HOUSTON — Rookie Kurt Suzuki has gotten a lot of help from Jason Kendall since being called up from the minors a few days ago.

Yesterday it was Suzuki who helped Kendall out, getting his first major league hit in the 11th inning to set up Kendall's game-winning RBI-single in Oakland's 6-5 win over the Houston Astros.

"I've watched Jason and how he sets guys up," said an excited Suzuki, a Baldwin alum who played on Fullerton State's NCAA championship team. "He's definitely been a big help to me with scouting reports and telling me how to set people up. He's given me some good hints and that has really helped."

Suzuki, who was called up from Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday, got his pinch-hit single after a single by Bobby Crosby with one out in the 11th. Kendall's hit was a line drive to left field off Brian Moehler (0-2).

"He's swinging the bat a lot better in the last week or so," A's manager Bob Geren said of Kendall. "He has been working real hard with (hitting coach) Ty Van Burkleo every day and it's starting to show."

Santiago Casilla pitched a perfect 11th for his second save in two tries. Alan Embree (1-0) got the win after pitching two scoreless innings.

"I can't say enough about what the bullpen did," Geren said. "We had six relievers who came in and did their job. To throw all those zeros on the scoreboard was just remarkable."

Oakland took the series with the win, and has won five of its past six games and 10 of 12. It was the second 11 inning game in this series for these two teams, after Houston won 5-4 on Tuesday.

It was Houston's fourth loss in five games.

RANGERS 6, PIRATES 0

Kameron Loe threw eight shutout innings and Gerald Laird, Jerry Hairston, Jr. and Travis Metcalf homered for Texas, which snapped a three-game losing streak by beating host Pittsburgh. Loe (2-6) allowed five hits and three walks with a career-high seven strikeouts.

NATIONALS 3, ORIOLES 1

Ryan Zimmerman singled in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning to back Jason Simontacchi's best start of the season, and Washington completed a three-game sweep of host Baltimore. Simontacchi (4-4) allowed one run, nine hits and four walks in seven-plus innings.

INDIANS 3, MARLINS 2

Jason Stanford carried a shutout into the seventh inning and Cleveland held on for the win against host Florida. Stanford (1-0) allowed six hits and one run while striking out seven in six-plus innings for his second major league win — the other was Sept. 26, 2003. Victor Martinez homered, doubled and scored twice and Casey Blake singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 23 games for Cleveland.

TWINS 3, BRAVES 2

Mike Redmond capped a three-run rally in the ninth inning with an RBI single to left field for host Minnesota against Atlanta closer Bob Wickman, ruining Tim Hudson's strong start. Hudson dominated for 7 1/3 innings, and Rafael Soriano recorded the last two outs in the eighth. But the Twins hit a bunch of bouncers to scrap together a wild rally in the ninth against Wickman (1-2) and complete the three-game sweep.

ROCKIES 7, RED SOX 1

Garrett Atkins went 3 for 5 with a grand slam, Kaz Matsui added three hits and Boston's Josh Beckett lost for the first time this season, falling to visiting Colorado. Beckett (9-1) allowed six runs and 10 hits with a walk and a strikeout in five innings and left trailing 6-0. Jeff Francis (6-5) pitched five shutout innings to win for the fifth time in six decisions.

ROYALS 17, CARDINALS 8

Mark Teahen had two triples and five RBIs, Tony Pena Jr. had four hits and host Kansas City got its first series win at home against St. Louis in six years. Reliever Zack Greinke (4-4) pitched four innings and gave up a run and four hits for the win.

PADRES 7, DEVIL RAYS 1

Justin Germano won his fifth straight decision since coming up from the minor leagues, helping first-place San Diego remain atop the NL West by beating host Tampa Bay. Germano (5-0) allowed three hits in six innings, walked one and struck out four.

ANGELS 9, REDS 7

Vladimir Guerrero's bases-loaded single in the seventh inning rallied Los Angeles over host Cincinnati. The Angels scored six runs in the seventh, allowing them to take two of three in their first visit to Cincinnati.

YANKEES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 1

Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs, Andy Pettitte (4-4) gave up a run and four hits in eight innings, and host New York won its ninth straight game by beating Arizona. The Yankees finished off another sweep — they brushed aside Pittsburgh last weekend — and extended their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2005.

BREWERS 6, TIGERS 5

Corey Hart hit a homer and Ben Sheets gave up three runs, eight hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings, helping the NL Central leaders beat host Detroit. Milwaukee was no-hit Tuesday, then won the next two games to win a road series for the first time since late April.

CUBS 5, MARINERS 4

Cesar Izturis hit a two-run double in the eighth as host Chicago capitalized on the wildness of reliever Brandon Morrow to rally past Seattle. Seattle led 4-3 in the eighth when Morrow (3-1) walked the first two batters he faced. Koyie Hill sacrificed them to second and third before Izturis hit a liner down the left field line to put the Cubs ahead.