SAN DIEGO — It was the kind of late-inning buzz that none of the players had experienced before.

The Houston Astros — who once had the "Killer Bs" — beat the San Diego Padres, 7-2, yesterday, but only after waiting out a 52-minute delay in the top of the ninth inning caused when a swarm of bees took over left field at Petco Park.

It certainly gave a new meaning to getaway day.

"It's how this year's going. Bizarre things. You think you've seen it all in baseball and you're going to see something new," said Houston's Geoff Blum, who hit a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs.

The drama began with Houston leading 6-1 with two outs in the top of the ninth. San Diego's Kyle Blanks started walking in from left field, trying to get shortstop Everth Cabrera to call time. It ended when a beekeeper obliterated a ball of bees that followed a queen bee under a ballgirl's jacket that was slung over the back of a chair down the left-field line.

"I kind of saw one or two floating around my head," Blanks said. "Then I turned around and there was a wall. I started to walk in and tried to get Everth to call time."

Blanks said he was allergic to bees. "It's not something I want to tempt," he said.

The game was halted and both teams were cleared from the field.

The beekeeper arrived about 45 minutes later, quickly did his job to applause from the fans that remained, and the game resumed 5 minutes later.

The swarm first appeared along the warning track. Later, fans were cleared out of several sections down the left-field line as the bees swarmed around the chair.

Head groundskeeper Luke Yoder thinks they were regular honey bees.

BRAVES 5, PHILLIES 2

Matt Diaz broke a 2-all tie with a run-scoring double and Garret Anderson followed with his first career pinch-hit homer, a two-run shot, to cap a three-run eighth as Atlanta completed its first home three-game sweep of Philadelphia in four years.

METS 9, PIRATES 8

Ryan Church singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning to lift New York, which overcame a five-run deficit and then wasted a ninth-inning lead when Pittsburgh's Adam LaRoche hit a tying two-run homer off Francisco Rodriguez (2-2).

REDS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2

Joey Votto singled with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning as Cincinnati beat Arizona, which saw its bases-loaded threat in the top of the 10th end with a double play.

CUBS 9, BREWERS 5

Derrek Lee hit a grand slam and a three-run homer for a career-high seven RBIs, and Chicago opened an 11-game homestand by beating Milwaukee. Ryan Dempster (5-5) got his first win since May 30 and improved his career record against the Brewers to 10-3.

CARDINALS 5, GIANTS 2

Todd Wellemeyer (7-7) allowed two runs and seven hits over 7 1/3 innings and Ryan Ludwick had two hits and two RBIs to lead host St. Louis past San Francisco for just its third victory in the last nine games.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

MARINERS 8, YANKEES 4

Franklin Gutierrez and Russell Branyan homered, and Ichiro Suzuki added a two-run double as visiting Seattle beat CC Sabathia (7-5) to snap New York's seven-game winning streak.

WHITE SOX 4, ROYALS 1

Mark Buehrle (8-3) took a four-hit shutout into the ninth inning before leaving after Alberto Callaspo doubled and scored on David DeJesus' one-out double, helping visiting Chicago defeat Kansas City for its sixth victory in a row.

ANGELS 5, ORIOLES 2

Bobby Abreu hit two home runs off Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (6-8) and John Lackey (3-3) gave up two runs and four hits over eight innings to lead host Los Angeles.