Brewers can't finish Reds; Bonds stuck on No. 753

The NL Central leaders have big problems. Not even all-star closer Francisco Cordero can save them now.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 588th homer Thursday, and the host Cincinnati Reds rallied against Milwaukee's nearly automatic closer for a 6-5, 10-inning victory that added to the Brewers' growing woes.

They're still in first place, but not by much. And, they're playing like they don't deserve to be there.

"We definitely have to start playing better," manager Ned Yost said, after Milwaukee lost three of four to what was a last-place team. "If anybody thinks we're just sitting here doing fine, they're fooling themselves."

After leading the division since late April, the Brewers are starting to look like fool's gold.

They pulled out to an 8ˆ¨-game lead on June 23, when they weren't getting much pressure from the rest of the division. They've gone 13-15 since then, allowing the fast-closing Cubs to nearly pull even.

"We're not trying to hold anybody off," said starter Dave Bush, who lasted only 5ˆº innings. "We've still got a lot of games to win if we're going to be in position to get into the playoffs. I don't pay any attention (to the standings) at all. There are many more things to worry about than that."

It was only the fourth time in 36 tries that Cordero has failed to come through. All four of his blown saves have come on the road: back-to-back in Texas on June 9-10, and at Wrigley Field on June 29.

Giants 4, Braves 2: The closest Barry Bonds came to a home run was watching Jeff Francoeur's drive sail over his head into the left-field seats.

Dave Roberts hit a tying, 2-run double in the fifth inning and scored the go-ahead run on Ray Durham's single to help host San Francisco beat Atlanta.

The 43-year-old Bonds went 1-for-4 with a double to left-center and remained at 753 home runs, 2 shy of tying Hank Aaron's record.

Bonds made two nice catches against the wall but extended his homerless stretch to five games and 18 at-bats since connecting twice against the Cubs on July 19 at Wrigley Field.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig attended his third straight Giants game, hoping to be present for the historic shots.

Nationals 7, Phillies 6: Jesus Flores hit a go-ahead, 3-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting visiting Washington past Philadelphia, which also lost all-star second baseman Chase Utley to a broken hand.

Ryan Howard homered and Pat Burrell had 3 hits and 2 RBI for the Phillies, who entered with a five-game winning streak, matching their season high.

Pirates 8, Mets 4: Josh Phelps capped a 5-run sixth inning with a 2-run homer, then added an RBI double in the seventh to help Pittsburgh beat host New York for just its second win in 12 games since the all-star break.

Left-hander Paul Maholm (7-12) won for the third time in 4 starts, limiting the Mets to 3 runs and 6 hits over 6-plus innings.

Astros 7, Padres 1: Carlos Lee, Morgan Ensberg and Craig Biggio hit home runs, and Wandy Rodriguez allowed 1 run in 7 innings to send host Houston past San Diego for its fifth win in seven games.

It was Biggio's second home run in three games since announcing his retirement.

Rodriguez (7-9) allowed a run and 5 hits to improve to 6-2 with a 1.76 ERA at home. The left-hander is 1-7 with a 7.43 ERA on the road.

Lance Berkman added two doubles for Houston, which has won 13 of its last 18 at home.

American League

Royals 7, Yankees 0: Alex Rodriguez stayed put at 499 homers. None of his New York Yankees teammates came up with a big hit, either.

Jorge De La Rosa repeatedly pitched out of trouble, and host Kansas City teed off on Kei Igawa and stopped New York's winning streak at six.

Alex Gordon homered, tripled and doubled, and Tony Pena Jr. and Mark Grudzielanek also tripled for Kansas City, which had lost the first three games of the four-game series.

New York went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position -- hot-hitting Hideki Matsui stranded runners at second and third when he hit an inning-ending popup in the first, then left the bases loaded when he grounded out to end the fifth.

Red Sox 14, Indians 9: Manny Ramirez hit the third-longest home run at Jacobs Field, a tree-clearing solo shot, and added a 2-run homer as the Red Sox outslugged the Indians.

Ramirez's tape-measure rocket in the second inning off Cliff Lee (5-8), conservatively estimated at 481 feet, set the tone for the Red Sox, who won three of the four games against one of the AL's other premier teams.

After the Indians closed to 12-9, Ramirez connected again with an eighth-inning drive that barely cleared the wall in center. It was his 49th multihomer game, tying Hall of Famers Mel Ott and Eddie Mathews for 12th on the career list.

Wily Mo Pena hit a 3-run homer and had 4 RBI, and Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell drove in 2 runs apiece for Boston.

Ryan Garko hit a 3-run shot and Frankin Gutierrez homered for the Indians.

Orioles 10, Devil Rays 7: Brian Roberts hit a 3-run homer and walked three times, helping host Baltimore past Tampa Bay for its fourth straight win to improve to 18-13 under interim manager Dave Trembley.

Kevin Millar, Nick Markakis and Chris Gomez had 2 RBI apiece for the Orioles, now 9-4 since the all-star break.

Carlos Pena and Ty Wigginton homered for the Devil Rays, who have been outscored 64-20 during a six-game skid. Tampa Bay has lost nine in a row in Baltimore and is 1-8 against the Orioles this season.

Rob Bell (3-1), the first of four Baltimore relievers, got four straight outs after replacing ineffective starter Steve Trachsel.