NL: Lee's career blast aids Cubs

ST. LOUIS - Derrek Lee matched his career best for home runs with 65 games to spare. Of more concern to him is whether the Chicago Cubs can use the rest of the season to make a playoff run.

"It feels good," Lee said after hitting his major league-leading 32nd homer in a 6-5 victory Saturday over the St. Louis Cardinals. "But it was a huge game for us. We just have to find a way to put it together and keep it together."

The Cubs are 49-48 and in third place in the NL Central, 13 games behind the Cardinals.

"We've got to start winning eight or nine out of 10 to get into these playoffs," Lee said.

Jeromy Burnitz and Aramis Ramirez also connected, and Ramirez had three hits to help the Cubs end a three-game losing streak in 93-degree heat by beating an injury-ravaged lineup that featured only three opening day starters.

Albert Pujols was scratched with a mild left shoulder strain, although he drew an intentional walk as a pinch-hitter in the seventh ahead of Mark Grudzielanek's RBI single that cut the deficit to 6-5, and then stayed in the game.

METS 7, DODGERS 5: On a day when Pedro Martinez did not have his best stuff, Jose Reyes rescued host New York by scoring three runs, driving in two and stealing two bases. His seventh-inning triple tied the score at 5 and he trotted home when Carlos Beltran hit the next pitch for a run-scoring single. In the eighth, Reyes added another RBI hit.

En route to his 12th win, Martinez gave up eight hits - four for extra bases - in seven innings. He struck out four, raising his National League-leading total to 147, and walked two.

PHILLIES 2, PADRES 0: Chase Utley homered for the second straight game and rookie Robinson Tejeda struck out five in six innings for host Philadelphia.

Tejeda held the Padres to a pair of singles but walked five. Ryan Madson, Rheal Cormier and Billy Wagner polished off the four-hit shutout with an inning apiece. Wagner recorded his 21st save in 23 opportunities.

NATIONALS 4, ASTROS 2: Tony Armas allowed one hit in seven innings, and slumping Washington capitalized on Willy Taveras' misplay of Carlos Baerga's bases-loaded flyball to center in the first inning.

Taveras came in on the ball, then retreated as it sailed over his head. The three-run double gave the host Nationals all the runs they needed to break a three-game skid.

PIRATES 5, ROCKIES 3: Dave Williams limited visiting Colorado to one hit over six innings and rookies Ryan Doumit and Brad Eldred drove in all but one of Pittsburgh's runs.

The left-handed Williams lost two of his previous three starts and was only 2-5 with a 6.91 ERA in PNC Park before sending the Rockies to their seventh loss in 10 games.

The Rockies' road record (10-39) is the worst in the majors to this point in a quarter-century.

The Pirates, who had dropped nine of 11 and were 2-8 since the All-Star break, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first against Byung-Hyun Kim on walks to Matt Lawton and Eldred, Tike Redman's infield single and Doumit's two-run single.

BREWERS 11, CINCINNATI 7: Lyle Overbay hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in a career-high six runs as visiting Milwaukee pounded Brandon Claussen.

Carlos Lee also homered and drove in three runs to take over the National League lead with 82 RBIs, one more than Chicago's Derrek Lee.

Overbay had his second career multihomer game - both this season against the Reds. He is 7-for-11 (.636) with four home runs in his career against Claussen.

Claussen, who tied a club record by allowing five home runs in his last game, gave up three homers. He allowed six hits and nine runs with four strikeouts in 32/3 innings.

MARLINS 16, GIANTS 4: Carlos Delgado and Miguel Cabrera hit back-to-back homers in a five-run fifth inning, Josh Beckett won in his return from the disabled list, and the Florida Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants 16-4 on Saturday night.

Mike Lowell had three RBIs and Juan Encarnacion drove in two runs and doubled among his three hits in Florida's highest offensive output of the year. The Marlins had 20 hits and reached double digits in runs for the second time this month to win for the third time in four games.

Ray Durham homered to the walkway over the wall in right in the second to extend his hitting streak to eight games, but the Giants couldn't muster much else against Beckett (9-6).

[Last modified July 24, 2005, 01:15:04]