Giants push Mets' streak to 11 losses

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ryan Jensen pitched six strong innings to win for the first time in eight starts and the San Francisco Giants extended the New York Mets' longest losing streak since 1991 to 11 games with a 3-1 victory Thursday.

San Francisco won all six meetings with the Mets this season, just the second time in franchise history the Giants have swept a season series. They beat Florida nine times in 1998.

The Giants remained 2 1/2 games behind Los Angeles in the NL wild card race.

The Mets have dropped 16 of 19 overall to fall into last place in the NL East. They are on their longest losing streak since also losing 11 straight Aug. 9-21, 1991.

Jensen (11-8) won for the first time since July 15 after allowing one run on six hits. Robb Nen pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 38 opportunities.

Mike Bacsik (2-1) gave the Mets another solid outing, giving up three runs and nine hits over 5 1-3 innings.

Dodgers 6, Marlins 2

LOS ANGELES -- Hideo Nomo beat Florida for the first time in 11 decisions and Chad Kreuter went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs for Los Angeles.

Shawn Green hit a tie-breaking two run single in the seventh to help the Dodgers win for the 11th time in 14 games.

Nomo (12-6) allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings. He was removed for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh, when the Dodgers scored three runs against Graeme Lloyd (3-4).

Kreuter drove in the final two runs with his second homer of the season off Armando Almanza in the eighth.

Paul Shuey pitched two hitless innings for his first NL save.

Derrek Lee hit his 20th homer for the Marlins.

Padres 9, Braves 2

SAN DIEGO -- Left-hander Mike Bynum shut down baseball's best team in just his second big league start as San Diego beat Atlanta to take two of three from the Braves.

Bynum (1-0), who was promoted from Triple-A Portland on Friday and got a no-decision at Montreal on Saturday, held Atlanta to two runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings, struck out four and walked two.

Braves starter Jason Marquis (8-8) left with a bruised left calf after he was hit by Phil Nevin's line drive in the third inning, and center fielder Andruw Jones strained his left shoulder and right wrist making a diving catch of Bynum's fly ball in the sixth.

San Diego's Gene Kingsale went 3-for-4 with a walk, scored four runs and made a nice over-the-shoulder catch of Chipper Jones' fly ball in the sixth.

Rockies 14, Expos 6

DENVER -- Jay Payton homered and drove in a career-high five runs and Todd Zeile had a home run and three RBIs in Colorado's victory over Montreal.

Payton went 4-for-5 with a triple and three runs. He's batting .408 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 71 at-bats since being acquired from the New York Mets on July 31.

Brent Butler had three RBIs and Todd Helton hit a two-run homer for the Rockies, who took two of three from the Expos.

Denny Stark (9-3) allowed four hits and five runs in five innings to improve to 7-1 at Coors Field.

Vladimir Guerrero hit his 35th home run and moved into third place on Montreal's career list with 205. Jose Vidro had a two-run homer and Orlando Cabrera added a solo shot for the Expos.

Tony Armas (8-12) allowed eight runs and seven hits in 1 1-3 innings, the shortest outing of his career.

Phillies 7, Brewers 0

MILWAUKEE -- Randy Wolf allowed four hits in eight innings and hit his first career home run to lead Philadelphia past Milwaukee.

Wolf (9-7) struck out seven and walked four as the Brewers fell to 7-20 against left-handers this season. The Phillies are 6-0 in Wolf's last six starts.

Pat Burrell and Placido Polanco hit solo home runs for the Phillies, who pounded Milwaukee pitchers for 27 hits and 20 runs in winning twice after losing the series opener.

The Phillies took a 3-0 lead in the first inning against Jimmy Osting (0-1), making his second start with the Brewers.

Astros 9, Cubs 1

HOUSTON -- Roy Oswalt pitched eight innings for his sixth straight win and Brad Ausmus homered in Houston's six-run first.

Oswalt (16-6) allowed only a solo homer to Fred McGriff in the seventh inning as he improved to 4-0 in five starts against Chicago this season. Oswalt struck out six.

Cubs starter Steve Smyth (1-2) retired only one batter, giving up six run, four hits and three walks.

Ausmus' three-run homer that just cleared the yellow stripe in left-center was the big blow in Houston's six-run first.

McGriff hit his 28th homer leading off the seventh.

Red Sox 12, Rangers 3

BOSTON -- Manny Ramirez had two homers and six RBIs and Dustin Hermanson won his official debut as a Red Sox starter.

Ramirez went 4-for-4 with a season-high 11 total bases. Jason Varitek drove in three runs with a single and a double despite a moderate rain that fell most of the game.

Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the first off Dennys Reyes (1-1), an RBI single in the second and a three-run homer in the third for an 11-0 lead.

Hermanson (1-0), who spent nearly the entire season on the disabled list after an offseason trade with St. Louis, allowed four hits in five innings and left with a 12-2 lead.

Yankees 4, Angels 2

NEW YORK -- David Wells (14-6) pitched into the eighth inning, and Derek Jeter had three hits to lead New York over Anaheim.

Jeter scored twice for the Yankees, who took two of three in a series between AL division leaders and have won eight of 10 overall. Raul Mondesi added a two-run single.

The Angels, who fell out of first place in the AL West, lost for just the third time in 11 games.

Angels rookie John Lackey (5-3) allowed 11 hits in his first career complete game.

Athletics 9, Indians 3

CLEVELAND -- Mark Mulder completed Oakland's first four-game sweep of Cleveland and the Athletics won their season-high ninth straight game.

Mulder (15-7) followed a brilliant performance by Cory Lidle -- a one-hitter Wednesday night -- with a pretty good one of his own, allowing three runs and five hits in 7 2-3 innings.

Mulder walked none, struck out two and got 16 outs on grounders as the A's moved into a tie for first place in the AL West with Seattle. It's the first time the A's have had a share of first since April 10.

Jason Phillips (1-2) took the loss.

Mariners 4, Tigers 2

DETROIT -- Mike Cameron singled in two runs in a three-run sixth inning as Seattle beat Detroit to split the four-game series.

Cameron was 7-for-11 in the series, including hits in six straight at-bats, after arriving in Detroit in an 0-for-21 slump.

Ryan Franklin (5-3) pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk in his sixth start in the major leagues. Kazuhiro Sasaki pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 37 tries.

Mark Redman (7-12) lost for the third start in a row, allowing four runs on eight hits in eight innings.

Twins 8, Royals 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jacque Jones hit a home run leading off a game for the third time in four days and Cristian Guzman and Luis Rivas also homered as Minnesota beat Kansas City.

Jones, who's hit four of his nine leadoff homers this year against the Royals, knocked the second pitch from Runelvys Hernandez (3-2) over the fence in left. It was Jones' 23rd homer of the year.

Guzman followed Jones' leadoff homer with a double that stretched his hitting streak to 20 games, the best for the Twins since Shane Mack's 22-game streak in 1992.

Guzman was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, with an RBI single in the fifth and a two-run homer off Darrell May in the seventh.

Johan Santana (7-5) retired the last 11 batters he faced, going six innings and giving up three runs on six hits.

Orioles 3, Devil Rays 2

BALTIMORE -- Jerry Hairston homered and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th on a single by Tony Batista, carrying Baltimore past Tampa Bay before the smallest crowd in the 11-year history of Camden Yards.

Jeff Conine also homered for the Orioles. There were only 21,447 fans in the makeup of an April 9 rainout.

Chris Gomez connected for the Devil Rays, who are 0-12-3 in their last 15 series. The last AL team to go 15 series without a win is the 1996 Detroit Tigers, who went 0-for-16.

Jorge Julio (5-5) got the win and Travis Harper (5-7) took the loss.