ST. LOUIS -- Rookie left-hander Travis Wood hit his first homer and allowed one unearned run over seven innings to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-1 win over St. Louis on Saturday.

The Reds, who have won seven of their last nine games, moved eight games ahead of the Cardinals in the NL Central.

Wood (5-2) gave up five hits and struck out three in besting Adam Wainwright (17-10), who lost a career-high fourth successive decision.

Cincinnati has won 15 of its last 20 games since dropping three in a row to St. Louis in early August. The Reds have made up nine games in the standings since that sweep.

The Cardinals have lost nine of their last 11 contests. Wainwright allowed seven hits and two earned runs in five innings.

St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols broke out of a career-worst 0-for-18 slump with a single in the sixth inning. He had gone hitless in 17 at-bats from July 4-7, 2001, his rookie season.

Wood allowed five singles and never let a runner get beyond second base after the first inning.

Cincinnati rookie left-hander Aroldis Chapman, making his third appearance, faced three batters in the eighth inning. He walked Jon Jay but got Pujols to ground into an inning-ending double play. Chapman registered as high as 103 miles per hour on the radar gun.

NATIONALS 9, PIRATES 2: John Lannan allowed only one run for the second consecutive start, Ivan Rodriguez had three hits and four RBIs and the Washington Nationals broke a three-game losing streak with a 9-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night.

Rodriguez homered for the 308th time in his career in the fifth, an inning after hitting a two-run single off the wall as part of a five-run Nationals' fourth. It was his first four-RBI game since having five June 15, 2007.

Lannan improved to 5-1 with a 2.93 ERA in seven starts since returning from a six-week stint in Double-A to rehab his mechanics and confidence.

Pittsburgh rookie Neil Walker doubled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, and Paul Maholm took over the National League lead in losses with his 14th.

CUBS 5, METS 3: Carlos Zambrano passed Kerry Wood on the Cubs' strikeouts list, Starlin Castro became the club's first rookie in at least 66 years with six straight multihit games, and Chicago beat the Mets.

The Cubs won for the eighth time in 11 games under interim manager Mike Quade, thanks to another sharp performance from Zambrano and big day at the plate from Castro.

ROCKIES 6, PADRES 2: NL batting leader Carlos Gonzalez had three hits and two RBIs to lead the Rockies to a win over the reeling NL West-leading Padres, whose nine-game losing streak is their longest since 2003.

The Padres hadn't lost more than three in a row before this streak, during which they've gone from having the best record in the NL to having the third-best. They've been outscored 51-21 in the nine games.

American League

WHITE SOX 3, RED SOX 1: Manny Ramirez singled twice in his return to Fenway Park and John Danks pitched seven solid innings, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Paul Konerko went 3 for 4 and extended his hitting streak to 14 games as the White Sox won their fourth straight and moved 3 1/2 games behind the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins, who were home against the Texas Rangers.

YANKEES 7, BLUE JAYS 5: Marcus Thames launched a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and the Yankees beat the Blue Jays to set a season high with their eighth straight victory.

Robinson Cano had a two-run single and New York, still missing injured sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher, overcame a shaky return to the rotation for Javier Vazquez, who was yanked in the fifth.

ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 1: Trevor Cahill pitched six scoreless innings to become Oakland's first 15-game winner in three years with a victory over the Angels.

Mark Ellis, Daric Barton and Cliff Pennington all drove in runs for Oakland, which won its second straight following a four-game losing streak.

Torii Hunter homered for the Angels, who have lost nine of 12.

Cahill (15-6) gave up just four hits, all singles, but walked a career-high six. The right-hander, who has won six of his last eight starts, allowed only one runner past second.

Jared Weaver (11-11) walked three and allowed six hits in seven innings. He is winless since Aug. 6, a span of five starts.

TWINS 12, RANGERS 4: Jim Thome homered twice for Minnesota, moving past Mark McGwire for ninth place on baseball's all-time list and powering the Twins over the Rangers.

Thome went deep for the 583rd time in his career leading off the third inning, a shot to the second deck above right field estimated at 449 feet. Then with two on and two outs in the fourth, Thome's full-count drive into the bullpen behind left-center made it 9-0 and gave him No. 584.

After six straight one-run games, the Twins let loose against slumping starter Colby Lewis (9-12) and the AL West-leading Rangers. Minnesota gave Carl Pavano (16-10) plenty of support and kept its AL Central lead over Chicago at four games for the moment.

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