Scott Rolen snapped out of his early-season slump with a two-runhomer and two singles, leading the Cardinals over the Brewers 5-3Saturday in Milwaukee.
The defending National League champions moved into first place inthe Central Division for the first time this season. Last year, theCardinals took first place on June 11 and held it the rest of theway.
St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter (2-1) left in the seventh inningwith a 5-0 lead and the bases loaded. Brady Clark greeted reliever AlReyes with a three-run double to make it 5-3.
Junior Spivey then struck out looking to end the inning.
Rolen, who entered batting .125 (4-for-32), homered in the firstand hit singles in the fifth and seventh innings. The homer was hisfirst of the season.
PHILLIES 2, BRAVES 1: Jon Lieber outdueled John Smoltz, and ChaseUtley had a tiebreaking RBI single and game-saving catch for hostPhiladelphia.
Lieber (3-0) allowed one run and seven hits in eight innings towin his third straight start since joining the Phillies. Billy Wagnerpitched a shaky ninth for his second save. He allowed two hits, twolong fly outs and threw a wild pitch, but second baseman Utley made adiving backhand catch on Brian Jordan's liner to end it with runnersat second and third.
Jimmy Rollins hit a tying homer off Smoltz (0-3) in the sixth,helping the Phillies snap a three-game losing streak.
REDS 3, ASTROS 2: Left-hander Eric Milton finally pitched like aprized acquisition, leading host Cincinnati to a victory that endedits 12-game losing streak against Houston.
Milton (2-1) gave up three hits in seven innings, his firstimpressive showing in three starts for the team that made him thecenterpiece of its offseason overhaul. Milton got a $4 million bonusas part of a three-year, $25.5 million deal in December.
NATIONALS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3: Vinny Castilla has yet to make an outat RFK Stadium, going 3-for-3 and driving in four runs for the secondstraight game to lift host Washington.
The victory was the Nationals' fourth in a row and kept them atopthe NL East at 7-4.
METS 4, MARLINS 3: Ramon Castro singled home the winning run withtwo outs in the ninth inning, and host New York beat Florida for itssixth straight victory.
Pedro Martinez struck out nine in a stellar home debut for NewYork.
DODGERS 8, PADRES 3: Scott Erickson pitched six sharp innings forhis first NL victory, Ricky Ledee homered and Jason Phillips had apair of RBI singles for host Los Angeles.
ROCKIES 5, GIANTS 4: Joe Kennedy outpitched Jason Schmidt and hadtwo hits to help host Colorado end an eight-game losing streak.
AP
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