St. Louis Cardinals finally score, but lose again to New York Mets - Memphis Commercial Appeal

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Oakland's Adam Rosales is forced out at home by Kansas City catcher Brayan Pena for the second out of a double play.

Mets 6, Cardinals 1

NEW YORK -- Jonathon Niese struck out a career-high 10 in six scoreless innings and the New York Mets shut down the slumping St. Louis Cardinals for the third straight game, getting a homer and three RBIs from rookie Kirk Nieuwenhuis in a 6-1 victory Sunday night.

Andres Torres added a two-run triple and finished a homer shy of the cycle. Nieuwenhuis, batting leadoff, also had three hits.

Niese (4-2) became the latest New York pitcher to dominate the Cardinals, following Johan Santana's no-hitter in the series opener Friday night -- the first in Mets history -- and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey's seven-hit shutout Saturday.

The only thing that prevented the Cardinals from being blanked in three consecutive games for the first time since October 1976 was a two-out RBI single by Adron Chambers in the eighth off Elvin Ramirez, who was making his major league debut.

That snapped New York's scoreless streak at 25 innings and ended St. Louis' drought at 26 innings dating to Wednesday's 10-7 loss at Atlanta. The Cardinals have lost five straight and eight of 10 to fall back to .500 at 27-27.

National League

Braves 3, Nationals 2 at Washington: Tommy Hanson shook off an agonizing start to outpitch Gio Gonzalez, and Atlanta beat Washington to end a six-game skid against their NL East rivals.

Giants 2, Cubs 0 at San Francisco: Barry Zito pitched 81/3 scoreless innings for his 150th career win and Joaquin Arias snapped an 18 at-bat hitless stretch with an RBI single that led San Francisco past Chicago.

Marlins 5, Phillies 1 at Philadelphia: Carlos Zambrano homered and pitched into the eighth inning, and Hanley Ramirez went deep, too, to lead Miami over Philadelphia.

Diamondbacks 6, Padres 0 at San Diego: Trevor Cahill threw a six-hitter and Paul Goldschmidt, Miguel Montero and Gerardo Parra homered to lead Arizona past San Diego.

Astros 5, Reds 3 at Houston: Jordan Lyles pitched seven strong innings, Justin Maxwell hit his third pinch-hit home run this season and Houston ended a season-worst eight-game losing streak.

Rockies 3, Dodgers 2 at Denver: Alex White gave the overworked Colorado bullpen some much-needed rest, pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning as the Rockies beat Los Angeles.

Pirates 6, Brewers 5 at Milwaukee: Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones hit consecutive homers and James McDonald struck out eight and won for the third time in four starts.

American League

Yankees 5, Tigers 1 at Detroit: Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez each homered off Justin Verlander, and Phil Hughes tossed a four-hitter to lead New York.

Rangers 7, Angels 3 at Anaheim, Calif.: Matt Harrison won his third straight start, Nelson Cruz hit a long two-run homer and Texas beat Los Angeles to avoid a three-game sweep.

Twins 5, Indians 3 at Cleveland: Scott Diamond allowed three unearned runs over seven innings for Minnesota. Joe Mauer hit an RBI single in the first off Justin Masterson (2-5).

Royals 2 Athletics 0 at Kansas City, Mo.: Alex Gordon and Brayan Pena combined on a play at the plate to preserve a shutout for Vin Mazzaro and three Kansas City relievers.

It was Oakland's 10th loss in 11 games.

Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 1 at Toronto: Jose Bautista hit a three-run home run and rookie Drew Hutchison won for the fourth time in five starts.

Rays 8, Orioles 4 at St. Petersburg, Fla.: B.J. Upton hit a tiebreaking two-run double and Matt Moore won for the first time.

White Sox 4, Mariners 2 at Chicago: Chris Sale pitched a five-hitter for his first major league complete game and Chicago won for the 10th time in 11 games.