CHICAGO — D.J. Houlton's wait for run support was a short one last night. The Los Angeles Dodgers got him six in the second inning — more than they had scored in his five previous starts combined.

"I'll take it," Houlton said after getting his first win in two months as the Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-6, even though he gave up four solo homers.

"I've been throwing pretty good and then I go out tonight and don't throw so well and still got a win. A win is a win. It's nice."

Jeff Kent drove in four runs for the Dodgers, two with a second-inning single to key the six-run outburst against Waipahu High alum Jerome Williams that featured five hits, three walks and an error.

"We were taking advantage of the situation," Kent said. "It makes it easier for hitters when a pitcher's not throwing strikes. The kid (Williams) was having a hard time making adjustments and before we knew it, we had a bunch of runs."

Houlton (5-7) won for the first time in nine starts since June 27.

The Dodgers drove Williams (4-7) out after 1 2/3 innings. He walked three and gave up six runs — five earned — and five hits.

"I just didn't make the pitches," Williams said. "When I came out of the bullpen I felt good. I just wasn't locating the ball where I wanted to. I got to concentrate more now."

Rockies 2, Giants 1: Matt Cain pitched five strong innings in his major league debut, but Matt Holliday homered to help visiting Colorado beat San Francisco. Holliday connected off Cain for his 14th homer leading off the second. Cain (0-1) allowed two runs and three hits, struck out two and walked four.

Cardinals 6, Marlins 1: Chris Carpenter pitched 7 2/3 innings to become the first 19-game winner in the major leagues, and David Eckstein went 4 for 5 with three RBIs to help visiting St. Louis beat Florida. Carpenter (19-4) allowed seven hits but only one run.

Diamondbacks 7, Padres 5: Kelly Stinnett hit an inside-the-park homer, and Troy Glaus, Chad Tracy and Shawn Green also connected as visiting Arizona beat San Diego. With Tracy hitting his 20th homer, Arizona is the only NL team to have four players with 20 or more.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Yankees 7, Mariners 4: Jason Giambi hit two homers for the second straight game for host New York. His three-run drive in the sixth off Matt Thornton (0-4) overcome a 4-2 deficit. New York's Aaron Small (5-0), who relieved an ineffective Mike Mussina, allowed one hit in four scoreless innings.

Red Sox 10, Devil Rays 6: David Ortiz homered twice, giving him four in the past three games, and Johnny Damon hit a leadoff homer for host Boston. Boston's Matt Clement (12-3) allowed one run on three hits in five-plus innings, walking two and striking out three.

Indians 10, Tigers 8: Jhonny Peralta, Coco Crisp and Ben Broussard drove in two runs apiece as host Cleveland overcame a five-run deficit in the first inning by scoring six times in its first at-bat. The Indians improved to a major league-best 19-7 in August.

Rangers 7, White Sox 5: Rookie Juan Dominguez allowed seven hits in eight innings, and Mark Teixeira had three hits and two RBIs to lead host Texas over Chicago. Dominguez (2-3) gave up two runs, struck out three and walked two.

Athletics 10, Orioles 5: Nick Swisher and Mark Ellis homered off Jorge Julio in a five-run 12th inning, and visiting Oakland completed a four-game sweep of Baltimore. Kiko Calero (3-1) worked two scoreless innings to seal the A's sixth straight win.

Twins 3, Royals 1: Nick Punto hit a two-run double in the 10th inning, leading visiting Minnesota over Kansas City. Shawn Camp (1-4) walked Jason Bartlett and Michael Ryan with one out in the 10th and Punto doubled to left-center.