St. Louis ? Steve Kline threw a tantrum in the St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen when he didn’t get the call in the sixth inning, and admitted making a rude gesture toward manager Tony La Russa.

In the end, though, he was just about the only pitcher who could string together some outs in a 10-9 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.

Making only his second appearance since June 11, Kline (2-1) recorded the last five outs to silence a Cubs offense that had 14 hits.

“Fired up, baby, that’s part of the game,” Kline said. “I want to pitch. You’re a little mad. Hell, it’s baseball, right? Let’s have some fun.”

La Russa said he didn’t see Kline’s antics.

“Did he really?” the manager said. “He couldn’t have. Well, give me two minutes because you walk in (the clubhouse) and he’s going to be laying on the ground and I’m going to be standing on his chest. That had better not be what he did.”

So Taguchi scored the go-ahead run on Paul Bako’s passed ball in the eighth. It was Kyle Farnsworth’s first pitch of the game.

“The ball got away from Farnsy,” Bako said. “Obviously, it got away from me, too.”

The Cardinals, who have won seven of nine, wasted leads of 3-0 and 5-3 but bounced back and improved to 28-8 at home against the Cubs since the start of the 2000 season.

“When we’re playing against the Cubs, it’s always exciting,” Taguchi said. “So, I got excited.”

Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer for the Cardinals, his 20th of the season.

Todd Walker homered and had four hits, and Corey Patterson and Derrek Lee had three hits each for Chicago, which outhit the Cardinals 14-9 but lost for the second time in 11 games.

“It’s very exhausting, especially ultimately when you lose,” Walker said. “These hurt worse than normal losses, especially playing the Cardinals.”

Giants 3, Dodgers 2

San Francisco — Ray Durham hit a bases-loaded triple and Jerome Williams pitched six strong innings in San Francisco’s fifth straight victory. Williams (7-5) mostly stayed out of trouble in his third victory in four starts.

Padres 4, D’backs 3

San Diego — David Wells outdueled Randy Johnson in a matchup of perfect-game lefties but got a no-decision when the Padres blew a one-run lead. Terrence Long then homered with one out in the ninth to beat Arizona. Long drove a 1-2 curveball from Elmer Dessens (1-5) off the right-field foul pole, his first homer of the year. Wells left after allowing in the seventh with a 3-1 lead.

Rockies 3, Brewers 2

Milwaukee — Shawn Estes had a run-scoring double, Shawn Chacon worked out of his one-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning and Colorado ended its eight-game road losing streak with a victory over Milwaukee. Aaron Miles had a two-run single in the three-run third for the Rockies, who are a major league worst 9-26 on the road.

Marlins 6, Braves 0

Miami — Brad Penny pitched six shutout innings, Jeff Conine homered for the first time in more than a month and Florida beat Atlanta. The Braves have lost six of their last seven games and 10 of 14, falling six games under .500 for the first time since 1990, when they finished 65-97.

Reds 6, Mets 4, 12 innings

New York — Sean Casey hit his second two-run homer of the game in the 12th inning and finished with five hits, sending Cincinnati over New York. Wily Mo Pena and D’Angelo Jimenez also connected for the Reds, who snapped New York’s season-high five-game winning streak. They blew a 4-0 lead but still won for only the second time in 12 road games.

Pirates 7, Astros 2

Houston — Ryan Vogelsong allowed two hits over six innings to win for the first time in 12 starts and Jason Kendall hit his first career grand slam to lead Pittsburgh over Houston. Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak and won for just the second time in 17 games at Houston. They have only won four of their last 23 and two of 13 on the road.

Phillies 5, Expos 2

Montreal — Jim Thome hit his major league-leading 24th home run and Kevin Millwood won for the first time in eight starts, leading Philadelphia over Montreal. Thome homered off Sun-woo Kim (3-3) to lead off the second, and Mike Lieberthal and David Bell also had solo shots for Philadelphia.