Pittsburgh — Jim Edmonds and Albert Pujols homered in the first inning to get St. Louis off to its customary fast start in Pittsburgh, and Tony La Russa passed Sparky Anderson to move into third place on the manager wins list in the Cardinals' 6-3 victory Thursday night.
The Pirates have lost 10 of 13 to the Cardinals, helping accelerate La Russa move up the career victories ladder during a season in which he has passed some of baseball's all-time best - Anderson, Bucky Harris and Joe McCarthy.
La Russa's victory No. 2,195 - he trails only Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763) - was Matt Morris' 101st in the majors, and it came in the home away from home for both the Cardinals and the right-hander. The Cardinals' 30 victories at 5-year-old PNC Park are the most of any opponent. St. Louis has won 17 of its last 20 in Pittsburgh, including three of four in this just-concluded series.
Morris (14-5) has more wins in Pittsburgh than some of the Pirates' own pitchers, going 6-0 in seven starts there and 2-0 this season. He lasted seven innings despite allowing two runs and nine hits, stranding five runners from the fifth through the seventh innings and seven overall.
Reds 5, Nationals 3
Washington - Ken Griffey Jr. reached 30 homers in a season for the first time since 2000, and Cincinnati's Brandon Claussen won his fifth straight decision by becoming the latest unheralded hurler to shut down Washington.
The Reds won seven of their first 35 on the road, but they're 16-7 since, including taking two of three in Washington.
On June 30, the Nationals were a majors-best 30-13 at RFK Stadium, but since then they've gone 6-14 and lost five of six home series.
Marlins 3, Brewers 1
Milwaukee - Florida's Juan Pierre hit a tiebreaking single off Jose Capellan (0-1) with two outs in the 10th, stole his 42nd base and scored on Jeff Conine's single.
Milwaukee hard-luck left-hander Doug Davis was denied of his 10th victory for the 12th straight time despite allowing just one earned run on five hits in seven stellar innings.
Mets 3, Diamondbacks 1
Phoenix - Pedro Martinez took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and Victor Diaz homered and added a sacrifice fly for New York.
The Mets completed their first four-game sweep in more than two years and have won eight of their last 10 to move within 11â2 games of Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race. New York beat Arizona 14-1 and 18-4 the previous two games.
Martinez (13-5) snapped his two-game losing streak, limiting Arizona to two hits in six innings. He had six strikeouts to pass Mickey Lolich for 15th place on the career list with 2,835. The right-hander also walked four and hit a batter.
Rockies 5, Dodgers 4
Los Angeles - Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer, Aaron Cook won his third straight start, and Colorado beat Los Angeles in the rubber game of the three-game series.
Dustan Mohr and Aaron Miles also homered to help the Rockies win a series at Dodger Stadium for the first time since Aug. 28-30, 2001. They entered the series with a 7-24 record in their last 31 games in Los Angeles.
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