In major-league baseball action, Albert Pujols blasted a three-run home run in the eighth inning to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 win over the San Diego Padres Wednesday night.
Pujols' 47th homer of the season helped the Cardinals snap a seven-game losing streak, during which St. Louis has seen its lead in the National League Central division shrink to one-and-a-half games.
The team in second place in the NL Central, the Houston Astros, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 in 15 innings for their eighth straight win.
In Washington, Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run triple in the 14th inning to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-7 win over the Nationals. The Phillies remain one game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL wildcard race. Los Angeles beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4.
Other National League winners were the Marlins, Braves, Diamondbacks and Cubs.
The American League winners included the Blue Jays, Yankees, Royals, Devil Rays, White Sox, Angels and Athletics.
Ted Lilly pitched six strong innings as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4. Detroit fell one game behind the New York Yankees, who beat Baltimore, 16-5, and now have the AL's best record. The Kansas City Royals snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins. Rocco Baldelli had a three run home run as the Tampa Devil Rays routed the Boston Red Sox, 11-0. Brandon McCarthy struck out eight batters as the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1. Tim Salmon, retiring at the end of the season, hit his 299th career homer as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 6-5. The Oakland Athletics outlasted the Seattle Mariners, 7-6, in 10 innings.
Back in the National League, Anibal Sanchez became the fourth Florida rookie pitcher to win at least 10 games as the Marlins beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-2. Pedro Martinez had a rough outing in his final start of the regular season, giving up eight hits and seven runs in less than three innings. His New York Mets lost 13-1 to the Atlanta Braves. Eric Byrnes drove in three runs as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3. And the Chicago Cubs edged the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
