a solo shot to lead the surging Chicago White Sox past the Cleveland Indians 9-7.

Jim Thome got the White Sox started with a three-run homer in the first as the AL-Central leaders won their fifth straight game and knocked the Indians 101/2 games back.