John Smoltz worked a perfect ninth for his 35th save in 38 chances.
The Braves rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the sixth against Kirk Rueter (7-10).
Astros 15, Cubs 7
In Chicago, Carlos Beltran hit two home runs and three other Houston players homered off a shaky Kerry Wood as the Astros snapped Chicago's five-game winning streak.
Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman had back-to-back solo shots off Wood (7-6), and Jeff Kent added a homer as Houston won for the ninth time in 12 games, moving within six games of Chicago in the NL wild-card race.
Beltran hit a solo homer in the first inning and a three-run shot in the ninth, giving him home runs in five straight games.
Roy Oswalt (15-9) allowed six runs in eight innings for the win. The benches cleared following an angry verbal exchange between Oswalt and Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, five days after Oswalt was ejected for hitting Barrett with a pitch. No punches were thrown.
Nomar Garciaparra and Derrek Lee homered for the Cubs.
Cardinals 8, Pirates 5
In Pittsburgh, Jim Edmonds hit a pair of two-run homers and matched his career high with five RBIs, leading St. Louis over Pittsburgh.
Edmonds hit a two-run homer in the first inning and added another two-run shot in the third off Ryan Vogelsong (4-11) as St. Louis beat the Pirates for the fifth consecutive time.
Phillies 6, Brewers 1
In Philadelphia, Vicente Padilla pitched seven shutout innings for his first win since May 23, and Philadelphia sent Milwaukee to its ninth straight loss.
The Phillies snapped a seven-game home losing streak. They scored all their runs with two outs in the fifth inning against Victor Santos (10-9), keyed by two-run singles from Bobby Abreu and David Bell.
Mets 9, Dodgers 2
In New York, Gerald Williams singled twice in a six-run first inning and New York broke out of its offensive funk in a big way, beating Los Angeles to end a five-game losing streak.
Tom Glavine hit an RBI single during the early burst and coasted to his 260th career win. Dodgers starter Wilson Alvarez (7-5) came out in the second inning with a bruised left forearm after being struck by Cliff Floyd's hard one-hopper.
Glavine (9-10) won for only the second time in 12 starts. He pitched six effective innings for his first victory since losing two front teeth in a taxi accident earlier this month.
Rookie David Wright drove in three runs and Eric Valent launched his third pinch-hit homer of the season as the Mets avoided their longest losing streak of the year.
The Cleveland Indians recalled Japanese right-hander Kazuhito Tadano and optioned Puerto Rican right-hander Fernando Cabrera to Triple-A Buffalo on Friday.
Tadano, 25, went 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA in two previous stints this season with Cleveland. He was 2-4 with a 5.44 ERA in 12 games at Buffalo.
Cabrera made his major-league debut for Cleveland on Aug. 21 and pitched in two games for the Indians.
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