Michael's pinch-hit grand slam lifts Pirates over Cards
Jason Michaels just wanted to have a good at-bat.
He couldn't have done any better.
Michaels hit a tying pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning and Jason Bay drove in the winning run an inning later as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night in St. Louis.
"I tried to keep it simple," said Michaels, who had a pinch-hit, 3-run double on Friday against the Cardinals. "Just get myself in a good count and put a good swing on the ball."
Michaels, batting for Raul Chavez, hit his first home run of the season against starter Adam Wainwright for just the second hit of the inning. The two-out shot was his first homer with the Pirates and his first since hitting one against Texas on Aug. 1, 2007, while with Cleveland.
Wainwright (5-3) allowed just 1 single to Jack Wilson through 5 innings and faced the minimum after getting Freddy Sanchez to ground into a double play. Signs of trouble started showing in the sixth during which the Pirates got 2 two-out singles, but Wainwright escaped without allowing a run.
He then gave up a double to Bay and walked two to bring up Michaels in the seventh.
"It's a really difficult game to lose for us and for him," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "A couple of walks and a bomb."
Phillies 5, Reds 4: Ken Griffey Jr. remained 1 shy of 600 home runs after getting the night off, but Philadelphia's Chase Utley hit his major-league-leading 21st homer to help the Phillies beat visiting Cincinnati. Utley went deep for the fifth straight game, tying a club record he shares with Dick Allen, Mike Schmidt and Bobby Abreu.
Braves 7, Marlins 5 (10): John Smoltz blew a save in his return to the mound as a closer, but Yunel Escobar picked him up with the first game-ending homer of his career, a 2-run shot in the 10th inning to lift host Atlanta over Florida.
Pitching in relief for the first time since 2004, Smoltz came on in the ninth with a 4-3 lead. The Marlins were down to their last out when Jeremy Hermida drove in 2 runs with a single.
Brewers 4, D'backs 3: Prince Fielder homered to leadoff the eighth and helped scratch across another run with an unlikely steal of third to lift host Milwaukee over Arizona.
American League
Orioles 6, Red Sox 3: Adam Jones broke a tie with a 3-run double in the eighth inning, and host Baltimore overcame another home run by Manny Ramirez to beat Boston, avoiding a four-game sweep.
Baltimore blew a 2-0 lead, then rallied with a 4-run eighth against Hideki Okajima (1-1). After a sacrifice fly by Kevin Millar tied it, the Orioles loaded the bases with two outs for Jones, who lined a shot off the left-field wall.
Ramirez homered in a third consecutive game to reach 502 for his career.
Twins 6, Yankees 5: Delmon Young had 3 doubles and 3 RBI, and Joe Mauer hit his long-awaited first homer of the season to lead host Minnesota past New York Yankees.
Young's breakout performance at the plate comes after a rough first two months in Minnesota. He entered the game hitting .264 with no homers and just 15 RBI after coming over in a trade from Tampa Bay.