Milwaukee ? Matt Morris started the game with a lot of questions. He ended up with all the right answers.

Morris, activated from the disabled list before the game, allowed one run in five innings Tuesday night as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-3.

St. Louis's matt morris pitches to the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning in Milwaukee. The Cardinals beat the Brewers 8-3 Tuesday.

“You don’t want to lose your stuff,” he said. “My arm and shoulder, elbow, knock on wood, were fine.”

Morris (16-7), who went on the disabled list Aug. 24 after straining his left hamstring the previous day against Philadelphia, allowed five hits, struck out three and walked one. He threw 74 pitches, 44 for strikes.

Milwaukee’s only run off him came on Jim Rushford’s RBI single in the second.

Scott Rolen had a solo shot for the Cardinals, who have won seven straight for the first time since a nine-game streak from Sept. 8-22 last year.

The Cardinals’ offensive power is not unexpected when Morris pitches. St. Louis came in averaging 4.8 runs in his previous 28 starts.

“Defensively we’re solid and with the lineup we have, I wouldn’t want to face us,” he said.

St. Louis maintained a 5 1/2-game lead over second-place Houston in the NL Central.

While the Cardinals had four hits in the fourth and scored four runs, the Brewers had four consecutive hits off Morris in the second and scored just once.

Milwaukee went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, making them 3-for-32 in their last three games.

Wayne Franklin (0-1), making his first major league start, allowed six runs five earned and six hits in five-plus innings.

Braves 12, Mets 6

Atlanta A day after wrapping up their 11th straight division title, Atlanta overcame a five-run deficit behind two homers from Andruw Jones to beat New York. Jones homered in four straight at-bats, going back to Saturday’s game against Montreal. He became only the 11th player in NL history to accomplish the feat.

Marlins 6-2, Phillies 4-1

Philadelphia Justin Wayne, backed by home runs from Andy Fox and Derrek Lee, got his first major league win as Florida completed a doubleheader sweep.

Florida, which swept a road doubleheader for the first time since joining the NL in 1993, moved into second place in the East. The Phillies, who have lost nine of 10, dropped into fourth. Wayne (1-1), making his second major league start, allowed two hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Braden Looper got five outs for his 10th save in 13 chances.

Astros 11, Rockies 4

Houston Lance Berkman hit his career-high 40th home run and had five RBIs as Houston got its fourth straight victory. Wade Miller (13-3) won his 10th straight decision, allowing two runs and nine hits in seven innings with 10 strikeouts and one walk.

Expos 6, Cubs 2

Chicago Montreal’s Javier Vazquez matched a season high with 10 strikeouts and helped himself with an RBI single, snapping a seven-game losing streak. Brad Wilkerson tied a Montreal rookie record with his 19th home run, and Jose Vidro and Fernando Tatis added RBI singles.

Reds 3, Pirates 0

Cincinnati Russell Branyan hit a solo homer to back Danny Graves and four Reds relievers, who combined on six-hitter.

Diamondbacks 8, Padres 2

Phoenix Curt Schilling allowed three hits and struck out 10 in seven innings for his major league-best 23rd victory to lead Arizona past San Diego.

Luis Gonzalez and Matt Williams hit two-run homers and Steve Finley had a solo shot as the defending World Series champions stayed 5 1/2 games ahead of San Francisco in the NL West with 17 to play.

Giants 5, Dodgers 2

San Francisco Jason Schmidt (11-7) won for the fourth time in five starts as San Francisco beat Los Angeles for a one-game lead in the NL wild-card race.

The Giants have won five straight games and 13 of 16 to take over the wild-card lead for the first time since Aug. 13.