St. Louis ? Shortly after hitting his 300th career home run, Jim Edmonds was put in his place.

Former teammate Mark McGwire left a taunting message on Edmonds’ cell phone, reminding him just how far he is from Big Mac’s 583.

“I can’t remember the number he said, but I’ve got a long way to go,” Edmonds said after the St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night. “And I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

Jason Marquis won his 11th straight decision, and the Cardinals won their eighth in a row, matching their season high.

The NL Central leaders needed only two hits — tying their season low — to beat the NL West-leading Dodgers for the second straight night. Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 45,692, they tied their longest winning streak of the season and won for the 13th time in 15 games.

Adrian Beltre had three hits and drove in his 100th run with an eighth-inning double for the Dodgers to cut the gap to 5-1. He’s only the third third baseman in franchise history to reach the milestone, joining Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero.

But the Dodgers’ first error in seven games was a much bigger statistic.

Center fielder Steve Finley dropped a routine two-out fly ball by Reggie Sanders with runners on first and third in the sixth, allowing both to score and make it 5-0. It was only the third error of the season for Finley, a four-time Gold Glove winner.

“At the going rate right now, it’s been once every five years. I just missed a ball,” Finley said. “It happens, and I’m not going to be mad at it. It’s something that happened, and you probably won’t see it happen again for a long time.”

Edmonds became the 103rd member of the 300-homer club with a two-run shot in the second off Kazuhisa Ishii (13-7). It also was his 40th homer of the season — giving the Cardinals their first pair of 40-homer men in franchise history — and his ninth in 10 games.

Albert Pujols, 0-for-2 with two walks, and Beltre are tied for the NL lead with 43 homers.

Edmonds was never a power hitter in the minors, topping out at nine over five seasons. He’s hit 179 in almost five seasons with the Cardinals, including a career-best 42 in 2000.

Astros 6, Pirates 5

Houston — Mike Lamb hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning, and Houston extended its season-high winning streak to eight games. Houston has won 10 of its last 12 games and 16 of its last 19 to move two games behind idle Chicago in the NL wild-card race.

Chad Qualls (3-0) threw one inning of relief and allowed a run and one hit, but picked up the win. Brad Lidge pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 23 opportunities.

Rockies 8, Padres 2

San Diego — Shawn Estes pitched seven solid innings and had two hits, and J.D. Closser hit his first major-league homer. Estes (14-6) allowed two runs and four hits, matching the single-season team record for wins by a left-hander, first set by Mike Hampton in 2001.

Braves 9, Expos 0

Montreal — Russ Ortiz pitched a three-hit shutout, and Andruw Jones hit a grand slam to help Atlanta win its fifth straight game. Ortiz (14-7) retired the first 15 batters before Einar Diaz lined a clean single to right-center to lead off the sixth.

Phillies 7, Mets 0

Philadelphia — Cory Lidle threw a three-hitter for his second straight shutout and knocked in three runs with a double, and Philadelphia extended New York’s losing streak to eight. Lidle (9-12) has finally provided the Phillies with the late-season boost they wanted after acquiring him from Cincinnati on Aug. 9.

Giants 9, D’backs 7

San Francisco — Dustan Mohr doubled in the tying run in the eighth, and Deivi Cruz hit a two-run single two batters later, leading San Francisco over Arizona. Marquis Grissom hit a grand slam and also started the eighth-inning rally with a single. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, but didn’t homer on a day manager Felipe Alou predicted would be a “hitter’s festival” because of the heat. It was 87 degrees at first pitch. Scott Eyre (1-2) pitched the eighth for the win.

Brewers 7, Reds 3

Milwaukee — Russell Branyan and Keith Ginter each hit three-run homers, rookie Ben Hendrickson earned his first major-league victory, and Milwaukee sent Cincinnati to its fifth straight loss.