Baseball report: Braves win, take first in NL East

Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus homered to back a strong start by Tommy Hanson (5-3) and help host Atlanta move into first place in the National League East. The Braves, winners of six straight, are one-half game ahead of Philadelphia, which has dropped two straight and nine of 13. Improving to 16-4 since May 10, the Braves have made up 71/2 games in the NL East since May 17, when they were in last place. Atlanta hasn't held first place in the division this late in a season since 2005.

Cardinals 12, Reds 4

Rookie Jaime Garcia (5-2) overcame a shaky start for host St. Louis, which moved into a first-place tie in the NL Central with Cincinnati. Albert Pujols extended his streak of reaching base to nine straight plate appearances with two intentional walks and a single his first three times up.

Pirates 2, Cubs 1

Pinch hitter Bobby Crosby singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, Garrett Jones homered and host Pittsburgh ended a five-game losing streak. The Pirates were coming off a 1-6 road trip and had lost nine of 11, only to beat the Cubs for the eighth time in nine meetings dating to the final week of last season.

Marlins 13, Brewers 5

Cody Ross hit a three-run home run to spark host Florida. Cameron Maybin hit an inside-the-park homer to help turn the game into a runaway.

Nationals 14, Astros 4

Carlos Maldonado and Ryan Zimmerman hit three-run homers off Chris Sampson, long after Roy Oswalt was ejected, and visiting Washington put together the highest scoring inning in team history, a nine-run seventh. After the game, the Nationals announced prized prospect Stephen Strasburg will make his big-league debut June 8, at home against Pittsburgh.

Athletics 4, Tigers 1

Rajai Davis scored twice and Trevor Cahill (4-2) won his third straight start, allowing one run on five hits in 61/3 innings. The start of the game in Detroit was delayed by 2 hours and 42 minutes due to threatening weather.

Angels 7, Royals 1

Ervin Santana (5-3) pitched seven strong innings and visiting Los Angeles roughed up Luke Hochevar. Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer and Juan Rivera and Maicer Izturis each had solo shots off Hochevar. - AP