Slumping Padres Lose Again, 4-2

Albert Pujols homered and John Gall had a hit and scored twice in his major league debut as the St. Louis Cardinals beat San Diego, 4-2, on Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders at San Diego, handing the Padres’ their season-high eighth straight loss.

The punchless Padres fell to .500 (50-50) for the first time since May 4. San Diego was 14 games above .500 on May 31, when it completed the best month (22-6) in team history.

Mark Mulder (12-5) won his fourth straight decision for the NL Central-leading Cardinals, who lost three of four to the Padres in St. Louis in early May.

Woody Williams (5-7), who made four postseason starts for the Cardinals last year, took the loss.

A day after rejecting a trade to Baltimore for pitcher Sidney Ponson, San Diego’s Phil Nevin made his first start at catcher since 1999 and batted cleanup. Nevin lost his starting job at first base because he was slumping at the plate.

Nevin received warm ovations when the starting lineups were introduced and when he came to bat in the first inning, drawing a walk.

But he was booed after hitting into a force play to end the third inning, hitting into a double play to end the fifth and fouling out in the seventh.

San Francisco 3, Chicago 2 -- Cub right-hander Greg Maddux became the 13th pitcher in major league history to strike out 3,000 batters when he threw a called third strike past Omar Vizquel in a game the Cubs lost in 11 at Chicago.

Maddux got Vizquel on a 2-and-2 pitch on the inside corner and the crowd at Wrigley Field that had waited out a lengthy rain delay cheered.

Jason Ellison drove in Deivi Cruz with a single for the winning run in the top of the 11th.

Atlanta 3, Washington 2 -- Andruw Jones drew a bases-loaded walk from Luis Ayala in the 10th inning, capping a comeback at Atlanta that gave the Braves sole possession of first place in the NL East.

Washington closer Chad Cordero blew a 2-1 lead in the ninth, spoiling a strong start by Livan Hernandez against Atlanta’s John Smoltz in a matchup of All-Star pitchers.

Pittsburgh 6, Florida 3 -- Matt Lawton and Chris Duffy had four hits apiece, helping the Pirates come from behind twice at Miami.

Daryle Ward drove in three runs for the Pirates, who overcame deficits of 1-0 and 3-2 to win for the fourth time in five games.

Milwaukee 7, Arizona 2 -- Geoff Jenkins homered to open the Brewers’ six-run seventh inning, and Lyle Overbay also connected at Milwaukee. Trailing 2-1 heading into the seventh, the Brewers started the inning with four straight hits and sent 10 batters to the plate.

Houston 2, Philadelphia 1 -- Mike Lamb led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run and Roy Oswalt threw a complete game at Houston.

Oswalt (14-8) tied St. Louis’ Chris Carpenter for the NL lead in victories as he improved to 10-1 at home. Oswalt leads the majors in wins since the 2004 All-Star break with 26.

Colorado 4, New York 3 -- Jeff Francis pitched into the seventh inning and Dustan Mohr homered for the Rockies at Denver.

New York’s David Wright had three hits, including his 15th homer, to extend his hitting streak to 13.