ST. LOUIS (AP) - Aubrey Huff hit three home runs and matched his career best with six RBIs and the San Francisco Giants hammered a pair of rookie pitchers making their major league debuts in a 12-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.
Huff, who entered the game batting .219, hit two-run homers in the fourth and ninth and a solo shot in the seventh. He also had an RBI single in the sixth. Huff raised his average 14 points.
Huff has four homers and seven RBIs the last two games after totaling four RBIs the previous 16 games.
Freddy Sanchez added a homer and four RBIs to help San Francisco set a season high for runs.
Triple-A callup Lance Lynn (0-1) needed 56 pitches to get through five innings working on three days' rest, but retired only one of four hitters to start the Giants' three-run sixth. Double-A reinforcement Mikail Cleto hit 98 mph several times on the stadium radar in the seventh but walked the first two hitters and surrendered consecutive homers to Sanchez and Huff in a five-run inning that made it 10-3.
Jonathan Sanchez (4-3) allowed three runs in 5 1-3 innings, surviving a season-high six walks.
Mets 9, Pirates 8
NEW YORK (AP) - Carlos Beltran's three-run homer started New York's rally from a seven-run deficit and the Mets pulled off their biggest comeback win in 11 years, beating Pittsburgh.
After a tongue-lashing from manager Terry Collins the previous night, New York found itself in a 7-0 hole by the third inning. Beltran homered in the bottom of the third, then hit a leadoff double in the sixth as the Mets scored four times to tie it at 7. Ruben Tejada delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth and Beltran drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning.
It was the Mets' biggest rally to win since June 30, 2000, when they overcame an 8-1 deficit by scoring 10 times in the eighth to beat Atlanta 11-8, STATS LLC said.
Jason Isringhausen (1-0) worked the eighth for the win, and Francisco Rodriguez survived Neil Walker's RBI single in the ninth for his 16th save.
It was 7-all when Ronny Paulino led off the eighth with a walk against Jose Veras (1-2), moved to second on a balk and third on a wild pitch. Tejada's sacrifice fly - his third RBI of the game - put the Mets ahead and Beltran's walk gave them an insurance run. Beltran wound up with four RBIs.
Walker hit a two-run homer, and Xavier Paul had a career-high four hits for the Pirates.
Nationals 6, Diamondbacks 1
PHOENIX (AP) - Jordan Zimmermann pitched seven impressive innings and Wilson Ramos drove in three runs, lifting Washington past Arizona.
Washington roughed up Arizona starter Zach Duke (1-1) in the first inning and had 13 hits to open an 11-game trip with its first win in six tries away from Nationals Park.
Michael Morse had four hits and drove in two, Zimmermann (3-6) won for the first time in five starts and Drew Storen got four outs for his 11th save in 12 chances.
Arizona rallied from a four-run deficit and beat Florida on a game-ending hit Wednesday night, but didn't get many chances against Zimmermann and went hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Astros 7, Padres 4
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Chris Johnson homered and Houston used a five-run third inning to beat sloppy San Diego in a matchup of the NL's two worst teams.
The Astros (23-34), last in the NL Central, have won the first four games of a seven-game trip, their longest winning streak of the season. The Padres (24-33), last in the NL West, dropped to 9-21 at home, worst in the NL. They came in hitting a major league-worst .199 at home.
Johnson homered to left on a 1-0 pitch from Tim Stauffer (1-4) with one out in the fifth for a 7-2 lead.
Bud Norris (3-4) went six-plus innings, allowing four runs and six hits while striking out six and walking two. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
The Astros had 11 hits. Hunter Pence extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a third-inning single.