Cardinals Win, La Russa Suffers

Facing his old team is no fun for Tony La Russa. For a few days, he can’t root for the Oakland Athletics.

In the opener of a three-game interleague series Tuesday night, the St. Louis Cardinal manager came away with an 8-4 win against the team he led to four division championships and a World Series from 1986 to ’95.

“I looked in that dugout and saw several guys I know,” La Russa said. “I’m glad it’s only two more games, and then I can go back to pulling for them.”

Pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson sparked a five-run seventh inning with a two-run, go-ahead single, helping the Cardinals end the A’s eight-game winning streak.

Albert Pujols was one for four with two runs batted in for the Cardinals in his first appearance at first base in eight games. Pujols has been hampered by a strained left hamstring, an injury that reduced him to DH duties during a weekend series at Texas.

The Athletics entered 18-0 all-time against the NL Central, but three pitchers faced 11 batters in the pivotal seventh. The Cardinals are 14-5 since May 26, and moved to 10 games above .500 for the first time. They succeeded in their fifth try.

“Half the battle is getting there, and then you’ve got to stay above it, right?” La Russa said. “That’s a big number for us.”

Tampa Bay 5, San Diego 2 -- Aubrey Huff hit a three-run homer, Mark Hendrickson (4-5) pitched into the eighth inning at San Diego and the Devil Rays tied a franchise record with their sixth consecutive victory.

With Oakland’s eight-game winning streak ending at St. Louis, Tampa Bay suddenly is baseball’s hottest team. The season-high six consecutive wins have come against teams from the NL West, baseball’s weakest division. The Devil Rays won two against San Francisco and three against Colorado at home before starting a nine-game trip.

Chicago White Sox 7, Florida 5 -- Carlos Lee doubled and scored in the 10th inning, extending his hitting streak to a franchise-record 28 games -- the longest in the majors this year -- and helping the White Sox win at Miami.

Timo Perez hit a tying, two-run homer in the ninth off closer Armando Benitez, who blew his second save in 26 chances. Benitez also gave up a three-run homer to Frank Thomas in the eighth.

New York Yankees 4, Arizona 2 -- Miguel Cairo singled in two runs, and Jose Contreras improved to 3-0 in his last four starts to lead the Yankees at Phoenix.

Gary Sheffield, Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter each had three hits for the Yankees, who have won 11 of 13 -- and 17 of 20 -- to open a season-best 4 1/2-game lead over Boston in the AL East. One of Sheffield’s hits was a solo home run off Mike Koplove in the ninth inning.

Cincinnati 5, Texas 4 -- The Rangers kept Ken Griffey Jr. stuck at 499 homers, but the Reds ended their seven-game losing streak when Barry Larkin singled in the winning run in the 11th at Cincinnati.

The Reds rebounded from a disastrous 0-7 trip by rallying to tie it in the ninth off closer Francisco Cordero, who had been perfect in 19 save opportunities. Jason LaRue’s run-scoring single tied it at 4-4.

Colorado 6, Boston 3 -- Vinny Castilla homered and drove in two runs, and Todd Helton also had two RBIs at Denver to help Joe Kennedy win for the first time in eight starts, and the Rockies ended an eight-game losing streak.

Kennedy (5-4) gave up seven hits and three innings in five innings to win for the first time since beating Montreal on May 5.

Atlanta 3, Kansas City 2 -- Andruw Jones scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Jason Grimsley in the eighth inning to help the Braves rally at Atlanta.

Chipper Jones made his first start at third base since Oct. 21, 2001, when the Braves lost to Arizona in Game 5 of the NL championship series. An everyday third baseman from 1995 to 2001, he was one for four and made two routine plays in the field.

San Francisco 4, Toronto 3 -- Jason Schmidt struck out 12 in his career-high eighth consecutive victory to lead the Giants at San Francisco.

Schmidt (8-2) struck out the side in the first in 14 pitches, then got three more strikeouts in the fourth. The right-hander finished one strikeout shy of matching his career high, which he has done four times.

Detroit 10, Philadelphia 3 -- Jeremy Bonderman pitched one-hit ball over seven dominant innings, and Carlos Guillen had a bases-loaded triple to lead the Tigers at Philadelphia.

Bonderman (5-5) was crisp and in control, tying a career high with eight strikeouts and walking only two. He gave up his only hit in the fourth and won for the first time in five starts.

Minnesota 8, Montreal 2 -- Johan Santana got his first career RBI and gave up three hits in eight innings, and Torii Hunter homered and drove in three runs to lead the Twins at Montreal.

Santana (4-4), who had his longest outing of the season, hit a run-scoring single in the second for his third career hit. He retired 18 in a row after giving up Brad Wilkerson’s double leading off the first.

New York Mets 7, Cleveland 2 -- Mike Piazza and Ty Wigginton had three hits apiece, and Karim Garcia had a two-run homer in a 14-hit attack for the Mets at New York.

The Mets scored their most runs since May 21, only the 10th time in 63 games that New York had that many in a game.

Milwaukee 3, Seattle 0 -- Victor Santos and two relievers combined on a two-hitter, and Lyle Overbay drove in two runs to lead the Brewers at Milwaukee.

Luis Vizcaino threw a hitless eighth, and Dan Kolb pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 19 chances to complete the Brewers’ third shutout.