ST. LOUIS (AP) - Adam Wainwright earned his NL-leading 15th win with his fifth complete game and had a key sacrifice fly to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.
Matt Holliday's 432-foot home run off Kris Medlen (10-12) snapped a sixth-inning tie for St. Louis, which took the first two games of a four-game set against the NL East leaders.
Having already thrown 101 pitches, Wainwright was allowed to bat with the one out and the bases loaded in the seventh inning. He hit a long fly ball to center off Scott Downs for his third RBI of the season, making it 3-1.
Medlen singled to lead off the sixth and scored on Freddie Freeman's second hit of the game. Medlen also retired 12 in a row at one point, but he allowed Holliday's 17th homer on a liner deep into the left field stands. He's lost his last two times out, including a relief appearance in a 15-inning game.
PIRATES 3, GIANTS 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Clint Barmes hit a three-run homer, Charlie Morton pitched eight strong innings and Pittsburgh won for the fourth time in five games.
Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison each had two hits for the Pirates, who maintained their one-game lead over St. Louis in the NL Central.
Morton (5-3) allowed one run and seven hits over 7 2-3 innings. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.
San Francisco left-hander Madison Bumgarner (11-8) took a shutout into the seventh and wound up allowing three runs and seven hits over eight innings.
Roger Kieschnick drove in a run for the Giants, who have lost three straight and five of six overall.
BREWERS 6, REDS 4
CINCINNATI (AP) - Khris Davis hit a pair of two-run homers in consecutive at-bats for the first multihomer game of his career, powering Milwaukee to the win.
Scooter Gennett also homered for the Brewers, who won at Great American Ball Park for only the second time in seven games this season.
The Reds lost for only the fifth time in their last 17 games, a surge that has tightened the NL Central race. They came in a season-high 18 games over .500.
Davis connected in the sixth off Homer Bailey and again in the eighth off Alfredo Simon (5-4), who had a rough inning. He also gave up Gennett's solo homer, which was upheld on review.
Rob Wooten (2-0) hit a batter during his one inning in relief. Jim Henderson gave up a hit in the ninth while getting his 20th save in 23 chances.
Brandon Phillips homered for Cincinnati.
PADRES 8, CUBS 6
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Will Venable had three hits and three RBIs, including a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning, and San Diego put together a big rally to get the win.
Jedd Gyorko homered twice and drove in a career-high four runs as the Padres stormed back after a terrible start. Chase Headley and Logan Forsythe had two hits apiece.
Nate Schierholtz hit a three-run homer in Chicago's six-run first inning, but that was all the scoring for the Cubs.
Nick Vincent (3-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the win and Huston Street got three outs for his 25th save in 26 chances.
Venable went 3 for 4 and is batting .373 (31 for 83) with six homer and 12 RBIs in his last 21 games.
Tim Stauffer pitched 4 1-3 innings of one-hit ball in relief of Edinson Volquez. The Padres' bullpen threw 8 1-3 shutout innings in the win.
PHILLIES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Chase Utley walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting Philadelphia to the comeback victory.
Cody Asche led off the ninth with a single and went to third on Jimmy Rollins' single. Heath Bell (4-2) intentionally walked Michael Young to load the bases for Kevin Frandsen. After striking out Frandsen, Bell was lifted for left-hander Eury De La Rosa.
De La Rosa ran the count to 3-2 and Utley walked when the final pitch appeared to be a bit inside.
It was the fifth win in six games for the Phillies, who have won four of those contests in their last at-bat, including the last three.
Darin Ruf homered for the second straight game for Philadelphia, which improved to 5-3 under interim manager Ryne Sandberg. Jonathan Papelbon (4-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.
ROCKIES 3, MARLINS 2
MIAMI (AP) - Ryan Wheeler hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the eighth to help Colorado get the win.
Jhoulys Chacin (12-7) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings for the Rockies. Adam Ottavino pitched the eighth and Lex Brothers finished for his 12th save in 13 opportunities.
Ed Lucas homered and Tom Koehler allowed one run in seven innings for Miami, which has lost four in a row.
With the Rockies trailing 2-1 in the eighth, Tulowitzki got the rally started with a one-out double off Chad Qualls (4-2). Michael Cuddyer followed with a tying RBI single.
After Rosario grounded out, Wheeler gave the Rockies a 3-2 lead with a double to center for his first RBI of the season.
INTERLEAGUE
DODGERS 2, RED SOX 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ricky Nolasco pitched eight innings of two-hit ball, Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run homer and the Dodgers defeated the Red Sox in the opener of an interleague series between playoff contenders.
The Dodgers won their fourth in a row, while the Red Sox lost for the sixth time in eight games. With the loss, Boston fell percentage points behind Tampa Bay in the AL East standings.
The Dodgers opened a 10 1/2-game lead in the NL West, their biggest margin since holding a 10 1/2-game advantage on Sept. 28, 1977.
Nolasco and John Lackey dueled through eight innings of Boston's first visit to Dodger Stadium since 2002. They combined for just five hits in a game that lasted 2 hours, 7 minutes.
Nolasco (10-9) struck out six and walked none in tying his longest outing of the season. Lackey (8-11) gave up two runs and three hits, struck out six and walked none.
Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his 22nd save.
TIGERS 6, METS 1
NEW YORK (AP) - Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer, Torii Hunter also connected and the Tigers tagged Daisuke Matsuzaka early on in his return to the majors.
Hunter added a long RBI double and Doug Fister (11-6) pitched into the seventh inning to help Detroit win the interleague series opener. Austin Jackson went deep for the second straight day for the AL Central leaders.
The series resumes Saturday afternoon with a rematch of All-Star game starters at Citi Field: Max Scherzer puts his 18-1 record on the line against New York ace Matt Harvey in a nationally televised game.
Minus two injured starters, the Mets signed Matsuzaka (0-1) on Thursday to fill a hole in the rotation and immediately handed him a difficult assignment. The Japanese right-hander allowed five runs - all coming in the first two frames - and six hits in five innings.
NATIONALS 11, ROYALS 10
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Jayson Werth hit a two-run homer, Bryce Harper drove in three runs and Washington rallied from a six-run deficit to the get the win.
Harper also made a terrific catch in the ninth for Washington, which scored seven times in the fourth inning of its fourth consecutive win. Ian Desmond had a pair of hits during the outburst.
Denard Span, Ryan Zimmerman, Tyler Moore and Anthony Rendon also had RBIs as the Nationals piled up 11 runs for the second time in three games - they beat the Cubs 11-6 on Tuesday night.
Just like in that one, Tyler Roark (4-0) came in to spell some sloppy starting pitching for the Nationals. He earned the win by allowing one hit and one walk in 4 2-3 innings.
Bruce Chen (5-2) was tagged for the second straight time for Kansas City. He allowed seven runs and six hits with five walks in 3 2-3 innings in his shortest outing of the year.
Rafael Soriano got three outs for his 33rd save.