Reds' Phillips ignites scrum with Cardinals

From their first-inning scrum to the final out, the St. Louis Cardinals sent a message: Don't demean the defending champs. Not without expecting a fight.

Yadier Molina jawed with Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips in the first inning last night, sparking a benches-clearing fight, and the Cardinals followed their catcher's lead to an 8-4 victory that moved St. Louis back into first place in the NL Central.

"I know our guys," manager Tony La Russa said. "This is not the first time that we've been challenged. You just go up and down our roster - we've got a bunch of guys that are very tough characters. Like I say, there's times that you beat us, we're not good enough. but you're never going to scare us and we're never going to back down."

St. Louis has won the first two games of the series between teams locked in a tight race since May. The Cardinals moved a season-high 14 games over .500 and a few percentage points ahead of the Reds.

Marlins 8, Nationals 2

Stephen Strasburg (5-3) came off the disabled list and turned in the worst start of his rookie season, allowing a career-high six earned runs in a career-low 41/3 innings for host Washington. Dan Uggla had a home run and four RBIs and Hanley Ramirez had three doubles for Florida.

Braves 4, Astros 2

Brooks Conrad's two-run homer in the ninth inning powered visiting Atlanta. Conrad entered in the bottom of the sixth to replace Chipper Jones, who injured his left knee.

Dodgers 15, Phillies 9

Andre Ethier had four hits, four runs and reached base six times, and Casey Blake and Jay Gibbons hit home runs to lead visiting Los Angeles.

Rays 8, Tigers 0

Jeremy Hellickson (2-0) and two others combined on a four-hitter for visiting Tampa Bay.

Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 5

Mike Lowell hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning for visiting Boston. - AP