The Padres have a half-game lead over San Francisco. Losers of three of their previous four, they entered the night in danger of falling out of at least a share of the division lead for the first time since June 16.

Tejada hit a two-run homer in the first inning and drove in two more with a two-out single in the fifth. Pinch-hitter Oscar Salazar added a solo homer in the ninth.

The Rockies fell 2 1/2 games back in the division and 3 1/2 behind Atlanta in the wild-card race. Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer for Colorado.

Padres reliever Ernesto Frieri (1-1) got his first major league win. Heath Bell earned his 28th straight save and 41st this season in 44 chances.

Jeff Francis (4-5) made his first start for Colorado in more than a month while filling in for injured Aaron Cook . Battling shoulder soreness, Francis was pulled for a pinch hitter after three innings and 62 pitches.

Phillies 11 Marlins 4: At Miami, Carlos Ruiz matched a career high with four RBIs, Joe Blanton allowed one run in six innings and Philadelphia extended its September surge by beating Florida.

Ruiz, Jayson Werth , Chase Utley and Greg Dobbs all homered for the NL East leaders, who are 10-3 in September. The Phillies remained a game ahead of Atlanta, which beat Washington.

Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard reached the 100-RBI mark for the fifth straight season, while Werth and Utley each scored twice. Blanton (7-6) struck out eight and walked two, dropping his ERA to 5.00, the lowest it’s been since May 8.

Dan Uggla hit his 30th home run for Florida, making him the first second baseman in major league history to reach that plateau four times.

For the second straight meeting between the teams, the Phillies ran out to a 10-0 lead. Andrew Miller (1-2) gave up nine hits and seven runs, five earned, in five innings.

Braves 4  Nationals 0: At Atlanta, Derek Lowe set a career high with 12 strikeouts and combined with Billy Wagner on a six-hitter to lead Atlanta over Washington.

Lowe (13-12) was 0-3 with a 6.11 ERA in his first three starts against Washington this season before delivering an impressive win marked by two personal milestones.

He earned an ovation from the small crowd of 18,647 with his 1,500th career strikeout against Ian Desmond in the fourth. Lowe struck out Wilson Ramos in the eighth for his 12th of the game.

The right-hander gave up six hits and no walks in eight innings. Wagner struck out the side in the ninth to complete a game that took just 2 hours, 13 minutes.

The Nationals have lost six straight, matching their longest skid of the season.

Reds 7 Diamondbacks 2: At Cincinnati, Jay Bruce returned from a two-week layoff and homered in each of his first two at-bats, and Cincinnati went deep five times in all against Arizona to secure its first winning season since 2000.

The Reds’ nine-year streak of losing seasons was their longest in a half-century. With each win, the NL Central leaders close in on another breakthrough — their first playoff appearance since 1995. They moved seven games ahead of second-place St. Louis, which lost to the Cubs.

Bruce missed the last two weeks because of a strained abdomen. He hit a solo homer and a two-run shot off Barry Enright (6-4), and later added an RBI single. Drew Stubbs , Joey Votto and Orlando Cabrera also homered.

Cubs 5 Cardinals 1: At St. Louis,  Jeff Samardzija pitched shutout ball in his first major league start this season and drove in a run to lead Chicago past St. Louis.

Samardzija (1-1) filled in admirably for Carlos Silva , scratched due to pain in his pitching elbow. In his first big league appearance since April 19, the former Notre Dame football star allowed six hits in 5 2-3 innings. He walked four and struck out one.

Geovany Soto went 3 for 3 with an RBI single and reached base all four times up. Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs and Kosuke Fukudome had an RBI single for the Cubs.

The Cubs did most of their damage against rookie starter Jaime Garcia (13-8), who dropped his second consecutive decision. Garcia lasted six innings and allowed four runs, two earned.

Astros 4 Brewers 2: At Houston, Brett Myers became the eighth pitcher in 90 years to throw six or more innings in 30 consecutive starts, Carlos Lee drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh and Houston beat Milwaukee.

Myers (12-7) pitched seven strong innings to extend a streak that is the longest since Curt Schilling went at least six innings in 35 straight games to start the 2002 season.

Myers also surpassed 200 innings for the second time in his career. He allowed six hits, one earned run and struck out 10. It was his 14th career game with 10 or more strikeouts.

Matt Lindstrom got three outs for his 23rd save in 29 opportunities.

Brandon Kintzler (0-1) took the loss.

Mets 1 Pirates 0, 10 innings: At New York, pinch-hitter Nick Evans singled home the winning run in the 10th inning to give New York a rain-delayed victory over Pittsburgh.

Evans, with three hits in 11 at-bats this season, drove in Ruben Tejada , a .188 hitter who had a one-out double. Jose Tabata fielded Evans’ hit off Chan Ho Park (1-2) in shallow left, but his throw was off line and Tejada scored easily.

Hisanori Takahashi (9-6) pitched two innings to run his scoreless streak to 12 outings and 13 1-3 innings.