Cardinals Can’t Solve the Padres

About two weeks ago, Mark Sweeney homered and singled off Jason Schmidt in his first start of the season. On Saturday, Sweeney got his second start and thrived in another tough assignment.

Primarily a pinch-hitter, Sweeney had the go-ahead hit for the second consecutive game. This time, he beat Chris Carpenter in the San Diego Padres’ 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

“It was like the last time, ‘Good luck drawing Schmidt,’ ” Sweeney said of the San Francisco Giant ace. “But it doesn’t really matter when it comes down to that. A lot of it has to do with getting our guys rest.”

Adam Eaton pitched into the seventh inning and Trevor Hoffman worked the ninth for his 401st save as the Padres won their sixth in a row.

“Obviously, he didn’t do a lot of celebrating last night,” Manager Bruce Bochy said of Hoffman, who notched No. 400 on Friday.

The Padres’ streak includes the first three games of this four-game series, giving them their first series win in St. Louis since 1998. Before the series began, the Padres had lost 19 of 21 at Busch Stadium.

Washington 11, San Francisco 8 -- Ryan Church hit a tiebreaking three-run double in the ninth inning at SBC Park and the Nationals sent the Giants to their season-worst fourth consecutive loss.

Before Church’s career-best fourth hit -- giving him a career-high four RBIs -- the Nationals tied it in the ninth against Jeremy Accardo (0-1), called up Monday from Double-A Norwich as the Giants try to make do without injured closer Armando Benitez.

Moises Alou hit a grand slam, and Pedro Feliz had three hits and drove in a run, but the Giants’ bullpen struggled after another subpar outing byJason Schmidt, who gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

The Nationals rallied from a four-run deficit with seven runs in the fourth.

Pittsburgh 3, Arizona 2 -- Josh Fogg limited the Diamondbacks to two hits in seven-plus innings at Phoenix to help the Pirates win for the fourth time in five games.

Mike Gonzalez and Jose Mesa completed a two-hitter, with Mesa pitching the ninth for his 11th save. He has gotten a save in all but one of the Pirates’ 12 victories.

Arizona, whose pitchers gave up 14 hits, remained one game behind the Dodgers in the NL West.

Florida 4, Colorado 1 -- Josh Beckett pitched seven shutout innings at Miami, and the Marlins extended the Rockies’ losing streak to 10 games.

Beckett (5-2) gave up five hits and one walk, lowering his earned-run average to 2.14. He is 4-0 at home with an ERA of 0.62.

The Rockies are 6-21, with baseball’s worst record and the worst start in franchise history. They are 1-15 on the road.

Shawn Chacon (1-2) walked nine and gave up four hits but held the Marlins to two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Atlanta 4, Houston 1 -- Julio Franco hit his first home run and Horacio Ramirez allowed three hits in seven shutout innings at Atlanta as the Braves sent the Astros to their 10th consecutive road loss.

Dan Kolb walked two and loaded the bases in the ninth before striking out Willy Taveras to earn his ninth save in 10 opportunities.

Andy Pettitte (2-3) lost for the first time in his seven starts against the Braves.

The Astros fell to 1-13 on the road.

Philadelphia 4, Chicago 1 -- Jimmy Rollins snapped a tie in the fifth inning with an RBI single at Wrigley Field, pinch-hitter Jose Offerman singled in two runs in the ninth and the Phillies sent the Cubs to their seventh consecutive loss.

Jon Lieber (5-1) was sharp against his former team, giving up one run, four hits and two walks in 7 1/3 innings.

New York 7, Milwaukee 5 -- Pedro Martinez gave up three hits in seven innings and Carlos Beltran hit a pair of two-run homers at Milwaukee as the Mets won their fourth straight.

Doug Mientkiewicz homered off reliever Julio Santana (0-1) to break a 5-5 tie in the eighth.

Roberto Hernandez worked the ninth for his first save since 2002, when he pitched for Kansas City.

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Major League Baseball is looking into Barry Bonds’ relationships and activities, according to a report today in the New York Daily News.

Citing anonymous baseball sources, the newspaper reported that baseball security officials believe the San Francisco outfielder might be at risk of conviction over allegations of tax fraud. Bonds hasn’t played this season because of knee problems.