The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - Jason Marquis kept the Chicago Cubs reeling and the St. Louis Cardinals got home runs from Edgar Renteria, Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Tony Womack in a 6-1 victory Friday night.

Greg Maddux (7-7) gave up three of the homers as the Cardinals won their ninth in a row at home, including the first seven games of a nine-game homestand.

St. Louis leads the NL Central by seven games over the Cubs. The Cardinals are 30-8 against the Cubs at Busch Stadium since 2000.

Derrek Lee homered for the Cubs, who have scored only three runs during a four-game losing streak.

Manager Tony La Russa was ejected for the second time this season for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Derryl Cousins in the third. The opener of a three-game series drew a sellout crowd of 49,675, the largest for a regular-season game at Busch Stadium since several thousand seats were removed to make way for a manually operated scoreboard in 1997.

Marquis (9-4) faced his former mentor, Maddux, for the third time this season. He beat him for the first time, allowing a run on nine hits in eight-plus innings for his career-high ninth win, one more than his 2002 total with the Braves.

Pirates 11, Expos 0

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Jason Bay homered twice and Pittsburgh scored a season-high nine times in the second inning to back Sean Burnett's first career shutout.

Burnett (3-2) scattered 10 hits, struck out three and walked none, helping to shut out Montreal for the 13th time this season. It was Pittsburgh's fourth shutout.

Bay went 4-for-5, with a single, double, and two homers. He drove in four runs, hitting solo shots in the fourth and the sixth. It was Bay's third multihomer game of the year, and the fourth of his career.

Phillies 7, Braves 6, 10 innings

PHILADELPHIA - Tomas Perez's pinch-hit, RBI single in the 10th helped Philadelphia overcome a five-run deficit and two three-run homers by Rafael Furcal.

Chase Utley hit a solo homer off John Smoltz with one out in the ninth to tie it at 6 and Mike Lieberthal had four RBI, including a three-run homer in the eighth.

Billy Wagner (3-0) got the final two outs in the 10th for his second win in two nights.

The NL East-leading Phillies came in with a two-game lead over the Braves and Mets.

Mets 6, Marlins 3

MIAMI - Ty Wigginton homered and had an RBI double, leading New York to victory over foundering Florida.

Mike Cameron also homered for the Mets, who scored four runs in the eighth inning to win for the seventh time in nine games.

The defending World Series champions have gone the other way, losing seven of nine. The Marlins are .500 (43-43) for the first time since starting the season 1-1.

Dan Wheeler (3-0) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings. Braden Looper pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 20 chances. Wigginton and Cameron hit back-to-back homers in the fourth off A.J. Burnett, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. The Marlins retook the lead on Hee Seop Choi's two-run homer against his former high school teammate in South Korea, Jae Seo.