National League Roundup: Cardinals rally past Cincy

Drew's blast in eighth inning keys 10-8 comeback victory

? Up by eight runs in the second inning, the Cincinnati Reds relaxed, substituted and chalked it up as a win.

They won’t do that again.

St. Louis' J.D. Drew, right, is congratulated by Fernando Vina after Drew hit a two-run home run off Cincinnati's Danny Graves in the eighth inning Sunday. The Cardinals won 10-8.

J.D. Drew hit a two-run homer off Danny Graves in the eighth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals pulled off their biggest rally in 10 years, beating the Reds 10-8 on Sunday.

Drew had a two-run single in the fifth inning that started the comeback, and homered with two outs in the eighth to leave the third-place Cardinals feeling that their season is finally turning.

St. Louis hadn’t pulled off such a comeback since it trailed Atlanta by nine runs on May 9, 1992 and wound up winning 12-11.

“You never know what can happen,” said Drew, who was in a 1-for-13 rut before leading the comeback. “We could have shut it down and tried to get out early and gone home.”

That’s what the first-place Reds did.

Reggie Taylor’s first career grand slam helped them surge ahead 8-0 after two innings. Manager Bob Boone then substituted for shortstop Barry Larkin, who had singled and doubled but often leaves when a game is decided as a precaution against injury.

The rest of the lineup went flat as Cincinnati had its biggest blown lead since Sept. 4, 1989, when San Francisco overcame an 8-0 deficit in Cincinnati and won 9-8.

Marlins 11, Dodgers 3

Miami Florida beat Hideo Nomo for the 10th consecutive time, with backup catcher Mike Redmond homering and scoring a career-high four runs. Nomo (2-5) gave up seven runs, six earned, in 423 innings and fell to 2-10 against the Marlins. Ryan Dempster (2-3) allowed nine hits in his second complete game.

Expos 4, Giants 2

Montreal Brad Wilkerson hit a foul ball that broke a glass pane behind home plate, then hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning as Montreal overcame Barry Bonds’ 579th career homer to beat San Francisco.

Padres 6, Braves 5

Atlanta Deivi Cruz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, helping San Diego snap a five-game losing streak. The Padres avoided an 0-6 road trip, which would have tied a franchise record. Jason Boyd (1-0) pitched 123 scoreless innings for his first career victory.

Rockies 4, Mets 3 (13)

New York Larry Walker hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning and Colorado beat New York. Juan Uribe drew a four-pitch walk from Kane Davis (1-1) to start the 13th. Walker followed with his eighth homer, a drive into the Mets bullpen in right field.

Phillies 3, D-backs 1

Philadelphia Travis Lee went 4-for-4 with a homer against his former team and Terry Adams (1-3) pitched six strong innings.

Lee, obtained by the Phillies along with Vicente Padilla, Omar Daal and Nelson Figueroa for Curt Schilling in 2000, is 13-for-40 lifetime against Arizona, with three home runs and six RBIs.

Jose Mesa worked the ninth for his 12th save. Miguel Batista (2-2) took the loss.

Astros 5, Pirates 1

Pittsburgh Shane Reynolds (3-3) shrugged off an 86-minute rain delay and Houston’s five-give losing streak to limit Pittsburgh to two hits over six innings.

Jeff Bagwell hit his fifth homer in nine games to give the Astros a 2-0 lead, and Pirates reliever Mike Fetters’ throwing error scored two more runs as Houston dodged a second straight three-game sweep.

Brewers 13, Cubs 4

Chicago Raul Casanova and Richie Sexson hit grand slams in consecutive innings as Milwaukee routed Chicago, handing Jon Lieber (3-2) his first loss at Wrigley Field in almost a year. The Cubs had won the last 16 times Lieber started at Wrigley. Their previous loss at home with Lieber on the mound was last May 18 against Randy Johnson and Arizona.