SAN FRANCISCO — Nate Schierholtz threw a rocket from right field to steal a double from Ryan Howard in the second inning, then he did it again to Chase Utley in the ninth.

The San Francisco Giants are getting great defense, strong pitching and clutch hitting in their latest winning stretch — and beating some talented pitchers in the process. Adam Wainwright, Roy Halladay, Jamie Moyer.

Aubrey Huff and Matt Downs each hit solo home runs in the second inning, No. 5 starter Todd Wellemeyer (1-3) finally won, and the Giants knocked the Philadelphia Phillies out of first place in the NL East with a 6-2 victory last night.

Just like Halladay a night earlier, Moyer couldn't slow down San Francisco's suddenly hot bats. The Phillies fell a half-game back of the New York Mets.

"We lost. There's nothing to be happy about," Moyer said. "We need to pay attention to what we're doing ourselves. We have to look at the here and look at the now."

METS SWEEP DODGERS

David Wright drove in four runs, Ike Davis added three RBIs and host New York won its sixth straight game, beating Los Angeles, 10-5, to complete a doubleheader sweep.

In the opener, Jason Bay hit his first home run for the Mets to back another stingy outing by Johan Santana as New York rolled to a 4-0 victory.

NATIONALS 3, CUBS 1

Livan Hernandez (3-1) allowed a run and six hits in seven-plus innings, Ian Desmond delivered a pair of RBI singles, and Cristian Guzman added a run-scoring triple to lift visiting Washington over Chicago.

PADRES 4, MARLINS 1

Jon Garland (2-2) allowed one run and three hits, and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts in six innings, and Adrian Gonzalez, Jerry Hairston and Nick Hundley had run-scoring hits to lead visiting San Diego past Florida.

PIRATES 7, BREWERS 3

Ryan Doumit hit a grand slam and Ronny Cedeno had a solo homer in a five-run ninth inning off struggling Trevor Hoffman (1-2) to help Pittsburgh snap a 22-game losing streak in Milwaukee.

CARDINALS 5, BRAVES 4

Chris Carpenter (3-0) allowed two runs on three hits in six innings on his 35th birthday and host St. Louis used a four-run sixth for a 5-2 lead in handing Atlanta its seventh straight loss, its worst since a 10-game skid in June 2006.

REDS 6, ASTROS 2

Aaron Harang (1-3) gave up two runs and eight hits over six innings and Ryan Hanigan drove in three runs to help Cincinnati break a five-game road skid, while halting Houston's winning streak at three.

ROCKIES 12, DIAMONDBACKS 1

Ubaldo Jimenez (5-0) struck out six, walked two and allowed two hits in six innings to extend his scoreless streak to 22 1/3 innings, and Carlos Gonzalez had three hits and five RBIs as host Colorado routed Arizona.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

TWINS 2, TIGERS 0

Francisco Liriano (3-0) struck out 10 and gave up four hits over eight innings, Jon Rauch earned his seventh save, and visiting Minnesota scored in the sixth and seventh innings with the help of two Detroit errors.

RAYS 8, ATHLETICS 6

Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer to break a 4-4 tie in the third inning as host and AL East-leading Tampa Bay improved baseball's best record to 15-5 with a victory over Oakland to match a club record for wins in April.

RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 1

Clay Buchholz (2-2) allowed one run and seven hits in eight innings, pinch-hitter Mike Lowell drove in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth as Boston beat Toronto for its fifth straight victory.

RANGERS 4, WHITE SOX 2

Catcher Matt Treanor had a solo homer and a two-run double for his first extra-base hits of the season and C.J. Wilson (2-1) gave up two runs and five hits over six innings to lead host Texas past Chicago.

ORIOLES 5, YANKEES 4

Cesar Izturis had three RBIs, Nolan Reimold singled in the tiebreaking run during a three-run sixth inning, and Baltimore hung on to beat New York to become the last team in the majors to win at home.

MARINERS 3, ROYALS 2

Zack Greinke gave up six hits over seven scoreless innings and left with a 2-0 lead, but ended April winless in five starts as visiting Seattle scored three runs in the eighth against the Kansas City bullpen.

INDIANS 9, ANGELS 2

Austin Kearns homered for the second straight game and drove in five runs, Shin-Soo Choo had a pair of RBI singles, and rookie Mitch Talbot (3-1) allowed a run and six hits over 6 1/3 innings to lead visiting Cleveland.