Sosa drives in four runs as Cubs take ninth straight contest

CINCINNATI -- Sammy Sosa drove in four runs and Rondell White hit a three-run homer Tuesday night as the Chicago Cubs won their ninth in a row, 10-5 over the Cincinnati Reds.

Sosa doubled with the bases loaded and White later homered during a seven-run fourth inning that extended the Cubs' longest winning streak since 1998, when they won 10 straight.

Cincinnati has gone 6-21 in May, matching the franchise record for most losses in the month.

Marlins 5, Pirates 0

PITTSBURGH -- A.J. Burnett pitched eight shutout innings and Florida ins gave new manager Tony Perez his first win.

Burnett (3-2) allowed seven hits, struck out three and walked one. Antonio Alfonseca pitched the ninth.

Perez was named interim manager on Monday after John Boles was fired.

Jimmy Anderson (3-4) was the loser. Alex Gonzalez and Cliff Floyd homered for Florida.

Braves 7, Expos 4

ATLANTA -- Chipper Jones homered twice and tied a career-high with five RBIs as the Braves moved above .500 for the first time in nearly two months.

Jones, a switch-hitter, had his first two right-handed homers of the season against lefty Matt Blank (0-1), making his first career start for the Expos.

The Braves (26-25) have won six of the last eight games and are above .500 for the first time since April 6, when they stood 3-2.

Odalis Perez (3-4) picked up the win despite allowing seven hits and four runs in six innings. John Rocker pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

Phillies 7, Mets 3

NEW YORK -- Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning as Philadelphia beat New York to win for the 10th time in Omar Daal's 11 starts.

Burrell, who hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning of Philadelphia's 5-3 win over the Mets on Monday, hit reliever Turk Wendell's 2-0 pitch into the left-field bullpen to cap a four-run inning.

Wayne Gomes (4-1) pitched the seventh to win for the Phillies, who have won eight of nine and improved to 13-3 against the NL East.

Brewers 7, Cardinals 0

ST. LOUIS -- Ben Sheets pitched a five-hitter for his first career shutout as Milwaukee ended a four-game skid.

Sheets (5-4), whose last shutout came in the Olympic gold-medal game against Cuba, allowed five singles and allowed only two runners to reach second base in his first career complete game. He walked one and struck out three.

Henry Blanco, who had been batting .167 and in a 1-for-23 slump, hit a three-run double in the fourth off Mike Matthews (2-1) to double his RBI total for the season.

Padres 5, Astros 4

SAN DIEGO -- Ryan Klesko homered and drove in three runs to tie the club record for RBIs in a month with 38 as San Diego handed Houston its eighth loss in a row.

The Astros, down four runs in the ninth, made it close against Trevor Hoffman. Craig Biggio drove in three runs with a two-out, bases loaded double but Hoffman struck Tony Eusebio for his 11th save in 13 opportunities.

Kevin Jarvis (3-4) and relievers Jay Witasick, David Lee allowed five hits before Lee left with two outs in the ninth after being hit in the cheek by a liner off the bat of Julio Lugo. Kent Bottenfield (2-4) was the loser.

Klesko lined his homer to straightaway center field in the fifth and drove in another run on a groundout in the seventh to tie Ken Caminiti's club record for RBIs in a month, set in August 1996.

Rockies 7, Dodgers 2

LOS ANGELES -- Jeff Cirillo hit a two-run homer off Kevin Brown and Brooks Kieschnick hit one of his two home runs off the Los Angeles ace.

Brown (6-3), who entered the game with an NL-leading 1.96 ERA, allowed six runs, seven hits and five walks in six-plus innings. His ERA is now 2.60.

Brian Bohanon (2-4) pitched 5 2-3 strong innings as the Rockies snapped the Dodgers' five-game winning streak.

Kieschnick, sidelined because of a strained left groin, came in to play left field in a double-switch with Bohanon and triggered a four-run seventh with a two-run homer to center in his first career at-bat against Brown.

Diamondback vs. Giants

The game between Arizona and San Francisco was tied at 0-0 after 14 innings as the Clarion went to press.