Chicago ? Sammy Sosa gave the Chicago Cubs a reason to smile, and Juan Cruz left his manager with something to think about.

Sosa hit his first homer in 10 games, sending Cruz to his first win as Chicago gained a doubleheader split with Pittsburgh, beating the Pirates 4-3 in the second game Tuesday night.

Chicago manager don baylor hangs his head during the Cubs' 12-1 loss. The Cubs split a doubleheader with Pittsburgh on Tuesday at Chicago.

Brian Giles hit an inside-the-park home run, and Jimmy Anderson and Sean Lowe combined on a three-hitter to lead the Pirates to a 12-1 victory in the first game.

Sosa’s major league-leading 16th homer, a three-run shot off Josh Fogg, helped keep Cruz (1-7) from becoming the first Cubs pitcher to begin a season 0-8. It also may have helped Cruz, who was to be dropped from the rotation after Tuesday, keep his starting job.

“We discussed it for a few minutes after the game,” Cubs manager Don Baylor said. “We’re going to kick it around some more tomorrow.”

It was expected that prized pitching prospect Mark Prior, who makes his major league debut tonight, would take Cruz’s place. But another decent performance by Cruz and another poor one by Jason Bere, who lost the first game, might allow Cruz to take another turn.

The Cubs have dropped 10 of 12. In the second game, the Cubs trailed 3-1 in the sixth, and Cruz appeared to be on the way to another loss.

But after going hitless in six at-bats, Sosa connected to center to put the Cubs ahead. The Wrigley Field crowd of 37,175 demanded a curtain call, and Sosa obliged.

Three relievers held on for the Cubs. Antonio Alfonseca got four outs for his sixth save, and first since May 4.

In the first game, Kevin Young and Chad Hermansen homered to back Anderson (4-5), who was 1-4 with a 6.84 ERA in his last five starts.

Bere (1-7) lost his sixth straight start for Cubs.

Cardinals 3, Astros 1

St. Louis Jason Simontacchi (2-0) pitched seven solid innings and St. Louis won for the 10th time in 12 games. The Astros have lost two straight after winning seven in a row.

The game began a nine-game stretch in which the teams will face each other six times, and then not meet again until September. The Cardinals are 5-2 so far in the season series.

Jason Isringhausen worked the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Carlos Hernandez (4-2) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings.

Expos 5, Braves 4

10 innings

Montreal Brad Wilkerson drove in the winning run with a two-out dribbler in the 10th inning for Montreal. Vladimir Guerrero singled off Darren Holmes (2-1) to open the 10th and Lee Stevens walked. With the bases loaded, Wilkerson sent a slow roller up the third-base line. Reliever Chris Hammond fielded the ball but Wilkerson easily beat the throw to first base.

T.J. Tucker (2-0) recovered from allowing the go-ahead run in the ninth, pitching the final two innings for the win.

Montreal tied it in the ninth on Jose Vidro’s two-out RBI single off closer John Smoltz.

Reds 6, Marlins 1

Cincinnati Austin Kearns hit his first career grand slam as Cincinnati took advantage of wildness by A.J. Burnett (5-4).

Kearns’ fifth-inning slam helped Cincinnati rebound from a tough series in St. Louis. The NL Central leaders lost three of four to the Cardinals, slicing their lead to three games.

Chris Reitsma (3-0) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out threat in the fourth and gave up seven hits before leaving with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth. Danny Graves got Charles Johnson on a groundout to end the eighth and finished for his 15th save in 19 chances.

Brewers 8, Dodgers 6

Milwaukee Tyler Houston and Geoff Jenkins hit three-run homers in an eight-run seventh inning to lead Milwaukee.

The Dodgers got two homers from Shawn Green and took a 5-0 lead into the seventh before Kevin Brown tired.

Phillies 4, Mets 0

Philadelphia Vicente Padilla (6-3) pitched eight shutout innings and Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer in the eighth for Philadelphia. The Phillies have won two straight after losing six consecutive games during a road trip. It was scoreless when Jimmy Rollins doubled off Jeff D’Amico (3-4) with one out in the eighth. Scott Rolen hit an RBI single, and Burrell hit a three-run shot off David Weathers.

Rockies 7, Padres 6

Denver Larry Walker homered and drove in three runs as Colorado rallied past San Diego. Walker hit a two-run single in the seventh inning off Alan Embree (3-2), and Todd Zeile added an RBI single to put Colorado ahead. Todd Helton and Todd Hollandsworth also homered for the Rockies.

Justin Speier (1-0) pitched the seventh for the win. Jose Jimenez worked a perfect ninth for his 10th save in as many opportunities.

D’backs 9, Giants 4

Phoenix Helped by an umpire’s questionable call that gave Erubiel Durazo a home run, Arizona and Randy Johnson beat frustrated San Francisco in the season’s first meeting between the NL West rivals.

Johnson (8-1) struck out 10 to pass 3,500 for his career and matched teammate Curt Schilling as the only eight-game winners in the majors. The first-place Diamondbacks moved 11*2 games ahead of the Giants.

Durazo tied it at 3 with his disputed solo home run off Livan Hernandez in the fifth. Replays showed the ball hooked outside the right-field foul pole, but first base umpire Larry Young called it a homer.