Houston beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 Thursday

<br>HOUSTON (AP) _ Rookie Kirk Saarloos pitched the Astros' first complete game of the season and Jeff Bagwell drove in five runs as Houston beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 Thursday. <br><br>Saarloos

Friday, July 26th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

HOUSTON (AP) _ Rookie Kirk Saarloos pitched the Astros' first complete game of the season and Jeff Bagwell drove in five runs as Houston beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 Thursday.

Saarloos (2-2) allowed six hits and no walks as he pitched the team's first shutout since Roy Oswalt did it against Milwaukee last Sept. 9.

No Astros starter pitched into the ninth inning this season before Saarloos, who struck out six.

Bagwell hit a three-run homer off Kris Benson (3-5) and also had a two-run single.

Cardinals 4, Giants 3

In San Francisco, J.D. Drew homered and drove in four runs, sending Travis Smith and St. Louis over San Francisco.

St. Louis, 9-4 since the All-Star break, finished a seven-game road trip with another strong outing from Smith, the rookie who was recalled from the minors after Darryl Kile died last month.

Smith (4-1), who wasn't even in St. Louis' plans for this season a few months ago, has won three of his five starts since being brought up. He held San Francisco's patchwork lineup to seven hits over six innings while striking out six.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals took three of four from the Giants, who are trying to stay atop the wild card race despite injuries to several regulars.

Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 24th save in 28 chances. Ryan Jensen (10-7) took the loss.

Phillies 6, Cubs 2

In Chicago, Tomas Perez hit a bases-loaded triple and then made a daring dash home in the eighth inning, rallying Philadelphia over Chicago.

The Phillies won their third straight game after losing the series opener at Wrigley Field. An error by left fielder Moises Alou helped Philadelphia come back in the eighth.

Fred McGriff hit his 470th career home run for the Cubs.

Carlos Silva (2-0) pitched two innings for the win.

Kyle Farnsworth (3-2) took the loss, giving up four runs in one inning of relief.

After Perez tripled for a 4-2 lead, he scored when Cubs catcher Todd Hundley threw to first base when Jimmy Rollins struck out on a ball in the dirt.

Marlins 3, Expos 2

In Montreal, Juan Encarnacion singled through a drawn-in infield to drive in the go ahead run in the ninth inning and lead Florida over Montreal.

After the two teams traded runs in the eighth, Preston Wilson singled off T.J. Tucker (4-2) to lead off the ninth and advanced to third on Mike Lowell's double off the left-field wall.

Derek Lee was walked intentionally to load the bases and Encarnacion singled to left to give the Marlins their third and final lead of the game.

Vladimir Nunez (5-3) allowed Fernando Tatis' game-tying single in the eighth while getting the last five outs for the win.

Diamondbacks 10, Padres 0

In Phoenix, John Patterson, in his second big league start, shut out San Diego into the eighth inning as Arizona won their fourth successive game.

Matt Williams hit a three-run homer as the Diamondbacks extended their lead in the NL West to a season-high four games over San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Quinton McCracken doubled in three runs and Steve Finley singled in two in Arizona's six-run seventh inning.

Patterson (1-0) allowed five hits in 7 1-3 innings in his first major league victory.