NL ROUNDUP Cards, Tavarez pay price for playing dirty

St. Louis Cardinals reliever Julian Tavarez keeps running intotrouble with his grimy, dirt-smudged cap. For the first time thisseason, it got him ejected.

Tavarez lasted only one out in the Cardinals' 5-4 victory over thePittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a doubleheader Friday. Umpire JoeWest conducted a lengthy inspection of the cap before the eighthinning before tossing Tavarez, who made a flamboyant exit.

First, Tavarez put his arm around home plate umpire Ron Kulpa andsuggested the two get a beer after the game. Then he flipped his capto a fan behind the dugout on his way off the field.

West said he was enforcing Rule 802.b, which prohibits foreignsubstances on uniforms and caps. He also said Tavarez and managerTony La Russa "as much admitted" it was pine tar on his cap.

The Cardinals are the sixth team in six years for Tavarez, whoplayed for the Pirates last season. He was disappointed that managerLloyd McClendon would use such a tactic and deposited a handful ofhis clean caps on McClendon's desk after being ejected.

In the second game, the Cardinals completed the sweep when ScottRolen became the third St. Louis player to hit 30 homers this seasonand Chris Carpenter set a career best with his 13th win in a 5-3victory. Tavarez pitched a third of an inning without incident. Hewas wearing a different cap.

Rolen combined with Albert Pujols (37) and Jim Edmonds (31) togive the Cardinals three 30-homer players in one season for the firsttime.

EXPOS 4, ROCKIES 3: Tony Batista hit a tiebreaking solo homer inthe eighth inning as visiting Montreal overcame a scary injury tofirst baseman Nick Johnson to beat Colorado.

Johnson was injured in the third inning when a shot by RoyceClayton took an odd bounce and hit him between his right cheek andjaw. Johnson lay on the field for about 10 minutes before beingstrapped to a stretcher and carted off the field.

GIANTS 7, METS 3: Pedro Feliz homered twice, Edgardo Alfonzo alsoconnected and host San Francisco snapped a seven-game losing streakagainst New York.

Barry Bonds went 3-for-4 with a double to help the Giants maintaina half-game lead in the National League wild-card race.

REDS 2, DIAMONDBACKS 0: Randy Johnson struck out 14 and became thesecond pitcher to reach double digits 200 times, but still wound upwith a loss for host Arizona.

An unearned run in the first and Barry Larkin's RBI single in theeighth were enough for the Reds.

DODGERS 3, BRAVES 2: Adrian Beltre tied the game in the ninthinning with a home run off John Smoltz and won it in the 11th withhis major-league-leading 38th homer for host Los Angeles.

PADRES 6, MARLINS 1: Brian Lawrence (12-10) pitched a five-hitterto match his career high for wins to lift host San Diego.

PHILLIES 4, BREWERS 2: Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu homered, and EricMilton pitched seven solid innings as visiting Philadelphia ended aseven-game losing streak.

AP