Duke outduels Santana as Pirates defeat the Mets

Zach Duke pitched seven effective innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat Johan Santana and the visiting New York Mets, 3-1, last night.

Jason Jaramillo hit his first major league homer for the Pirates, who have won three of four. Freddy Sanchez and Nate McLouth each had two hits.

Duke (6-4) allowed one run and eight hits to lower his ERA to 2.62. He has allowed two earned runs or less in eight of his 11 starts.

Santana (7-3) gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings for New York, which has lost three of four. The Mets have scored two runs or fewer in five of Santana's 11 starts.

"This is not the end of the world," Santana said. "We have to find a way to survive and keep winning games."

New York again was without All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran, who is dealing with a stomach virus and stayed at the team hotel.

In other games:

* At Miami, Cody Ross hit a grand slam and Dan Uggla became the second-fastest second basebam to reach 100 homers, in his 502nd game, as the Florida Marlins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-3.

* At Washington, Christian Guzman hit a tiebreaking RBI single in a six-run eighth inning, helping the Nationals beat the San Francicso Giants, 10-6.

* At Atlanta, Jeff Francoeur hit a tying two-run homer with two outs in the ninth and Chipper Jones drove in the winning run with a 12th-inning single, helping the Braves beat the Chicago Cubs. 6-5.

* At St. Louis, rookie Nick Stavinoha hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the sixth inning and the Cardinals defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2.

* At Houston, Miguel Tejada hit a game-winning homer in the 11th inning to cap a three-RBI night and lift the Astros to a 3-2 win over Colorado. Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki left in the fourth with an injured left hand and was take for X-rays.

* Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez went back on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his right elbow, a day after he lasted only one inning in his first start off the DL.

Volquez left his first start since May 16 after one inning Monday against the Cardinals, complaining of numbness in the pinky and ring fingers of his pitching hand.

* The Washington Nationals fired pitching coach Randy St. Claire and promoted Steve McCatty from Triple A to replace him. Also, catcher Jesus Flores was diagnosed with a stress fracture of a bone in his right shoulder, and his season is in jeopardy. Washington also reinstated outfielder Elijah Dukes from the 15-disabled list and placed righthander Kip Wells on the 15-day DL with a right adductor strain. *