Rich Harden's been as good -- maybe even better -- than the Chicago Cubs expected when they acquired him in a trade from Oakland six weeks ago. Harden allowed two hits in seven innings Tuesday night, striking out 10 and bunting in the go-ahead run for his first major league RBI as the surging Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-0.

On a night in which he struggled to get through five innings, Daisuke Matsuzaka got offensive support from an unlikely source: batterymate Jason Varitek. Matsuzaka won his fourth straight start, the Boston Red Sox got homers from Varitek and Kevin Youkilis in a 7-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.

The Mets got big hits with the bases loaded and their bullpen was outstanding, for a change. If they keep that up, they'll have a much better chance of hanging on in the NL East. Carlos Delgado hit a go-ahead double off the left-center fence to end New York's long stretch of bases-loaded futility, and the Mets broke loose in the eighth inning to rally past Atlanta 7-3 Tuesday night.

One night the Tampa Bay Rays play long ball. The next they rarely get the ball out of the infield and still beat the Los Angeles Angels. The surging Rays won for the ninth time in 11 games Tuesday night, using Willy Aybar's two-run single to break an eighth-inning tie in a 4-2 win over the Angels that gave Tampa Bay the best record in the American League.