Miami ? Julio Franco talks about playing until he’s 50. Maybe even 60, by Horacio Ramirez’s math.

Franco hit his eighth career grand slam, a pinch-hit shot, and Ramirez pitched the streaking Atlanta Braves past the Florida Marlins, 7-2, Monday night in a game called during the eighth inning because of rain.

The 46-year-old Franco, already the oldest player in major-league history to hit a grand slam, sealed the victory in the eighth. Batting for Adam LaRoche against left-hander Valerio de los Santos, Franco went the opposite way – no small feat in the Marlins’ home park – for his sixth homer this season.

“Amazing,” Ramirez said. “What can you say about the guy? He’s 56. I mean, 46. And, you know, he’s still swinging it.”

Braves manager Bobby Cox mostly marveled over the way Franco still performs.

“He is truly amazing at his age, to do what he does,” Cox said. “Pinch-hitting is one of the toughest things in the world a player can do, let alone at his age. He can do it, and he can play every day as well. : He’s just a remarkable specimen of an athlete.”

LaRoche, Brian Giles and Johnny Estrada – celebrating his 29th birthday – also drove in runs for Atlanta, which has won nine of 11 to move within 2 1â2 games of first-place Washington in the NL East. Rafael Furcal tripled and doubled for his third multihit effort in his last five games.

Miguel Cabrera hit his 15th home run in the eighth for Florida, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. The Marlins got an RBI double from Paul Lo Duca, and Alex Gonzalez extended his career-best hitting streak to 17 games.

Ramirez (7-4) yielded one run and five hits in seven innings to win his fourth straight decision. He has beaten the Marlins twice in a week; Florida has managed just one run and eight hits in 12 innings against him.

Atlanta's Julio Franco watches his grand slam off Florida pitcher Valerio De Los Santos in the eighth inning. Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles and Andruw Jones scored on the home run, and the Braves won, 7-2, Monday in Miami.

In the eighth, Furcal and Giles, who also had two hits and an RBI, executed a double steal. The Marlins intentionally walked Andruw Jones, who leads the majors with 24 home runs, but Franco made them pay for it.

“For me, nothing gets old,” Franco said. “You guys (are) the ones saying, ‘He’s the oldest guy to do this, the oldest guy to do that.’ I don’t feel old.”

Yet even the 74-year-old Marlins manager Jack McKeon couldn’t resist a joke at Franco’s expense.

“I used to watch him play when I was a little kid,” he quipped.

Astros 11, Rockies 5

Denver- Lance Berkman homered and drove in three runs, Wandy Rodriguez was strong into the seventh inning, and Houston beat Colorado pitcher Jamey Wright (4-8) for the 12th straight time. Light-hitting Raul Chavez hit his first homer in two years, the third of his career. Jason Lane added a three-run shot for the normally punchless Astros, who had a season-high 18 hits to win for the eighth time in 11 games. Every starter, including Rodriguez (3-3).

Dodgers 5, Padres 4

Los Angeles – Jeff Kent was 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, and J.D. Drew and Mike Edwards hit run-scoring doubles for Los Angeles. Rookie right-hander D.J. Houlton (4-1) allowed four runs and five hits with five strikeouts in seven innings, helping trim San Diego’s division lead to three games over idle Arizona and 51â2 over the Dodgers. Houlton is the only Los Angeles starter with a winning record, and improved to 3-0 at Dodger Stadium.