St. Louis Cardinals' Jim Edmonds hits a two-run home run off Chicago Cubs pitcher Jon Lieber in the first inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        ST. LOUIS — Jim Edmonds, Tino Martinez and Eduardo Perez all homered, powering St. Louis to a victory over Chicago.

        Chuck Finley, acquired last Friday in a trade with Cleveland, won in his Busch Stadium debut before the largest crowd of the season at 48,730. Edgar Renteria got two hits to reach 1,000 in his career.

        Finley (2-0) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking none.

        Phillies 3, Braves 2

        ATLANTA — Gary Sheffield grounded out with the bases loaded to end the game, and Philadelphia held off Atlanta.

        The Phillies, playing a night game for the first time in a week, won their fourth straight. It's their longest streak since June 7-10, when they also won four in a row during interleague play.

        After the Braves loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth inning against Jose Mesa, Sheffield hit an easy grounder. Mesa held on for his 28th save in 34 chances.

        Randy Wolf gave up four hits in 6 1-3 innings and Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run homer to help Philadelphia.

        Astros 4, Pirates 3

        HOUSTON — Julio Lugo hit a game-winning single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to bail out Houston closer Billy Wagner.

        After Wagner (3-2) allowed a game-tying homer to Aramis Ramirez in the ninth, the Astros won it in the bottom half to reach .500 for the first time since May 18.

        Brad Ausmus walked with one out against Scott Sauerbeck (3-1) and moved to second on a groundout. Lugo then singled to center to score the winning run.

        Pittsburgh starter Josh Fogg allowed one run and three hits in seven innings.

        Expos 6, Marlins 5, 10 innings

        MONTREAL — Jose Vidro hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting Montreal over Florida.

        After right fielder Vladimir Guerrero threw out Tim Raines at the plate to end the top of the 10th, Vidro won it with his 11th homer.

        Vidro, who was hitless in his first four at-bats after missing five straight starts because of soreness in his lower back, connected off Vladimir Nunez (5-4). Montreal won for the third time in 12 games.

        Trailing 5-3 with two outs in the ninth, Florida's Preston Wilson hit a two-run homer off Scott Stewart to tie the game.

        Dodgers 11, Giants 6

SAN FRANCISCO — Tyler Houston went 4-for-4 and drove in four runs in his Dodgers debut, leading Los Angeles over the San Francisco Giants.

        Houston, acquired in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, hit a two-run triple in the first inning.

        Adrian Beltre also drove in four runs with four hits. Mark Grudzielanek had four of the Dodgers' 18 hits.

        The Dodgers won for just the fourth time in their last 16 games. Despite a career-high four RBIs by Ramon Martinez, the Giants lost for the fifth time in seven games.

        Hideo Nomo (10-6) improved to 7-0 in eight starts in San Francisco. He allowed five runs and nine hits over seven innings and won for the first time since July 1, a span of five starts.

        The Dodgers pounced on Russ Ortiz (7-7) for eight runs in two innings, his shortest outing of the season.

        Brewers 10, Rockies 3

        MILWAUKEE — Mark Loretta hit his career first grand slam and Ben Sheets won for the second time in 15 starts as Milwaukee beat Colorado.

        Loretta connected for the slam in the third inning off Denny Stark (6-2) for his first homer since Aug. 22, 2001. It followed singles by Richie Sexson and Matt Stairs and a walk to Jose Hernandez, giving Sheets (5-12) a 6-0 lead.

        Richie Sexson added a three-run homer in the eighth, his 23rd of the year, for Milwaukee.

Mets 3, Reds 2 Reds box, Runs Fehr: Avoiding strike possible Boone feels good about meeting with Fehr Mo called his shot Patriarch of umpire family dies at age 84 Angels move into 1st in AL West NL roundup AL roundup Notes from Friday's games

Now signed, rookies work on delivering
Bengals brimming with confidence
Abnormal heart tests send Jackson to sideline
Potential unfulfilled, Seahawks' Leaf retires
UC's Hicks rebuilding strength in injured leg
Agassi duels with Kuerten
Day of upsets sees 3 of 8 top seeds fall
New division, same intensity
Deveroes' finest strut their stuff
As Paris nears, Armstrong is in command
Pocono polesitter Elliott chases mountain milestone
Warriors tap Musselman as team's new head coach
Watson 5 off lead at British Seniors
Coming up this week

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