Arizona's home run king

Luis Gonzalez hit his 19th and 20th homers of the season

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National League

Despite having to wait three hours for the Cincinnati rain to clear, Luis Gonzalez continued to shine with a pair of homers as Arizona defeated the Reds 7-2.

Gonzalez belted his 19th of the season in the first innings to open the scoring and maintain his lead at the top of the major league home run standings.

Nearly six hours later, he completed his fourth multi-homer game of the year, connecting in the ninth off Mark Wohlers.

"Since I've been using my legs, my power numbers have jumped," Gonzalez said.

Ryan Dempster upstages the return of John Smoltz

In Atlanta, John Smoltz made his first start since the 1999 World Series, but was rocked for five runs in just three innings pitched as the Rockies beat the Braves 8-3.

Jeff Cirillo hit a two-run homer and Todd Walker a two-run single off Smoltz to spoil what began as an emotional night at Turner Field.

The 34-year-old Smoltz underwent surgery to replace a ligament in his pitching elbow last March and received a very warm ovation.

Former players came back to haunt the New York Mets as Rickey Henderson and Bubba Trammell both hit home runs in a 15-3 San Diego rout at Shea Stadium.

American League

Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro hit back-to-back homers in a 10-run second innings as the Texas Rangers pounded out a 12-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians had won their previous 11 road games - their longest streak in 63 years - but suffered their first away loss since 14 April.

And their pitcher Chuck Finley, who failed to retire any of the six batters he faced in the second and was charged with eight runs and nine hits, took most of the damage.

It was his shortest outing since recording just two outs for California against Boston almost 10 years ago.

The first 10 Rangers reached base in the second and Gabe Kapler and Scott Sheldon each had a pair of hits.

Rodriguez added his 14th homer, a three-run blast to left field and Palmeiro greeted relief pitcher Justin Speier with his 11th homer to send Texas on their hard-hitting way.

In Seattle, the Mariners kept their winning form going and Ichiro Suzuki - their Japanese sensation - extended his major league-leading hitting streak to 22 games in a 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Suzuki now owns the second-longest hitting streak in Seattle history and is only two games shy of Joey Cora's 1997 club record.

With their eighth straight win, Seattle improved to 31-9, matching the 40-game start of the 1998 New York Yankees, who won an American League-record 114 games.

In Baltimore, Robert Fick homered twice and drove in four runs as the Detroit Tigers salvaged the last of their three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles 7-5.

Fick, in his first start behind the plate this season, had his third three-hit game of the season.

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American League

Anaheim 4-2 Toronto
Baltimore 5-7 Detroit
Kansas City 4-1 Tampa Bay
Minnesota 5-3 Boston
Oakland 8-3 NY Yankees
Seattle 5-1 Chicago White Sox

National League

Atlanta 3-8 Colorado
Chicago Cubs 2-4 Houston
Cincinatti 2-7 Arizona
Florida 8-3 San Francisco
Montreal 3-1 Los Angeles
New York Mets 3-15 San Diego
Philadelphia 2-1 (12) Milwaukee
Pittsburgh 2-12 St Louis