NATIONAL LEAGUE
Astros 10, Marlins 2
HOUSTON -- The Astros gave Roger Clemens all the support they could in a crucial 10-2 win over Florida, just hours after the Houston pitcher's mother passed away. Bess Clemens died due to complications from emphysema at the age of 75. Prior to the game, her son, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, said he would pitch, "with a heavy heart in honor," of his mother. In a game filled with playoff ramifications, Clemens (12-7) surrendered just one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings as the Astros snapped a three-game losing streak and moved to within a half-game of the Marlins and Philadelphia in the NL wild card standings. Clemens walked two and struck out four, while lowering his ERA to a major league-best 1.77.

Phillies 12, Braves 4
PHILADELPHIA -- Ramon Martinez belted his first career grand slam and Jason Michaels homered to finish with three RBI, as the Phillies routed Atlanta, 12-4, in the third of a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park. Andruw Jones connected for his 50th homer of the season and 300th of his career, but the NL East-leading Braves lost for a third straight night. Jones became the first 50-homer man since 2002, when Texas' Alex Rodriguez (57) and Cleveland's Jim Thome (52) turned the trick. The Phillies, who held a 7-0 lead after three innings, won their fourth straight contest and moved into a tie with Florida atop the National League wild card standings with Houston only a half game back. The Astros beat the Marlins Wednesday night.

Nationals 6, Mets 3
NEW YORK -- Preston Wilson and Vinny Castilla hit back-to- back home runs in the fifth inning to power the Washington Nationals to a 6-3 win over the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. Nick Johnson went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored for the Nationals, who have won the first two games of a crucial three-game set. They now trail National League wild card leaders Florida and Philadelphia by three games. The Mets, meanwhile, have now lost eight of their last nine and have slipped to three games under .500, all but erasing their playoff hopes.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 3
ST. LOUIS -- Brad Eldred hit two solo home runs and Jason Bay went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBI, as Pittsburgh defeated St. Louis, 5-3, at Busch Stadium on Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep. Tike Redman had two hits and drove in a run for the Pirates, who snapped a four- game skid and won for just the four time in their last 19 games. Einar Diaz had two hits and an RBI for St. Louis, which lost for just the second time in seven games. St. Louis' magic number to clinch the NL Central title remained two, as Houston beat Florida Wednesday night.

Padres 5, Giants 4
SAN FRANCISCO -- Brian Giles' RBI single in the top of the 10th inning lifted the San Diego Padres to a 5-4 comeback victory over the San Francisco Giants in the finale of a three-game series at SBC Park. Giles ended 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored for the Padres, who snapped a four- game losing streak by salvaging the set's last installment. Ramon Hernandez went 4-for-6 in the victory. San Diego, which had erased a 4-2 deficit in the ninth, also extended its lead in the NL West to six games over the Giants, who are tied for second place in the division with the Dodgers. Randy Winn homered and Pedro Feliz drove in two runs for the Giants, who lost for the third time in six games.

Reds 7, Cubs 4 (11 innings)
CHICAGO -- Sean Casey stroked a bases-loaded double in the 11th inning to lift the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-4 win over the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a three-game series at Wrigley Field. Casey ended with four runs batted in, and his two-base hit with one out over the head of Chicago centerfielder Jerry Hairston plated three runs for the Reds, winners of four of their last five games. Jeromy Burnitz belted a two-run homer and Todd Walker contributed a solo blast, but Chicago left eight runners on base and missed many opportunities to push runs across. The Cubs have two of their last three games.

Diamondbacks 2, Brewers 1 (12 innings)
PHOENIX -- Alex Cintron's RBI single with the bases loaded in the 12th inning gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the second of three games at Bank One Ballpark. Craig Counsell accounted for the Diamondbacks' other run with his ninth home run of the year as Arizona snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the third time in five games. Carlos Lee finished 2-for-4 and Damian Miller scored the only run for the Brewers on a balk as Milwaukee lost for just the second time in its last six games. With both teams tied at 1-1, Arizona finally scored in extra frames for the win.

Rockies 8, Dodgers 7
LOS ANGELES -- Cory Sullivan went 4-for-4 and belted a go- ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning which gave Colorado an 8-7 victory over Los Angeles in the finale of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium. Garret Atkins slugged a grand slam while Todd Helton added two hits and a pair of RBI for the Rockies, who roared back from an early five-run deficit and took two of three in the midweek set. Oscar Robles finished 3-for-5 with an RBI double and Jason Repko homered while knocking in two runs in the setback, which moved the Dodgers six games behind National League West leader San Diego.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Indians 6, Athletics 4
CLEVELAND -- Ron Belliard's three-run homer in the seventh inning lifted the AL wild card-leading Indians to a 6-4 win over the Oakland Athletics in the finale of a three-game series at Jacobs Field. Belliard finished with two hits and four runs batted in for the Indians, who remained one game ahead of the New York Yankees in the AL wild card race. The Athletics are one game behind the LA Angels of Anaheim for the top spot in the AL West. Nick Swisher hit a three-run homer for Oakland, losers of two straight and three of its last four games.

Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3
TORONTO -- David Ortiz continued campaigning for MVP honors, hitting yet another game-winning home run, a two-run shot in the eighth inning, as Boston beat Toronto, 5-3, in the finale of a three-game set at the Rogers Centre. The victory was Boston's second in three games, while the Blue Jays have dropped three of four. The Red Sox remained 2 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. New York beat Tampa Bay Wednesday night. Ortiz has also driven in 130 runs this season. Boston outfielder Gabe Kapler was carted off the field with a ruptured left Achilles tendon.

Yankees 6, Devil Rays 5
St. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Derek Jeter's two-run single snapped a tie game in the seventh inning and the New York Yankees held on for an important 6-5 victory over Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field. Jeter finished 2- for-5 while Robinson Cano also drove in a pair of runs to help the Yankees keep pace with Boston and Cleveland, both of whom won on Wednesday, in the playoff picture. New York, which has won three in a row and the first two of this three-game series, remains 2 1/2 games behind AL East leader Boston and one back of the Indians in the wild card race. Carl Crawford had a double and a triple and collected two RBI for Tampa Bay, which has lost four of five.

Mariners 10, Angels 9
SEATTLE -- Yuniesky Betancourt singled in pinch-runner Ramon Santiago with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Seattle completed a three-game sweep of the LA Angels of Anaheim with a wild 10-9 victory at Safeco Field. A pair of errors led to the Angels tying the game in the ninth inning, but Betancourt's heroics lifted the Mariners to their second straight win in their final at-bat. Betancourt finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and scored twice, while Raul Ibanez went 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBI. Richie Sexson homered and Jeremy Reed had two RBI for Seattle.

Royals 10, White Sox 9
KANSAS CITY -- Angel Berroa doubled to drive in the tying run and Mark Teahen scored on Jermaine Dye's fielding error on the same play to end the game, as the Kansas City Royals rallied from two runs down in the ninth inning to defeat the Chicago White Sox 10-9 in the second of three games at Kauffman Stadium. Mike Sweeney homered and Teahen added two RBI for the Royals, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Joe Crede went 2-for-3 with two RBI and scored twice for the AL Central-leading White Sox, who have dropped five of their last six games and are now five games ahead of Cleveland in the division.

Tigers 4, Twins 2
DETROIT -- Craig Monroe came through with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Detroit Tigers over the Minnesota Twins, 4-2, at Comerica Park. Curtis Granderson ended 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and two runs scored for the Tigers, who avoided the sweep by taking the finale of this three-game set. Detroit won for just the third time in 14 contests. Luis Rodriguez went 2-for-2 with an RBI for Minnesota, which had a two-game win streak halted and lost for the sixth time in nine outings.

Rangers 7, Orioles 6
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Kevin Mench's RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Texas Rangers past the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6, in the finale of a three-game series at Ameriquest Field. David Dellucci hit a two- run homer in the ninth to tie the game for the Rangers, who salvaged the last game of the set after dropping two in a row to Baltimore. It was just the second win in seven games for Texas. Alfonso Soriano also hit a solo homer for the Rangers. Melvin Mora ended 3-for-5 with three runs batted in for Baltimore, which had its winning streak halted at four games.