Miami ? Scott Rolen had been this nervous only twice before: during his major league debut in 1996 and at his first All-Star game earlier this month.

Both turned out fine, so maybe this will, too.

Andy Benes won for the first time in almost a year, Edgar Renteria homered twice and Rolen had an RBI triple in his St. Louis debut as the Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins 5-0 Tuesday night.

Rolen got two hits and played perfect defense, making his first game with St. Louis a complete success. The 27-year-old third baseman was traded a day earlier following an unhappy stay in Philadelphia.

“The game is the same, but tonight had a different feel,” Rolen said. “You want everything to work out. You want to do everything you can to help this team.”

Winning for the seventh time in nine games, St. Louis remained a season-high five games ahead of Cincinnati in the NL Central. The Cardinals had plenty of highlights, too.

Benes, still battling arthritis in his right knee, retired 10 of his final 11 batters. He went a season-high 6 1/3 innings a great sign for the Cardinals.

Benes (1-3) allowed four hits, three walks and struck out three to win for the first time since Aug. 13 of last season. It was his first victory as a starter since June 13, 2001.

Giants 10, Phillies 3

Philadelphia Kenny Lofton homered in his first at-bat with San Francisco and Kirk Rueter pitched six strong innings to lead the Giants past Philadelphia. Lofton, acquired from the Chicago White Sox for two minor leaguers on Sunday, hit the second pitch of the game from rookie Brett Myers (1-1) for his 24th career leadoff homer.

Rueter (9-6) allowed two runs and seven hits to win his second straight start after eight winless outings.

Expos 5, Diamondbacks 4, 10 innings

Montreal Vladimir Guerrero homered off Byung-Hyun Kim (4-2) in the 10th inning as Montreal ended Arizona’s season-high seven-game winning streak. After the Expos allowed an unearned run with two outs in the eighth to blow a 4-3 lead, Guerrero hit his 27th homer to win it.

Cliff Floyd homered for Montreal just before being traded to Boston. T.J. Tucker (6-2) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win.

Pirates 4, Rockies 1

Pittsburgh Kris Benson (4-5) allowed three hits in eight innings in his best start of the season as Pittsburgh sent Colorado to its seventh straight loss.

Benson, who returned in May from an 18-month layoff for reconstructive elbow surgery, hadn’t pitched longer than seven innings since his return.

Astros 16, Mets 3

New York Geoff Blum drove in five runs with four hits as Houston routed New York.

The Astros tied a season high with 20 hits and rookie Kirk Saarloos (3-2) won his third straight since being recalled from Triple-A New Orleans.

Reds 12, Dodgers 4

Cincinnati An out-of-sync Kazuhisa Ishii failed to make it out of the third inning, and Los Angeles had three errors and a run-scoring passed ball that helped Cincinnati pull away.

Ishii (12-7) gave up a season-high eight runs in 2 2/3 innings his shortest outing in 21 starts since arriving as a free agent from Japan.

Braves 3, Brewers 2

Atlanta Damian Moss allowed two hits during seven innings and Gary Sheffield doubled in two runs in a three-run sixth as Atlanta ended Milwaukee’s four-game winning streak. Moss (7-4) has won three in a row.

John Smoltz got his 39th save, matching the Atlanta record set in 1996 by Mark Wohlers. It was his 25th straight save, also a club record.

Padres 6, Cubs 5

Chicago Tom Lampkin tied it with a seventh-inning home run and singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth, leading San Diego past Chicago. Bubba Trammell also homered as the Padres overcame Sammy Sosa’s 32nd homer and broke a four-game losing streak.