The Braves moved to 1 1/2 games ahead of two-time reigning NL champion Philadelphia with their 17th win in the last 21 games, including seven in a row. They haven't been in first this late in the season since 2005, the last of their record 14 straight division titles.
Philadelphia is heading in the opposite direction. The Phillies have lost eight of 10 and are really struggling at the plate, though Ryan Howard's two-run homer prevented them from being shut out for the sixth time in the last 10 games.
Reds 9, Cardinals 8: At St. Louis, Scott Rolen homered twice as Cincinnati overcame a rough outing by Johnny Cueto to beat St. Louis.
Jonny Gomes' RBI single and Drew Stubbs' go-ahead sacrifice fly off Blake Hawksworth put the Reds ahead to stay in the seventh inning after Brendan Ryan's two-run double put the Cardinals ahead 8-7 the inning before.
Joey Votto homered and had four hits, showing no rust from a six-game absence due to a sore neck, and helped the Reds rally after blowing a four-run lead to reclaim first place in the NL Central.
Pirates 3 Cubs 2: At Pittsburgh, Neil Walker hit his first major league home run to put the Pirates ahead in the eighth as Pittsburgh beat the Chicago Cubs for the seventh time this season, 3-2 on Tuesday.
Walker, who grew up in Pittsburgh's suburbs and was the Pirates' first-round draft choice in 2004, hit a pitch from Ted Lilly (1-5) into the seats in the deepest part of the ballpark in left-center with Andrew McCutchen on and one out.
Joel Hanrahan (2-1) pitched a perfect top of the eighth and Octavio Dotel worked the ninth for his 12th save in 14 opportunities.
Marlins 6 Brewers 4: At Miami, Jorge Cantu hit a go-ahead double in the seventh inning as Florida became the latest team to rough up Trevor Hoffman, in a win over Milwaukee.
Hoffman, baseball's career saves leader, took over with the score 3-all. Chris Coghlan led off with a double and scored on Cantu's hit, and Ronny Paulino added a two-run single.
Hoffman allowed three runs in one inning, leaving the struggling closer with an 11.65 ERA.
Astros 8 Nationals 7: At Houston, Lance Berkman singled in two runs with two out in the ninth against NL saves leader Matt Capps as Houston answered Washington's late rally with one of their own.
The Nationals grabbed a 7-6 lead with a two-run rally against Houston closer Matt Lidstrom on RBI singles from Roger Bernadina and Ian Desmond.
But Pedro Feliz reached on Ryan Zimmerman's fielding error to start Houston's ninth. He was sacrificed to second by Kevin Cash and pinch hitter Cory Sullivan's double off the wall in left field put runners on second and third.
Capps (0-2) intentionally walked Michael Bourn to load the bases, but after getting a second out, Berkman drove the ball to left to win it. He finished with five RBIs.
Mets 4 Padres 2: At San Diego, David Wright and Ike Davis homered to lead the New York Mets to a win over San Diego.
Mike Pelfrey (8-1) won his fourth straight start by holding San Diego to one run and four hits in eight innings while striking out eight and walking two. On Monday night, the Padres had 19 hits in an 18-6 victory.
Wright's homer to left-center leading off the fifth was one of his three hits. He also had an RBI single in the first off Wade LeBlanc (2-4). Davis hit a two-run shot to straightaway center with two outs in the seventh off Edward Mujica.
Dodgers 1 Diamondbacks 0, 10 innings: At Los Angeles, Matt Kemp greeted reliever Juan Gutierrez with a leadoff home run in the 10th inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a victory over Arizona.
Kemp worked the count to 2-2 against Gutierrez (0-5) before driving his 11th homer into the left field pavilion.
It was the 12th consecutive game in which the Diamondbacks' staff had given up a home run.
loss.
Rockies 2 Giants 1, 11 innings: At San Francisco, Clint Barmes hit a two-out RBI double in the 11th inning as Colorado won its season-high fourth straight road game by beating San Francisco.
The Rockies had runners thrown out at the plate in the ninth and 10th innings before finally breaking through in the 11th.
Santiago Casilla (1-1) retired the first two batters before allowing a single to Miguel Olivo and walking Melvin Mora. Barmes then lined a double just inside the left-field line that scored Olivo with the go-ahead run.
