Cincinnati ? Aaron Boone won’t waste any time analyzing his home-run binge. He’d rather savor the results than look for the reasons.

Boone hit three solo homers Thursday, leading the way once again as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-6, and completed a four-game sweep.

The Reds hit four homers in all — Sean Casey added a solo shot — as they completed their first sweep at Great American Ball Park and compiled their first four-game winning streak of the season.

Their pitching staff has the NL’s worst ERA, their defense has the most errors in the major leagues and the lineup leads the league in strikeouts, but the Reds are starting to feel like a good team.

“We’re focused,” said Boone, who led off the second, sixth and seventh innings with homers. “We have a purpose each day. There’s no letting up. We kind of have blinders on to things that aren’t under our control. That’s the attitude that I think this team is starting to take.”

The Cardinals were the hot team coming into the series — seven straight wins, first place in the NL Central in their pocket. Just like that, they got their pocket picked.

“I don’t think we’re struggling per se,” said starter Garrett Stephenson, who surrendered Boone’s first two homers. “We’re not clicking on a few things. It was our first time to this ballpark. We didn’t really know what to expect.”

They had one surprise after another, most of them from Boone.

He led off the ninth inning of the series opener with a game-ending homer, and Barry Larkin duplicated the feat with a game-ending homer the next day.

Cincinnati's Aaron Boone (17) is pushed to the dugout steps by teammate Sean Casey, left, for a curtain call after his third home run of the game. The Reds defeated the Cardinals, 8-6, Thursday in Cincinnati.

The Reds hit 10 homers in all during the series — half of them by Boone, who was 7-for-14 with seven RBIs. He hit a career-high 26 homers last season, and is on pace to shatter his mark.

“I don’t want to explain it,” Boone said, waving his right hand in puzzlement.

Braves 12-5, Rockies 6-2

Atlanta — Andruw Jones set a franchise record by driving in a run for the ninth straight game, and John Smoltz recorded his second save of the day as Atlanta beat Colorado, 5-2, for a doubleheader sweep.

In the opener, Robert Fick homered in the first inning and had five RBIs in a 12-6 win. Gary Sheffield hit a three-run double and Chipper Jones had a two-run homer.

Smoltz increased his total to 15 saves in 16 chances. The Braves have won in his last 67 appearances.

Atlanta, which swept the three-game series, has won four in a row and is 19-3 since a 4-8 start. The Rockies have lost four straight and seven of eight.

Russ Ortiz (4-2) took a shutout into the eighth inning of the second game and wound up allowing two runs, four hits and four walks in 72/3 innings with six strikeouts.

Giants 3, Marlins 2

Miami — Pinch-hitter Rich Aurilia singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the ninth inning, and San Francisco defeated Florida to complete a three-game sweep.

The Marlins made it 2-all in the eighth when Joe Nathan (4-0) gave up a run for the first time this season in 23 innings.

The Giants (24-9) won their fifth consecutive game and are off to their best start through 33 games since 1971. Florida lost its sixth in a row to fall six games below .500 for first time this season.

Yorvit Torrealba led off the ninth with a single against Braden Looper (2-1), went to second on a sacrifice and third on a groundout. Aurilia, pinch-hitting for the first time this season, hit a 2-2 pitch into short center.

Tim Worrell pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Expos 12, Padres 5

Montreal — Fernando Tatis hit a two-run double that capped a six-run first inning as Montreal beat San Diego. Wil Cordero went 3-for-4 for the Expos, which took a 9-1 lead in the second inning and scored 12 runs for the second straight night.

Just 5,274 fans were on hand at Olympic Stadium and the three-game series drew 16,226.

Seven straight batters reached off Brian Lawrence (2-4) as the Expos built a 5-0 lead with one out in the first.

Lawrence faced 21 batters in 22/3 innings, leaving after hitting Jose Vidro with his 86th pitch with two outs in the third.

Dodgers 6, Mets 1

New York — Kazuhisa Ishii allowed one run in six innings and Cesar Izturis drove in three runs to lead Los Angeles past New York. The Dodgers have won nine of 13 after taking two of three against New York in a matchup of the two worst offenses in the National League.

Los Angeles scored 10 runs in the series but that was more than enough against a Mets’ team that played the three games without All-Star catcher Mike Piazza in the starting lineup. Piazza received seven stitches in his abdomen earlier this week after having a mole removed and had just two pinch-hitting opportunities in the series.

Astros 6, Pirates 2

Houston — Geoff Blum went 3-for-3 and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch as Houston beat Pittsburgh and extended its winning streak to seven.

Houston swept the four-game series, coming from behind in the last three games. While the Astros are on their longest winning streak since a seven-game spurt last May 12-18, Pittsburgh has lost six straight for the first time since a seven-game slide last Aug. 10-16.

Blum, 2-for-2 with three RBIs Wednesday, doubled in the sixth inning for his fifth consecutive hit over two games.