The New York Mets are over .500 for the first time in nearly three years.
Getting consecutive ninth-inning homers by pinch-hitters off a potential Hall of Famer, New York beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 Sunday to improve to 19-18."It's coming together," manager Bobby Valentine said. "I'm proud of the guys, and they're proud of themselves. They're feeling good, and rightfully so."
St. Louis led 4-3 in the ninth, and Dennis Eckersley was trying to get his eighth save in as many chances.
But Carlos Baerga led off the ninth with a single, and Carl Everett connected for his third homer.
"He's not as overpowering as he used to be," said Everett, who is 2-for-9 as a pinch hitter. "Off the bat, I knew it was out."
Butch Huskey followed with his second pinch-homer in four days.
"When it went off his bat I said, `Maybe it's still in here. Never mind,' " said Eckersley (0-2). "I haven't given up a home run in a while so I don't know what it sounds like."
The Mets, who swept the three-game series at Busch Stadium, hadn't hit consecutive pinch-homers since May 4, 1991, when Mackey Sasser and Mark Carreon connected against San Francisco. New York has won 11 of 15 games and is over .500 for the first time since May 30, 1994.
Giants 11, Cubs 5
Barry Bonds broke out of a 1-for-16 slump with a two-run homer and a double as San Francisco had its biggest scoring game of the season. J.T. Snow added his first NL homer for the Giants, who moved into first place in the NL West.
Sammy Sosa hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4 for the visiting Cubs.
Marlins 6, Astros 3
Alex Fernandez (4-4) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings at Miami and hit a two-run double for the first RBIs of his career.
Moises Alou went 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI. Houston outhit the Marlins 8-7 but stranded five in scoring position.
Phillies 3, Rockies 1
Curt Schilling (5-3) tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts, walked none and pitched a four-hitter as Philadelphia won three straight games for the first time this season.
Visiting Colorado lost its fifth straight, the Rockies' longest skid of the year.
Padres 5, Reds 4
Archi Cianfrocco singled in the winning run in the 11th as San Diego won consecutive games for the first time since April 11 and 13 at Philadelphia.
Derrek Lee, who had struck out in his previous seven at-bats, drew a leadoff walk from Mike Remlinger (0-2). Greg Vaughn then singled and Cianfrocco followed with a liner to center.
Braves 8, Pirates 2
John Smoltz (4-3) pitched five-hit ball over seven innings and twice starting run-scoring innings at Pittsburgh.
Javy Lopez added a two-run homer, his second in as many games since ending an 0-for-20 slump, while Chipper Jones had two run-scoring singles and Andruw Jones was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Expos 6, Dodgers 3
Doug Strange tied the game with a two-out homer off Todd Worrell in the ninth, and visiting Montreal took advantage of third baseman Todd Zeile's error in the 10th to avoid a three-game sweep and end the Dodgers' three-game winning streak.
After Omar Daal (1-0) retired pinch-hitter Mike Piazza on a bases-loaded grounder to end the Los Angeles ninth, the Expos won it with three unearned runs against Tom Candiotti (3-2).