NEW YORK, 19 July 2006 — The Atlanta Braves pounded the St. Louis Cardinals 15-3 on Monday at Busch Stadium, extending their winning run to six games while Chipper Jones’ hitting streak and a place in the record books came to an end.

The Braves pounded out a season high 20 hits in the rout and Jones had three of them but none were for extra bases.

Jones entered the game needing just one more extra base hit to break the record of 14 consecutive games with an extra base hit set by Pittsburgh’s Paul Waner in 1927.

But the Braves first baseman finished the night having to settle for a share of the 79-year-old record, a dominating victory and three singles to keep his 17-game hitting streak intact.

“I’m not going to be disappointed by a 15-run outburst and a win by our ball club,” Jones told MLB.com. “I knew it was going to come to an end at some point, but at least I got my name up there. “Hitting is contagious.

“Normally when you get a team that is as hot as we are now, it usually starts at the top and filters its way down.”

If hitting is contagious then the Braves have a full-blown epidemic on their hands.

In four games since the All-Star break, the Braves have scored 51 runs and belted 15 homers.

Brian McCann topped the hit parade on Monday with his first career grand slam while Wilson Betemit, Adam LaRoche and pitcher Jorge Sosa also homered.

Betemit’s night included four hits and a career high five RBI while LaRoche batted in three runs and scored three times.

Jeff Francoeur also had three hits and scored three.

“This is absolutely nuts,” said LaRoche. Overlooked in the offensive fireworks was a solid pitching performance from Horacio Ramirez (5-3), who allowed just one run on two hits over five innings of work.

Despite their impressive start to the second half of the season, the Braves still 11 1/2 games back of the National League East leading New York Mets and with plenty of work ahead of them if they hope to get into postseason contention.

In Phoenix, Eric Byrnes smacked a three-run homer and Enrique Gonzalez tossed 6 2/3 strong innings and helped his own cause at the plate driving in a pair of runs as the Arizona Diamondbacks eased past the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3.

Gonzalez (3-2) surrendered three runs on eight hits helping the Diamondbacks to their sixth win in seven games. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have made a stumbling start to the second half of the season going winless (0-5) since the All-Star break.

In San Francisco, Bill Hall cracked a three-run homer and Mike Rivera added a two-run shot powering the Milwaukee Brewers past the Giants 10-1.

Barry Bonds, who belted his 721st homer on Sunday, was 0-for-1 with two walks.