With the Phillies trailing 6-5, Placido Polanco led off the ninth with a walk against closer Frank Francisco and Chase Utley followed with a fly to left that Juan Rivera misplayed into a double, putting runners at second and third. Howard then singled to center, giving Francisco (1-4) his fourth blown save in 13 chances.

Danys Baez (2-3) pitched one inning of relief for the win, and Antonio Bastardo closed it out for his fourth save.

Philadelphia's late comeback overcame a couple of homers by the Blue Jays, who have homered in a season-high nine consecutive games.

In Detroit, Pablo Sandoval hit a tiebreaking double in the top of the ninth inning and San Francisco hung on when Detroit's Brennan Boesch lined into a double play with the bases loaded.

The Giants were coming off back-to-back losses to the Cubs - both in Chicago's last at-bat. They nearly fell again in similar fashion. After scoring three runs in the top of the ninth, San Francisco allowed two in the bottom half before shortstop Brandon Crawford caught Boesch's soft line drive and stepped on second to effect the double play, ending the game.

Giants closer Brian Wilson (6-1) got the win, but only after blowing a save for the second straight day. Jeremy Affeldt came on and earned his third save.

Detroit's Jose Valverde (2-3) took the loss.

In New York, the Yankees took advantage of a generous umpiring call to beat the Mets in the all-New York series.

Reyes electrified the Mets crowd when he tagged up from first on a fly to deep center. He took off for third when the relay bounced away from Eduardo Nunez, but Nunez threw to third base and Alex Rodriguez made a sweep tag that on replay appeared to miss Reyes, who was sliding headfirst.

The umpire was behind Rodriguez when he called Reyes out.

Mark Teixeira hit a two-run double for the Yankees and Nunez had an RBI single among his career-high four hits.

Rodriguez and Robinson Cano had RBI doubles, and Ivan Nova (8-4) pitched five effective innings to help the Yankees win their season-high sixth straight game.

Jonathon Niese (7-7) gave up three runs in six innings for the Mets in his first start since leaving a June 25 start with a rapid heartbeat.

In St. Petersburg, Colby Rasmus hit a three-run homer during a wild eighth inning that featured four ejections, leading St. Louis to victory over Tampa Bay.

Rasmus, who also had a run-scoring groundout during the second inning, connected for his fourth homer in the past seven games for the Cardinals, who have won four straight.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was ejected earlier in the inning, and three Rays — Howell, David Price and Elliot Johnson — were thrown out after Rasmus went deep.

Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook (7-4) struck out seven over seven scoreless innings to take his first victory in three weeks.

Tampa Bay starter Wade Davis (7-6) allowed six hits in seven innings.

In Cincinnati, Grady Sizemore hit the first of Cleveland's three homers as the Indians made it four wins from four against Ohio state rival Cincinnati this season.

The Reds have struggled mightily against the American League. The defending NL Central champs are 5-11 in interleague play.

Sizemore hit his first homer in three weeks off Bronson Arroyo (7-7). Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana also connected.

Indians starter Justin Masterson (6-6) went eight innings for his first win since April.

In Atlanta, Jair Jurrjens threw his first career shutout, steering Atlanta past Baltimore.

Jurrjens (11-3) became the first National League pitcher with 11 wins and lowered his NL-best ERA to 1.89. He kept his no-hit bid alive until conceding a single in the seventh.

Jason Heyward ended a long home-run drought for the Braves, who earned their fourth consecutive win and moved a season-best 13 games over .500.

Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie (3-10) threw five scoreless innings before giving up Heyward's first homer since April; a two-run shot in the sixth. Baltimore has lost four straight.

In Washington, Matt Stairs drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to give Washington a tight win over Pittsburgh.

Stairs' drive off the right-field wall scored Alex Cora to give Davey Johnson his first win as Washington's interim manager. Stairs began the day just 4 for 32 with no RBIs as a pinch hitter.

Nationals closer Drew Storen (5-2) pitched the ninth to get the win while Tim Wood (0-3) took the loss for Baltimore.

In Arlington, Nelson Cruz homered and had six RBIs on his 31st birthday, powering Texas to a big win over Florida.

Adrian Beltre drove in four runs with three hits for the Rangers, who got their first seven runs in 3-2/3 innings off Anibal Sanchez (6-2) whose Marlins season record of 14 consecutive starts without a loss came to a sudden halt.

Michael Young led off the second with a walk and put the AL West-leading Rangers ahead to stay when he scored on the first of Taylor Teagarden's two doubles.

Texas starter Alexi Ogando (8-3) had a career-high eight strikeouts.

Athletics 5, Diamondbacks 4: In Oakland, Rich Harden pitched six strong innings in his season debut to lead Oakland over Arizona.

Harden allowed four hits in his first start for Oakland in three years. Andrew Bailey worked the ninth for his seventh save.

Hideki Matsui had two RBIs, while Ryan Sweeney, Coco Crisp and Cliff Pennington each drove in a run for the Athletics.

Crisp also took a catch, which robbed the Diamondbacks of a homer, while Matsui picked up his first steal since 2007.

The Diamondbacks have dropped five of six, and starter Josh Collmenter (4-5) lasted just 4 2-3 innings, yielding five runs.

In Anaheim, Hiroki Kuroda pitched seven scoreless innings to steer the Dodgers past the Angels in the all-Los Angeles series.

Kuroda (6-9), who struck out four and walked one, had dropped a career-worst six consecutive decisions but had a solid 3.54 ERA during the losing streak.

Aaron Miles went 4 for 4, while Dee Gordon stole home on the front end of a double steal for the Dodgers. Tony Gwynn Jr. went 3 for 3 with three walks.

Angels rookie Tyler Chatwood (5-5) gave up 12 hits in five-plus innings.

In Minneapolis, Jim Thome hit a three-run drive for career homer No. 594, powering Minnesota past Milwaukee.

After a two-hour rain delay, Twins starter Francisco Liriano (5-7) gave up a first-inning homer but allowed only three hits after that while going seven innings.

The Twins won their third straight and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Brewers, who lost their fourth straight and fell out of a first-place tie with St. Louis in the NL Central.

Minnesota scored five runs — two unearned — off Yovani Gallardo (9-5).

In Seattle, Jason Vargas pitched his third shutout of the season, leading Seattle to victory over San Diego.

Vargas (6-5) struck out seven and walked none in his fourth career complete game. He is the first pitcher ever to have three shutouts at Safeco Field in the same season.

Padres starter. Dustin Moseley (2-8) allowed five runs in 4 2-3 innings.

In Houston, Adrian Gonzalez hit a go-ahead two-run double after Dustin Pedroia drove in a pair of runs during Boston's six-run seventh inning that lifted the visitors over Houston.

Marco Scutaro started the game with his third homer of the season, but Boston didn't get another hit until J.D. Drew began the seventh inning with a single.

Josh Reddick and Drew Sutton each drove in a run before Pedroia's bases-loaded single with one out tied it 5-5 and set up Gonzalez's clutch swing.

Boston's Dan Wheeler (1-1) got the win and Jonathan Papelbon gave up a two-out single before taking his 16th save.

Astros reliever Sergio Escalona (1-1) got the loss.

In Chicago, Alexei Ramirez hit a two-run homer to lead the White Sox over the Cubs at Wrigley Field in the all-Chicago clash.

Ramirez connected in the seventh and Juan Pierre had a tiebreaking two-run triple later in the inning, sending the White Sox to their third straight win.

The Cubs remain the only team in the majors without a three-game winning streak this season. They had been leading 4-2 after Aramis Ramirez hit his 300th homer in the sixth off Edwin Jackson (5-6), but the White Sox immediately responded in a big way against Randy Wells (1-3).

White Sox closer Sergio Santos pitched the ninth for his 18th save.

In Denver, Juan Nicasio pitched eight scoreless innings to direct Colorado to a comfortable win over Kansas City.

Nicasio (3-1) struck out four and got the Royals to hit into 16 groundouts. Danny Duffy (1-3) got the loss.

Mark Ellis had three hits, including a two-run homer, in his Colorado debut after being acquired from Oakland.

Troy Tulowitzki connected on a two-run homer for the Rockies, Todd Helton added a two-run double and Charlie Blackmon got the first homer of his major league career, on his 25th birthday.