Associated Press
ATLANTA ó Happy birthday, Chipper Jones.
The Atlanta slugger celebrated his 36th birthday by going
3-for-3, including a homer, to lead the Braves past the NL East-leading Florida Marlins 7-4 on Thursday night.
Jones also singled in the fifth and was walked intentionally in his final at-bat while the crowd booed loudly. Heís on one of the hottest tears of his career, raising the best average in the majors to .442, and has seven homers and 20 RBIs.
Chuck James (2-1) allowed four runs in five innings, but lasted long enough for the win. Jorge Campillo pitched two scoreless innings and Manny Acosta worked the final two for his second save.
Josh Willingham homered and drove in all four Florida runs.
Atlanta jumped on rookie Burke Badenhop (0-2) in the first after the Marlins went ahead 1-0 in the top half on Willinghamís run-scoring single.
Astros 5, Reds 3
CINCINNATI ó Lance Berkman hit his 18th homer at Great American Ball Park ó the most by any visiting player ó and drove in three run.
Berkman had a two-run homer and a run-scoring double off rookie Johnny Cueto (1-2), whose 96 mph fastball wasnít enough to slow the Astrosí surging offense.
Houstonís last five-game winning streak was April 16-20 last season. Its offense has led the way, scoring 41 runs during the streak.
Phillies 3, Brewers 1
MILWAUKEE ó Pat Burrellís two-out, two-run double broke a tie in the eighth, and the Phillies held on to beat Milwaukee.
Burrellís deep drive to the left field corner capped the Philliesí two-out rally off Brewers reliever David Riske (0-1), who got the first two outs of the inning before walking Greg Dobbs and giving up a single to Chase Utley.
Rockies 4, Cubs 2
DENVER ó Aaron Cook won his third straight start with eight strong innings, and Brian Fuentes earned his first save in 10 months for Colorado.
Jason Marquis gave up eight hits and struck out four in seven innings, Kevin Hart (2-1) took the loss in relief to snap the Cubsí six-game win streak. Theyíd won nine of their last 10.
Nationals 10, Mets 5
WASHINGTON ó Felipe Lopezís grand slam and two-run single gave him a career-high-tying six RBIs and led Washington to just its fourth victory in the past 20 games.
The Nationals fell behind 3-0 while being held in check through four innings by Mets starter Oliver Perez. But Washingtonís weak offense broke out for three runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and three in the seventh.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH ó Brian Barton had a two-run single in the fifth inning ó the first hit off erratic Pittsburgh starter Tom Gorzelanny ó and St. Louis avoided its first three-game skid of the season with a win over the Pirates.
Giants 1, Padres 0
SAN DIEGO ó Rich Aurilia homered off Chris Young in the seventh inning to keep Tim Lincecum perfect this season.
Young (1-2) allowed two hits in seven innings while striking out 10 but couldnít keep the Padres from tumbling into sole possession of last place in the NL West.