Eckstein Squeeze Sparks Cardinals

David Eckstein’s suicide squeeze scored pinch-runner So Taguchi in the ninth inning to give St. Louis a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night at Phoenix.

Chris Carpenter (13-4) gave up three hits in eight innings for his fifth consecutive victory. His 13 victories are tied for most in the majors.

Javier Vazquez (7-8) held St. Louis to a season-low three hits in a complete-game loss.

Jason Isringhausen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 200th career save, and 23rd in 25 chances this season. Albert Pujols failed to get a hit in three at-bats, ending his 17-game hitting streak.

New York 5, Washington 3 -- Tom Glavine overcame a rocky outing to get the victory, and the Mets ended Livan Hernandez’s 2 1/2 -month winning streak at Washington.

The Mets tagged a laboring Hernandez for four runs and eight hits, ending the All-Star right-hander’s run of 11 consecutive winning decisions that equaled the franchise record. Hernandez (12-3) stalked the mound in frustration after some of his 125 pitches before leaving after Carlos Beltran’s single to start the eighth. It was his first loss since April 19, when he gave up six runs in a 6-3 loss to Florida.

Glavine (6-7) pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up three runs and nine hits -- all singles -- for his 268th victory, tying Jim Palmer for 31st on the career list.

San Francisco 7, Cincinnati 2 -- Lance Niekro’s pinch-hit two-run triple broke a tie in the fifth inning at San Francisco, and the Giants ended their four-game losing streak.

Florida 5, Milwaukee 4 -- Juan Encarnacion hit a game-winning single in the 12th inning off Wes Obermueller (1-2) at Miami. A.J. Burnett struck out 14 in six innings for the Marlins.

Houston 5, San Diego 4 -- Andy Pettitte (6-7) won despite leaving after five innings because of tightness in his left arm, and the Astros won for the seventh time in eight games at Houston. San Diego has lost nine of 14.

Philadelphia 5, Pittsburgh 0 -- Vicente Padilla (4-8) pitched six innings, limiting the Pirates to four hits, and ended a three-game losing streak at Pittsburgh.

Chicago at Atlanta -- The game was postponed because of rain. It is scheduled to be made up today as part of a day-night doubleheader.