PHILADELPHIA - The Phillies have been rallying for some thrilling wins lately.
Pinch-hitter Todd Pratt connected for a two-run homer in the 13th inning Saturday, giving Philadelphia a wild 6-5 victory over the Red Sox.
The Phillies' past three victories have come in their final at-bat, including Thursday's 3-2 triumph against Atlanta when they beat closer John Smoltz.
"It's getting exciting around here," Jim Thome said. "This was probably one of the best games I've ever played in, with the way it went back and forth all day. This was a lot of fun.
"Wins like these are what builds confidence in a team."
Nomar Garciaparra tied a club record with six hits for the Red Sox, who blew three late leads.
Thome hit a pair of tying homers, and Bobby Abreu also went deep for the Phillies.
A run-scoring double by Todd Walker - who also homered twice - and Garciaparra's sixth single of the day gave Boston a 5-3 lead in the 13th.
But Bobby Abreu drew a leadoff walk from Jason Shiell in the bottom half and scored on David Bell's double.
"You could feel the momentum begin to build at that point," said Gary Varsho, who managed the Phillies while Larry Bowa served a one-game suspension.
Pratt sent a 1-0 pitch from Rudy Seanez over the centerfield wall for his first home run since Sept.1.
Pedro Martinez pitched seven sharp innings and left with a 2-1 lead, but the Boston bullpen had another meltdown.
DODGERS 4, ANGELS 2: Adrian Beltre hit a three-run homer to back a solid outing by Andy Ashby as host Los Angeles got its 10th win in 11 games.
The pitching-rich Dodgers, who entered the day tied for first in the NL West with San Francisco, have won the first two games of the Freeway Series.
Eric Gagne pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 29th save and 37th in a row dating to last season. He allowed a run-scoring single to pinch-hitter Bengie Molina before retiring David Eckstein with two on to end it.
Beltre hit his first homer since April 30, his fifth of the season, to highlight a four-run first against John Lackey.
Ashby allowed four hits, including Brad Fullmer's ninth home run to lead off the fifth. The right-hander struck out two and walked none in 51/3 innings.
Wilson Alvarez threw 22/3 scoreless innings to set up Gagne.
BRAVES 10, ORIOLES 2: Javy Lopez hit a pair of three-run homers, and Horacio Ramirez won his fifth straight decision for host Atlanta.
Lopez's first homer capped a five-run sixth inning, which wiped out Baltimore's 1-0 lead. The catcher hit another in the eighth to put it out of reach.
Lopez had his fifth two-homer game of the season and matched his career high with six RBIs, set April 17 against the Expos.
Ramirez allowed six hits and one run in seven innings.
CARDINALS 8, ROYALS 1: Woody Williams bounced back from two subpar starts with eight strong innings and was 2-for-3 with a run-scoring double for host St. Louis. Albert Pujols homered and had four RBIs and rookie Bo Hart had three hits, making him 7-for-12 in three games since coming up from Triple-A Memphis on Thursday to replace Miguel Cairo (broken hand). Williams allowed five hits and had eight strikeouts with one walk.
EXPOS 8, BLUE JAYS 5: Orlando Cabrera's three-run homer capped a seven-run eighth inning as host Montreal overcame a five-run deficit. After Montreal tied it, Cabrera connected off Cliff Politte with two outs to give Montreal its first lead, setting off the loudest of several prolonged cheers from the Olympic Stadium crowd of 11,483.
ASTROS 9, RANGERS 5: Craig Biggio homered on the first pitch of the game, and Richard Hidalgo and Jeff Bagwell each homered and had three hits for visiting Houston. The Astros scored in each of the first six innings to make a winner of Rodrigo Rosario in his major-league debut. Brad Ausmus had a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring single for Houston, which regained first place in the NL Central by a half-game.
PIRATES 7, INDIANS 6 (15): Abraham Nunez tripled and scored on Dan Miceli's wild pitch and host Pittsburgh rallied three times to beat Cleveland in the teams' second 15-inning game in as many nights. The last time two teams played consecutive 15-inning games was June 18-19, 1996, when the Marlins and Giants did it. The Indians squandered leads of 3-0 and 5-1, then went ahead 6-5 on Milton Bradley's run-scoring single. The Pirates tied it on consecutive two-out errors by shortstop John McDonald in the ninth.
BREWERS 8, TWINS 1: Wes Helms hit two home runs and drove in five runs, and John Vander Wal homered and had two RBIs for host Milwaukee. The Twins have lost five of six on their seven-game road trip. The Brewers have won the first two of the three-game series. Wayne Franklin pitched seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and three walks. He struck out two and worked out of jams in the third and seventh when the Twins had two runners on with one out.
MARINERS 4, PADRES 2: Joel Pineiro allowed five hits in seven innings and retired his last 12 batters for visiting Seattle. Mariners catcher Ben Davis tied a club record with three doubles and Ichiro Suzuki hit a leadoff double to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. Padres right-hander Adam Eaton, who was born in Seattle, walked in two runs in the second to give the Mariners a 4-2 lead.
ROCKIES 9, TIGERS 6: Preston Wilson hit a three-run homer off Steve Sparks in the fifth inning and added another homer in the seventh for host Colorado. Jason Jennings won his fourth straight start, going seven innings and allowing 10 hits and three runs.
National League
D'BACKS 5, REDS 3: Chad Moeller hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning, and host Arizona climbed above .500 for the first time this season. John Patterson worked a career-high 72/3 innings for the Diamondbacks, whose four-game winning streak is their longest since ending last season with a four-game sweep against Colorado. Arizona (37-36) has won six of its past seven.
