ST. LOUIS, 10 August 2003 — Russ Ortiz notched his National League leading 16th win as the Atlanta Braves cruised to a 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

Ortiz (16-5) joins Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays as the major league’s win leaders.

The former Giant worked into the ninth inning, surrendering five hits while striking six. He had plenty of help, the Braves homering four times, two of the blasts served up by loser Jeff Fassero (1-6).

Gary Sheffield, Marcus Giles, Andruw Jones and Javy Lopez went deep for Atlanta, now a franchise-best 76-39.

National League batting leader Albert Pujols (.371) collected one hit in four trips to the plate for St. Louis to extend his streak to 22 games.

Astros 5 Expos 1

In Houston, the division-leading Astros dumped the Expos 5-1 to hand Montreal its fourth straight loss.

Jeriome Robertson (11-5) tossed 6 1/3 innings of five-hit ball for the win, the loss going to Expos starter Javier Vazquez (9-8), who left with his team trailing 3-0.

Marlins 5 Brewers 3

In Milwaukee, Juan Encarnacion’s two-run homer in the third inning put the Marlins ahead to stay as Florida edged the Brewers 5-3.

Encarnacion tagged loser Ben Sheets (10-9), who was charged with all five Florida runs.

Carl Pavano (9-10) won for a career-best ninth time, scattering five hits over six innings.

The surging Marlins are now an impressive 19-4 in their past 23 series openers.

Giants 9 Phillies 1

In San Francisco, Barry Bonds belted a three-run homer as the Giants romped 9-1 over the Philadelphia Phillies, who fell into a tie with Florida for the NL wild-card lead (63-52).

It was Bonds’ major-league leading 35th homer of the season and the 648th of his career.

Andres Galarraga also went deep for San Francisco, his blast served up by loser Randy Wolf (11-7), who was charged with four Giant runs.

Dodgers 3 Cubs 1

In Los Angeles, Eric Gagne finished up for his major league-record 39th straight save to start a season as the Dodgers downed the Chicago Cubs 3-1. Gagne struck out two of the three batters he faced. He and four other Los Angeles pitchers combined on a three hitter, with starter Andy Ashby (3-9) getting the decision. Adrian Beltre took loser Shawn Estes (7-9) deep with a man aboard in the fifth to snap a 1-1 tie.

Mets 3 Diamondbacks 1

In Phoenix, Tom Glavine notched just his seventh win of the season — his first since July 4 — as the New York Mets rallied for a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Glavine (7-11) tossed six innings of four-hit ball to improve to 249-154 lifetime.

Padres 1 Reds 0 (12 innings)

In San Diego, Mark Kotsay’s 12th-inning double plated the game’s lone run, the Padres edging the slumping Cincinnati Reds 1-0.

Brian Reith (1-2), the seventh Cincinnati pitcher, took the loss, with Rod Beck (2-1) notching the victory in relief of Jake Peavy, who tossed nine shutout innings.

Rockies 13 Pirates 6

In Denver, the Colorado Rockies overcame an early 4-0 deficit and then a two-hour rain delay to thump the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-6. Preston Wilson’s three-run homer off reliever Pat Mahomes (0-1) proved to be the game-winner. Jose Jimenez (1-6) earned the victory in relief of Jason Jennings, who sat down when the rains came and did not reappear.