St. Louis ? The St. Louis Cardinals sure aren’t playing like World Series champions.

Tom Gorzelanny and Matt Capps combined on a four-hitter and Adam LaRoche hit a three-run homer, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-1 victory Tuesday for a two-game sweep.

The Cardinals’ 6-7 start is the worst by a World Series winner since the 1998 Florida Marlins were 1-11. St. Louis completed a 1-3 homestand, scoring 10 runs in a victory over Milwaukee and totaling five runs in the losses. After going 49-31 last season, the NL’s second-best home record, the Cardinals are 1-6 at Busch Stadium.

Gorzelanny (2-0), bidding for his first complete game in 15 major league starts, allowed one run and four hits in 81â3 innings with two strikeouts.

Manager Jim Tracy got his 500th major league victory (500-484).

Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 4

Phoenix – Juan Pierre doubled and tripled and scored three runs to lead Los Angeles, which won for the 10th time in 12 games.

Rockies 5, Giants 3

Denver – Yorvit Torrealba’s three-run double off Kevin Correia capped a five-run eighth inning that carried Colorado.

Astros 6, Marlins 1

Houston – Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer and drove in two more runs to lead Houston. Lee’s home run to the Crawford Boxes in left field off Jorge Julio put Houston ahead, 2-1, in the fourth.

Braves 6, Nationals 4

Washington – John Smoltz moved within one strikeout of Cy Young and within five wins of 200 in Atlanta’s victory. Smoltz (2-1) didn’t allow an earned run until the seventh inning, Chipper Jones homered, and Kelly Johnson had a career-high four hits.

Reds 11, Brewers 5

Cincinnati – Ryan Freel had four hits and singled to start a seventh-inning rally for Cincinnati, which split a four-game series with Milwaukee. Javier Valentin completed the five-run rally with a bases-loaded single off Greg Aquino, who couldn’t preserve a two-out, 5-4 lead.

Mets 8, Phillies 1

Philadelphia – Freddy Garcia’s long-anticipated debut with the Phillies was a bust. Moises Alou homered twice and drove in three runs, and Tom Glavine got his 293rd win for New York. Garcia (0-1) allowed three runs and eight hits, striking out six in 42â3 innings.

Padres 4, Cubs 3 (14)

Chicago – Geoff Blum doubled in the go-ahead run in the 14th inning. Khalil Greene led off the 14th with a double to the right-field corner against Will Ohman (0-1), and with one out, Blum sent a shot to left that Jacque Jones let skip by him.