Suppan Receives Lots of Help to Beat Giants

Jeff Suppan was more surprised with his offense than the St. Louis defense, and he needed both to earn his first win in San Francisco.

Suppan pitched into the seventh inning, had two hits and drove in a run to help the Cardinals beat the Giants, 4-3, Sunday night.

Einar Diaz drove in two runs and Scott Rolen made several dazzling plays at third as the Cardinals won for the sixth time in eight games. Their 11 1/2 -game lead over the Houston Astros in the National League Central is their largest at an All-Star break.

“Rolen, Albert [Pujols], I’d have to name the whole team,” said Suppan, who gave up three runs in 6 1/3 innings. “Rolen was making some incredible plays; making plays off his knees. We were also turning double plays on balls that were hard hit.”

Suppan (9-7) made his second start in San Francisco, and the first since losing at Candlestick Park on May 31, 1998, with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I remember it was windy and cold and it was a long time ago,” Suppan said. “That’s honestly all I can remember.”

Jason Isringhausen gave up two hits in the ninth but struck out Lance Niekro with runners on the corners for his 25th save in 27 chances.

San Diego 8, Colorado 5 -- Brian Giles tripled and drove in three runs, and Ramon Hernandez had two runs batted in for the Padres at Denver.

Damian Jackson had three hits, and Xavier Nady and Khalil Greene hit solo home runs for the NL West-leading Padres.

Paul Quantrill (1-0), acquired July 2 from the New York Yankees, pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in his third outing.

Arizona 2, Cincinnati 0 -- Tony Clark broke up a scoreless game with a seventh-inning home run at Phoenix.

After Clark’s two-out solo shot, Shawn Green doubled and pinch-hitter Luis Terrero lined a run-scoring single into right field.

That ended what had been a superb outing for Eric Milton, who had given up only two hits in 6 2/3 innings before Clark stepped to the plate.

Lance Cormier (5-1), who bailed starter Michael Gosling out of a jam in the sixth and worked the seventh, earned the win.

Philadelphia 5, Washington 4 -- Ryan Howard hit a score-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning, and pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez drove in the tiebreaking run in the 12th at Philadelphia.

David Bell hit a one-out single to center field against Sun-Woo Kim (1-2) in the 12th and went to third on Todd Pratt’s single. Jason Michaels flew out and Jimmy Rollins was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Martinez, who had only nine at-bats for the Phillies since he was acquired June 8 from Detroit, chopped a grounder into left field to end the game.

Milwaukee 8, Atlanta 4 -- Geoff Jenkins homered and drove in three runs, and NL leader Carlos Lee had two more RBIs, helping Chris Capuano win at Atlanta.

Capuano (10-6) earned his career-high fifth consecutive win, pitching five innings and leaving with a 5-4 lead after the Brewers rallied for three runs in the fifth.

New York 6, Pittsburgh 1 -- Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give Pedro Martinez (10-3) the only runs he needed at Pittsburgh.

Mike Cameron had a two-run double to help the Mets get back to .500 at the break.

Chicago 9, Florida 2 -- Derrek Lee hit his 27th homer and drove in four runs and Greg Maddux gave up four hits in eight innings at Miami as the Cubs completed a three-game sweep.