St. Petersburg, Fla. ? Tantalizingly good at times, agonizingly bad at others. That’s the book on Victor Zambrano, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Barry Bonds-less San Francisco Giants.

The Tampa Bay right-hander apparently was so focused on his job after giving up an unearned run in the first inning that he was oblivious to holding the Giants hitless for so long in the Devil Rays’ 5-2 victory Thursday night.

“Until I gave up the hit, I didn’t know,” Zambrano said after the Devil Rays finished their first interleague series win in nearly two years.

“The pitcher evidently wasn’t aware, and neither was the catcher. They were concentrating on the ballgame,” manager Lou Piniella said. “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Zambrano (6-4) lost his bid for a no-hitter when Damon Minor, filling in for Bonds as the Giants’ designated hitter because the six-time NL MVP was attending a funeral, led off the seventh with a line-drive single to right.

Three hitters later, the Devil Rays starter was out of the game, leaving after giving up a single to Pedro Feliz and walking Dustan Mohr to load the bases. Reliever Trever Miller did his part to protect a 5-1 lead by striking out Michael Tucker, then Jesus Colome got Neifi Perez to foul out to end the threat.

Colome worked out of a jam with two runners on in the eighth when he struck out Minor and Feliz. He then gave up a homer to Tucker in the ninth before finishing the five-hitter for his first save.

Zambrano allowed two hits, walked six and struck out six in 61/3 innings to improve to 8-1 lifetime in interleague play. The 28-year-old right-hander had all of Tampa Bay’s wins a year ago when the Devil Rays went 3-15 against NL opponents — a record for interleague losses by a team in one season.

“He’s a pretty good pitcher, that Zambrano,” Giants manager Felipe Alou said. “One of the best breaking balls I’ve seen. Whenever he gets command of his fastball, he’s going to pitch some no-hitters.”

By taking two of three against the Giants, the Devil Rays won an interleague series for the first time since June 28-30, 2002, when they took two of three from the Florida Marlins. The Giants dropped to 5-6 on a 14-game road trip. Bonds missed the game to attend a funeral for the mother of a childhood friend in California.

Tampa Bay's Victor Zambrano delivers against San Francisco. Zambrano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and was the winning pitcher in the Devil Rays' 5-2 victory Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Rangers 9-10, Pirates 7-4

Arlington, Texas — Kenny Rogers earned his ninth win, Brad Fullmer hit a grand slam and Texas completed a doubleheader sweep with a 10-4 victory over Pittsburgh. In the opener, Michael Young, Gary Matthews Jr. and Herbert Perry homered, and Texas took advantage of two Pittsburgh errors in the seventh inning to win, 9-7.

Mark Teixeira hit a three-run shot in the third inning of the nightcap for the Rangers, who homered five times in the two games. Rogers (9-2) is tied with Houston’s Roger Clemens for the major-league lead in wins.

Texas also swept its other doubleheader this year, May 1 against Boston. The Pirates are 1-2-1 in doubleheaders this season.

Red Sox 9, Padres 3

Boston — Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run double highlighted a five-run sixth inning, and Curt Schilling pitched Boston over San Diego. Manny Ramirez hit a long, two-run homer, and Pokey Reese had a solo shot on his 31st birthday for Boston, which has won four of five. David Ortiz matched a career high with four hits.

Garciaparra, playing his second game of the season after missing the first 57 because of right Achilles’ tendinitis, went 1-for-4 and was hit by a pitch just above his left knee in the seventh.

Twins 3, Mets 2, 15 innings

Minneapolis — Michael Ryan’s one-out single in the 15th inning gave Minnesota a victory and a three-game sweep over New York.

Luis Rivas beat out an infield single with one out in the 15th against Ricky Bottalico (2-1), and Cristian Guzman moved him to third with single. Ryan hit the first pitch of his at-bat to end it, and right fielder Karim Garcia kicked the ball in frustration.

Pinch-hitter Jose Offerman hit a tying double in the ninth off closer Braden Looper, spoiling a strong outing by starter Matt Ginter.

Grant Balfour (1-0), the fifth Minnesota reliever, pitched 12/3 scoreless innings for the victory.

D’backs 3, Orioles 0

Baltimore — Rookie Daniel Cabrera took a perfect game into the seventh inning before a sudden shower helped wash away his bid to make baseball history. Steve Finley homered in a three-run seventh, and Arizona got six shutout innings from Casey Fossum in a victory over Baltimore.

Cabrera, who never pitched above the Double-A level before this season, retired his first 18 batters. But rain began falling in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the shower intensified before Cabrera stepped to the mound to begin the seventh.

Marlins 4, Indians 1

Cleveland — Florida’s Carl Pavano shut down the Cleveland into the ninth inning, and Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run homer. Pavano (6-2) gave up one run and four hits in 82/3 innings to win for the fourth time in his last five decisions. He was replaced by Armando Benitez after Victor Martinez doubled with two outs in the ninth.

Martinez limped into second and was removed for pinch-hitter Tim Laker.

Benitez recorded the final out for his 14th consecutive save and 24th in 25 chances this season.

Dodgers 6, Blue Jays 1

Toronto — Kazuhisa Ishii pitched eight sharp innings, Adrian Beltre and Juan Encarnacion hit consecutive homers, and Los Angeles ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over Toronto.

Ishii (8-3) won his third straight start for the Dodgers, who salvaged the last game of the series after scoring just one run in the first two. Los Angeles had 14 hits in the finale after getting just 12 in the first two games. Eric Gagne pitched the ninth in a non-save situation.

Angels 5, Brewers 4

Anaheim, Calif. — Jeff DaVanon capped the Angels’ comeback from a four-run deficit with a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning and Anaheim ended a five-game losing streak by beating Milwaukee. DaVanon’s hit off Mike Adams came after Jose Guillen greeted Adams with an RBI single to tie it. The Angels had trailed 4-0 after three innings. Adams had just replaced Jeff Bennett (1-4), who started the eighth and walked the only two batters he faced. Kevin Gregg (3-0) allowed two hits in two scoreless innings to get the win.

Tigers 7, Braves 4

Detroit — Held hitless by Russ Ortiz until the sixth inning, Detroit rallied for a victory over Atlanta. Carlos Pena hit a two-run double, and Dmitri Young singled in the go-ahead run for the Tigers, who took two of three from Atlanta. Bobby Higginson singled leading off the sixth for Detroit’s first hit against Ortiz, who wound up with a no-decision. Mike Maroth pitched seven innings for the win.

Yankees 10, Rockies 4

New York — John Flaherty made sure seven erratic innings from Jose Contreras were good enough to beat Colorado. After the unpredictable right-hander wasted a three-run lead, Flaherty singled in the go-ahead run and followed up with a grand slam in New York’s 10-4 victory Thursday, the Yankees’ 13th straight interleague win. With Kevin Brown’s status uncertain because of his ailing back, New York was looking for a strong start by Contreras.