Carlos Beltran homered twice for the second straight game, leading the New York Mets to an 8-3 victory and handing the Philadelphia Phillies their third straight loss.
Paul Lo Duca and David Wright also connected and Jorge Sosa (7-3) pitched five effective innings before he left after straining his left hamstring running to first in the sixth.
Beltran had a pair of solo homers Friday off Cole Hamels, helping New York complete a sweep of a day-night doubleheader. Ryan Howard hit his 19th homer for injury-riddled Philadelphia, which fell six games behind the Mets.
Brewers 13, Cubs 4
In Chicago, Milwaukee bounced back from a tough defeat, scoring nine runs in the first three innings to make it easy for Ben Sheets (10-3), who had a season-high 11 strikeouts in his sixth straight win.
Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer and went 4-for-5 with four RBIs for Milwaukee, which finished with 15 hits in ending Chicago's seven-game winning streak.
Braves 6, Marlins 5
At Miami, Tim Hudson pitched seven sharp innings and Edgar Renteria hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth as Atlanta beat Florida.
Renteria's double off reliever Armando Benitez (2-4) drove in Willie Harris, breaking a 1-1 tie.
Reds 5, Cardinals 1
At Cincinatti, Kyle Lohse (4-10) rebounded from the worst outing of his career with one of his best, pitching into the eighth inning and hitting a sacrifice fly while leading Cincinnati to victory over St Louis.
The Reds reached the halfway point of their season at 31-50, the worst record in the majors.
Rockies 5, Astros 0
At Houston, Jeff Francis allowed three hits in seven innings and Colorado beat its former ace Jason Jennings (1-3) as the Rockies ended an eight-game losing streak by downing Houston.
Garrett Atkins drove in two runs, Matt Holliday had an RBI double.
Pirates 7, Nationals 2
At Pittsburgh, Tom Gorzelanny (8-4) improved his chances of being Pittsburgh's All-Star representative by limiting Washington to two runs over seven innings and Adam LaRoche drove in three runs in the Pirates victory.
LaRoche had a two-run double and Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez each had two-run singles in a six-run second inning against Jason Bergmann (1-5), giving Pittsburgh a 6-1 lead.
Giants 4, Diamondbacks 1
At San Francisco, Barry Bonds barely missed his 751st home run and settled for an RBI double to help San Francisco end a three-game skid by beating Arizona.
It was the 376th double for Bonds with the Giants.
Padres 3, Dodgers 1
At Los Angeles, Jake Peavy and Brad Penny pitched to a stalemate, Jose Cruz Jr. and pinch-hitter Geoff Blum hit RBI doubles in the 12th and the Padres won to take a two-game lead over the Dodgers in the West Division.
Chad Gaudin combined with Rich Harden on a one-hitter and the Oakland Athletics connected for three home runs off Kei Igawa in a 7-0 victory over the lethargic New York Yankees on Saturday.
Light-hitting Jason Kendall was 3-for-3 with a homer and a walk to lead an Oakland offense that ranks 13th out of 14 American League teams in runs scored.
Twins 8, Tigers 5
In Detroit, Michael Cuddyer and Lew Ford homered and drove in three runs apiece in Minnesota's victory over Detroit.
Cuddyer hit a three-run homer, went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.
Minnesota has won the first two games of the series.
Rangers 5, Red Sox 4
At Boston, Sammy Sosa hit his 602nd career homer to break a fifth-inning tie, leading Texas to victory over Boston and spoiling Josh Beckett's last start before the All-Star rosters are announced.
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