Cards stun Giants in ninth

St. Louis strikes for five-run rally, takes 5-4 victory

? A five-run rally in the ninth inning by a dormant St. Louis offense kept Chris Carpenter’s nine-game winning streak alive.

Jim Edmonds’ two-run double with two outs capped the five-run comeback in a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

The Cardinals were stymied on six hits before coming from behind after eight innings for only the third time in 43 attempts this season.

“In one way it’s lucky, and in one way that’s what it’s all about,” Edmonds said. “They said we let Chris off the hook, but we let ourselves off the hook.”

Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer – his third hit of the game – earlier in the inning. It helped rescue Carpenter, who leads the major leagues with 17 victories and hasn’t lost since June 8.

“What a great game it was,” Carpenter said. “It’s all about what we did in that last inning.”

Julian Tavarez (2-2) allowed an inherited runner to score in the ninth, but recorded three outs for the win.

The St. Louis Cardinals mob Jim Edmonds after he hit a two-run, game-winning double with two outs in the ninth inning. The Cardinals defeated the San Francisco Giants, 5-4, Friday night in St. Louis.

The Cards opened the ninth with four straight hits off Tyler Walker. John Mabry doubled, and So Taguchi had a single before Molina’s sixth homer. It was his first homer since being activated off the 15-day disabled list Thursday without a rehab assignment, even though he missed 33 games because of a broken hand.

“So much for rehab, right?” St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said.

Pinch-hitter John Rodriguez then singled to knock out Walker. Abraham Nunez singled with one out off Jeremy Accardo (0-3), and, after another out, Edmonds hit the game-winner off the right-field wall on the first pitch from Jason Christiansen.

“Not much of an at-bat,” Christiansen said. “One pitch, a fastball. It was supposed to be down and away, I left it up somewhat away.”

Brad Hennessey allowed five hits over 71â3 innings for the Giants, who received home runs from Omar Vizquel and Ray Durham.

Cubs 5, Rockies 3

Denver – Mark Prior struck out 10 in six strong innings, then received relief help from Kerry Wood in Chicago’s victory over Colorado. Todd Walker homered, and Jeromy Burnitz drove in two runs for the Cubs, who have won three straight.

Prior (9-4) allowed two runs, five hits and two walks, improving to 4-1 in his last eight starts. He threw 118 pitches and fanned Todd Helton twice in the 20th double-digit strikeout game of his career.

Astros 5, Brewers 3

Houston – Pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino tied the game with a single in the seventh, and Houston added two more runs in the inning on a wild pitch and an error to beat Milwaukee.

The win snapped the Astros’ three-game losing streak and moved them one-half game ahead of Philadelphia and Florida in the NL wild-card race.

Russ Springer (4-3) pitched 11â3 perfect innings for the win. After two relievers pitched another 11â3 innings, Brad Lidge got the last two outs for his 30th save.

Padres 12, Braves 7

Atlanta – Joe Randa hit a three-run homer, and San Diego matched its season high with 20 hits in a victory over Atlanta.

The Padres improved to 4-0 this season against Atlanta, moved within a game of .500 (60-61) and pushed their lead in the NL West to four games over second-place Arizona. They swept a three-game series against the Braves on May 16-18 in San Diego.

Mike Hampton (5-3) gave up 11 hits and seven runs – both season highs – in 31â3 innings.

Reds 17, Diamondbacks 3

Cincinnati – Austin Kearns hit three-run homers in consecutive innings and set a career high with six RBIs, leading Cincinnati over Arizona. Felipe Lopez added a three-run homer, and Wily Mo Pena had a solo shot as the Reds set a season high for runs in a game and in one inning, scoring 10 in the fourth.

The Reds had 15 hits while winning consecutive home games for the first time since beating Chicago on July 21 and Milwaukee on July 22.

Marlins 3, Dodgers 0

Miami – A.J. Burnett won his seventh straight start and combined with Todd Jones on Florida’s third consecutive shutout.

Paul Lo Duca’s two-run single broke up a scoreless tie in the seventh. Burnett (12-6) allowed six hits in eight-plus innings to set a Marlins record with his 49th career victory, surpassing former teammate Brad Penny, who will pitch for Los Angeles against Florida today. Burnett’s career record is 49-44; Penny went 48-42 for the Marlins.

Mets 1, Nationals 0

New York – Jae Seo allowed four hits in eight innings to outpitch John Patterson, and Victor Diaz drove in the only run as New York beat Washington.

Jose Reyes tied career highs with four hits – all singles – and three stolen bases, helping the Mets take the opener of the three-game series between NL wild-card hopefuls. New York is 17-4 in series openers at home, tops in the majors.

Pirates 11, Phillies 2

Philadelphia – Kip Wells allowed three hits over seven innings, hit a two-run homer and snapped a career-high four-game losing streak in Pittsburgh’s victory over Philadelphia.

The right-hander improved to 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA against Philadelphia for his career. In his last win before the streak, Wells shut out the Phillies and struck out 12 on July 5.