Braves win; Cardinals lose

Brian McCann doubled home two runs as the Atlanta Braves got closer to a playoff berth by defeating the Nationals, 7-4, Friday night in Washington.

Tim Hudson (16-10) pitched into the sixth for the Braves, who had lost eight of their previous 12 games. Atlanta moved three games ahead of St. Louis in the wild-card race and lowered its magic number to three.

Dan Uggla finished with three hits and two RBIs, including an RBI single off Stephen Strasburg (0-1) in a three-run first. The righthander, coming back from reconstructive elbow surgery, allowed four hits in an inning for the first time in the majors, according to STATS LLC.

Cubs 5, Cardinals 1: Alfonso Soriano hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning for visiting Chicago.

Brewers 4, Marlins 1: Ryan Braun hit a three-run homer in the eighth and Prince Fielder also homered for host Milwaukee, which captured the NL Central title when the Cubs subsequently beat the Cardinals. The Brewers had not won a division title since 1982.

Rangers 5, Mariners 3: Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre hit long home runs and Craig Gentry had an inside-the-park homer to back Matt Harrison (14-9) as host Texas reduced its magic number for winning the AL West title to one. The Angels played the Athletics in a late game, and one more loss by Los Angeles or a Texas victory would give the Rangers the division title.

Tigers 4, Orioles 3: Victor Martinez's RBI double in the 11th inning gave host Detroit the victory. Miguel Cabrera hit his 27th homer, a two-run shot.

MLB seeks sale of Dodgers.

Attorneys for Major League Baseball asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge Friday to clear the way for a sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers, saying team owner Frank McCourt is driving the team to destruction.

Attorneys for the league argued in a court filing that McCourt is using the team's Chapter 11 case to try to resolve his own personal financial problems.

-- AP