St. Louis ? After leaving Wednesday’s game early because of fatigue, Jim Edmonds was eager to end it Thursday. Edmonds homered off Scott Strickland with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning as the St. Louis Cardinals completed a three-game sweep of the New York Mets with a 6-5 victory on Thursday.

Edmonds said he’s been tired since the Cardinals’ 20-inning victory at Florida on Sunday.

“I just prefer to go home,” said Edmonds, who played only three innings on Wednesday. “I don’t want to play too many more extra-inning games.That 20-inning game took a lot out of me.”

The NL Central champions, who won the first two games 13-3 and 13-4, moved two games above .500 for the first time since the opening week of the season. New York has lost five in a row and is 11-17 overall, last place in the NL East, despite a $117 million payroll.

“It was a tough loss, but it’s one you can live with,” manager Art Howe said. “We battled right to the end.”

Rey Sanchez had four hits as the Mets rallied from a 5-1 run, sixth-inning deficit, with a run in the seventh and three more in the eighth. The big blow was Joe McEwing’s two-run double off the top of the left field wall off Steve Kline.

Marlins 4, D’backs 3

Phoenix — Brian Banks homered leading off the eighth inning to lift Florida past Arizona. Banks, who entered in the seventh as a defensive replacement in left field, drove the second pitch from Oscar Villareal (1-2) to center for his first home run of the season. The Marlins won just hours after losing a starting pitcher to injury for the second time in a week. Mark Redman was sidelined by a broken thumb and is expected to be sidelined two-to-four weeks.

Braves 8, Astros 7

Houston — Pinch-hitter Mark DeRosa came through with a two-run homer in the ninth inning, and Atlanta completed a three-game sweep of Houston. Andruw Jones also hit a two-run homer for the Braves, who have won five in a row, seven straight on the road and 14 of 16 overall following a 4-8 start.

Pirates 5, Padres 2

San Diego — Jack Wilson hit a three-run homer and Kip Wells pitched into the eighth inning as Pittsburgh beat San Diego for a three-game sweep. The Pirates came into the series having scored just 11 runs in five straight losses, then outscored the Padres 20-9.

Expos 5, Brewers 0

Milwaukee — Zach Day threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout, not allowing Milwaukee to get a ball out of the infield until the seventh inning, as Montreal completed a three-game sweep of the Brewers.

Reds 7, Rockies 2

Denver — Jeff Austin took a shutout into the seventh inning, and Aaron Boone and Jose Guillen each hit two-run homers as Cincinnati beat Colorado. The Reds won for the sixth time in eight games and posted their third straight series victory.

Cubs 5, Giants 1 (10)

San Francisco — Alex Gonzalez hit a three-run homer in the 10th for his second home run of the game, and Sammy Sosa followed with another shot, leading Chicago past San Francisco. After an error by third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo put two runners on with two outs in the 10th, Gonzalez connected off Tim Worrell (1-1) for his second homer of the year. Sosa’s 505th career homer made it 5-1.

Phillies 4, Dodgers 1

Los Angeles — Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal homered to back a solid outing by Brandon Duckworth as Philadelphia beat Los Angeles.