St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile looks down as Milwaukee Brewers' Richie Sexson rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Richie Sexson provided a happy ending on an emotional day for the Milwaukee Brewers.

        Hours after manager Davey Lopes was fired, Sexson homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs as Milwaukee beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 Thursday night.

        “A dear friend of mine got let go, he's at home just happy as a lark for me,” interim manager Jerry Royster said. “It was a strange day leading into it, taking over for your buddy. But the game is a game. This is baseball and I've got to go out there and do everything I can to get some victories for the Brewers now.

        “I'll see Davey tonight. I'm sure the first thing he's going to do is give me a hug.”

        Before leaving the ballpark, Lopes said he “had a good cry” with Royster and pitching coach Dave Stewart, all of whom have been “like brothers” since their playing days in the Dodgers organization more than 20 years ago.

        Lopes was fired after the Brewers' 3-12 start, the worst in franchise history.

        In other NL games, it was: the Mets 1, Montreal 0; Cincinnati 5, Houston 4; Florida 8, Philadelphia 7; and Los Angeles 5, San Diego 2.

        Sexson had a two-run triple in the first inning, added a two-run homer off starter Darryl Kile in the sixth and hit a three-run shot to center field off Luther Hackman (0-2) in the seventh.

        He tied the franchise record for RBIs set by Ted Kubiak at Boston on July 18, 1970, and tied April 12 of last year by Jose Hernandez against Houston.

        Jose Cabrera (1-2) pitched one hitless inning in relief for his first victory since coming to the Brewers from Atlanta in a spring training trade, and Mike DeJean pitched the ninth for his second save.

        The Brewers snapped a five-game losing streak at Miller Park and won for the second time in 12 games.

        “It feels great,” Royster said. “We needed it so bad. Even as a coach I was waiting on that, and to get it as manager is even more special. We finally broke out. We got some big hits, scored some runs.”

        Mets 1, Expos 0

        Al Leiter pitched a two-hitter for his eighth career shutout and Mike Piazza hit an RBI double to lead New York.

        Leiter (2-0) allowed Michael Barrett's double in the fourth and Jose Vidro's double in the fifth as he pitched his 14th career complete game before a crowd of 4,512 at Olympic Stadium that featured a large number of Mets fans behind their dugout.

        The Mets, who have won seven of nine, scored the only run of the game in the fourth against Javier Vazquez (0-1).

        Marlins 8, Phillies 7

        Andy Fox singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the eighth inning off Ricky Bottalico (0-1), and Florida bounced back after blowing a four-run lead to beat visiting Philadelphia.

        The Marlins overcame a 3-0 deficit and led 7-3 before the Phillies scored four times in the eighth to tie the game.

        Vladimir Nunez (2-0) blew a save in the eighth, allowing two hits and the tying run, then pitched a perfect ninth.

        Dodgers 5, Padres 2

        Omar Daal pitched 6 1-3 strong innings in an emergency start for the injured Kevin Brown as Los Angeles beat San Diego.

        Mark Grudzielanek and Adrian Beltre homered off Brian Tollberg (0-3), helping end the Padres' seven-game winning streak at Dodger Stadium.

        Daal (2-0) allowed two unearned runs and three hits, striking out eight and walking two. Eric Gagne earned his sixth save.

Two rallies stave off sweep Reds box, runs Kremchek says Jr. improving quickly Reds have OFs to burn Sunday's start goes to Rijo Reds notes: Acevedo demotion a signal Reds at Chicago Cubs Baseball notes: 3-12 Milwaukee fires Lopes as manager AL: Lofton helps White Sox sweep Indians NL: Sexson gives Royster win in managerial debut

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