Cincinatti ? Yadier Molina homered during a five-run first inning Monday night and drove in four runs overall, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 13-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds and the early advantage in their pivotal matchup.

Chris Duncan, Scott Rolen and Scott Spiezio also homered for the NL Central leaders, who extended their lead over second-place Cincinnati to 41â2 games. The rivals play seven times – four in Cincinnati, three in St. Louis – during the next two weeks.

Phillies 9, Braves 6

Atlanta – Ryan Howard hit his 39th homer to surpass 100 RBIs, and Philadelphia scored five runs in the fifth inning during a victory over Atlanta.

Andruw Jones hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth for Atlanta. The slugger actually shattered his bat just above his hands, trotting to first with only the handle as the ball cleared the 400-foot sign in center.

Dodgers 7, Rockies 2

Los Angeles – Jeff Kent homered, doubled and drove in three runs in his return from the disabled list, and Los Angeles extended its winning streak to 10 games with a victory over Colorado.

Brad Penny (12-5) pitched eight strong innings and allowed five hits, including homers by Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe. The All-Star right-hander struck out four, walked none and helped himself with an RBI double.

Giants 8, Diamondbacks 4

Phoenix – Jason Schmidt hit one of San Francisco’s six home runs and pitched the Giants to a victory over Arizona.

Pedro Feliz homered twice, and Ray Durham, Moises Alou and Shea Hillenbrand also connected for the last-place Giants, who are 41â2 games behind San Diego.