NL baseball: Rookie gives Cardinals win in 10th

Published 12:00 am Monday, May 11, 2009

Associated Press
CINCINNATI ó Colby Rasmus doubled home a run in the 10th inning Sunday, and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame five Cincinnati homers ó including two solo shots in the ninth ó to beat the Reds 8-7 and salvage their series finale.
Rasmus got his decisive hit off Francisco Cordero (0-2), who is perfect in nine save chances but has lost twice when pitching with the score tied.
Jerry Hairston Jr. and Micah Owings, the Reds’ fifth starter and one of their top pinch hitters, homered in the ninth off Ryan Franklin (1-0) to tie it at 7 and end the closer’s run of perfection. Franklin had converted all nine save chances and hadn’t allowed a run all season.
Given another chance to close it out, the Cardinals struggled again.
Cincinnati loaded the bases with two outs in the 10th against Blaine Boyer. Right-hander Chris Perez came on and got pinch-hitter Paul Janish to foul out, picking up his first save this season.
Giants 7, Dodgers 5, 13 innings
LOS ANGELES ó Randy Winn hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with the bases loaded in the 13th inning and finished with four hits.
Mets 8, Pirates 4
NEW YORK ó Livan Hernandez survived a shaky start to go six innings and New York welcomed manager Jerry Manuel back from his one-game suspension with their seventh straight victory.
Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo and Omir Santos each drove in a pair of runs for the Mets, who haven’t lost since May 2 at Philadelphia.
Pittsburgh has dropped eight in a row and 12 of 13 after an 11-7 start to the season.
Cubs 4, Brewers 2
MILWAUKEE ó Alfonso Soriano hit a towering two-run homer in a four-run third inning and Chicago beat Milwaukee to avoid a series sweep.
Braves 4, Phillies 2
PHILADELPHIA ó Casey Kotchman had three hits and three RBIs, Kenshin Kawakami pitched six effective innings and Atlanta rallied to get the win.
Kotchman hit a two-out, two-run single off Jack Taschner (1-1) in the seventh inning to give the Braves a 3-2 lead.
Garret Anderson had two hits for the Braves (15-16), who took two of three from the Phillies to move within one game of .500. Rafael Soriano worked the ninth for his third save in three opportunities.
Rockies 3, Marlins 2
DENVERó Aaron Cook pitched six solid innings and Troy Tulowitzki homered as part of a third consecutive multihit game, leading Colorado to the win.
Diamondbacks 10, Nationals 8
PHOENIX ó Chris Snyder and Eric Byrnes each drove in three runs and the Diamondbacks gave manager A.J. Hinch his first victory. Ryan Zimmerman pushed his hitting streak to 28 games with a double and two singles, and Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham both homered twice.
Astros 12, Padres 5
HOUSTON ó Miguel Tejada and Carlos Lee drove in four runs apiece.