Coming off their majors-best 20th victory on the final swing, the first-place Braves didn’t need any dramatics beginning a series against the lowly Nationals.

Atlanta won for the sixth time in seven games. Matt Diaz , making a rare appearance in the cleanup spot, had a two-run double that put the Braves ahead for good.

Minor (1-0) pitched well in his second career start but was trailing when he left, having surrendered two runs to the Nationals in the sixth.

Hernandez homered off Scott Olsen (3-5), who gave up three runs and three hits in five innings.

Reds 6 Diamondbacks 2 : At Phoenix, Paul Janish hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning and Bronson Arroyo overcame Kelly Johnson’s early two-run homer to pitch into the eighth, helping Cincinnati open a crucial 12-game road trip.

Arroyo (13-7) rallied after giving up Johnson’s 19th homer two batters into the game and Scott Rolen had two of his three RBIs on a ninth-inning single to push Cincinnati 17 games over .500 (68-51) for the first time since finishing the 1999 season 99-67.

The Reds offset a career-high 10 strikeouts by Daniel Hudson (3-1) with 11 hits, padding their NL Central lead to two games with a season high-matching fifth straight road win.

Cincinnati is 16-35 in the Pacific time zone over the past five years. The Reds have had some success against Dodgers 6 Rockies 0: At Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw pitched seven strong innings against a team he continues to dominate at home as Los Angeles returned from a humiliating road trip.

Kershaw (11-7) allowed five hits, struck out six and walked three. The 22-year-old left-hander has not allowed a run against the Rockies in the last 26 innings he’s pitched against them at Dodger Stadium.

Scott Podsednik and James Loney had two-run doubles during a five-run fifth.

The Dodgers went 2-5 on a trip through Philadelphia and Atlanta in which Joe Torre took the closer’s role away from All-Star Jonathan Broxton following a backbreaking 10-9 defeat.

Padres 1 Cubs 0: At Chicago, Jon Garland pitched seven innings and Jerry Hairston Jr. scored the game’s only run for San Diego.

The NL-West leading Padres won for the eighth time in nine games and moved five games ahead of the second-place San Francisco Giants.

Heath Bell pitched a scoreless ninth for his major league-leading 36th save in 39 opportunities, but not before nearly allowing a game-ending two-run home run in the ninth to Blake DeWitt .

Garland (12-8) allowed four hits and pitched around three walks with three strikeouts. He retired the last 12 batters he faced and surpassed his win total from last season.

The Padres, who had just three hits in the game, improved to a season-high 24 games over .500 (71-47).

Brewers 3  Cardinals 2: At St. Louis, Dave Bush pitched six stingy innings to bounce back from a start in which allowed four consecutive home runs, and Casey McGehee hit a two-run homer for Milwaukee.

Albert Pujols homered for the eighth time in 14 games, leading off the fourth with his 31st of the season and 397th of his career. The Cardinals managed only three more singles against Bush (6-10) and have lost three in a row to NL Central also-rans, including a pair of losses to the Cubs.

St. Louis is 10-5 against the division-leading Reds, but 15-17 against the Brewers, Cubs and Astros.

Rookie reliever John Axford got five outs for his 18th save in 20 chances.

Phillies 9  Giants 3: At Philadelphia, Roy Oswalt pitched seven sharp innings and Placido Polanco had four hits for Philadelphia.

The Phillies took a one-game lead over San Francisco in the NL wild-card race. The two-time NL champions entered 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the East.

Pat Burrell homered in his first regular-season game at Citizens Bank Park since the Phillies won the 2008 World Series. Jose Guillen also connected for the Giants.

All-Star second baseman Chase Utley went 0 for 5 in his return to Philadelphia’s lineup after having thumb surgery on July 1.

Marlins 6  Pirates 0: At Pittsburgh, Ricky Nolasco pitched six shutout innings for the second consecutive start and Florida snapped a four-game losing streak.

Nolasco (14-8) extended his road winning streak to seven games and won for the fifth time in six starts overall. He allowed five hits - all singles - and a walk with nine strikeouts. Nolasco also went 2 for 3 and drove in two runs.

Gaby Sanchez added two hits and two RBIs for Florida, which is struggling to stay on the periphery of the NL wild-card race.

Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez both had two hits for Pittsburgh, which has lost eight of nine and was shut out for the 13th time this season.

Astros 4, Mets 3: At Houston, Hunter Pence had a three-run homer in the first inning and his go-ahead solo shot in the eighth inning gave Houston the win.

The game was tied 3-3 before Pence’s shot to left field put Houston on top.

David Wright hit a solo home run in the eighth inning for his first RBI since July 31 to tie it at 3-all. Wright’s homer was off Mark Melancon (1-0).

Pence’s homer in the first broke a streak of 16 1-3 scoreless innings for Mets starter Johan Santana (10-7).

Santana allowed nine hits and four runs with seven strikeouts. It was the left-hander’s second straight complete game. Wilton Lopez got his first save, retiring Jose Reyes on a foul out down the left field line with the tying run on second.