Atlanta ? For a guy who was scheduled to have a day off, David Ortiz did just fine.

Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis each hit solo home runs to power the Boston Red Sox to a 5-3 win over the struggling Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

The victory, coupled with the New York Yankees’ 11-9 loss to Washington, boosted the Sox into a first-place tie with the Yankees in the AL East.

Ortiz, who is Boston’s designated hitter against American League teams, also played first base in addition to adding an RBI double and a walk. Manager Terry Francona told Ortiz after Friday night’s win that he would get a day of rest.

But when Manny Ramirez woke up with a stiff knee, Ortiz was needed to play. Youkilis, the regular first baseman, started in left field.

Cardinals 6, Rockies 5

St. Louis – Jeff Suppan pitched into the eighth inning for his 100th career victory, and Juan Encarnacion homered twice. Aaron Miles added a two-run double for the Cardinals, who have won five of six and beat the Rockies for the fourth time in five games this season.

Rangers 8, Diamondbacks 4

Arlington, Texas – Gary Matthews Jr. hit a two-run homer and robbed Arizona’s Shawn Green of a homer to help Texas beat Arizona.

Brewers 3, Indians 2

Milwaukee – Geoff Jenkins hit a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to lift Milwaukee. Bob Wickman (1-2) blew his second save in 11 opportunities and wasted Jake Westbrook’s dominating performance in a duel with Brewers starter Dave Bush.

Devil Rays 7, Phillies 2

Philadelphia – Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford homered, and Scott Kazmir pitched five solid innings.

Orioles 4, Mets 2

New York – Kris Benson celebrated his return to Shea Stadium with his first career home run and pitched eight effective innings.

Twins 5, Pirates 3

Pittsburgh – Justin Morneau hit Minnesota’s third homer of the game to break an eighth-inning tie and give the Twins their sixth victory in a row. Twins relievers Kyle Loshe, Jesse Crain (0-4) and Joe Nathan combined to pitch 52â3 scoreless innings.

White Sox 8, Reds 6

Cincinnati – A throwing error in the ninth inning by Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips let in two runs and helped Chicago rally. Jose Contreras struck out a career-high 13 batters, but was looking at the end of his 15-game regular-season winning streak when he left trailing 5-3 in the sixth.

Marlins 8, Blue Jays 2

Miami – Brian Moehler pitched seven strong innings as Florida defeated Toronto.

Mariners 8, Giants 1

Seattle – Richie Sexson and Raul Ibanez each homered, and Gil Meche held Barry Bonds without a home run. Bonds had a seventh-inning double after grounding out and lining out against Meche.

Angels 3, Padres 2

Anaheim, Calif. – Dallas McPherson hit an inside-the-park homer to drive in the go-ahead runs, and Ervin Santana pitched six strong innings for Los Angeles.

Tigers 9, Cubs 3

Chicago – Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez and Placido Polanco had three hits apiece to lead Detroit to its eighth victory in 10 games. Guillen had three RBIs with two-run homer in the first and a run-scoring double in the ninth.

Nationals 11, Yankees 9

Washington – Daryle Ward lumbered around the bases to score the go-ahead run on Jose Guillen’s eighth-inning triple, and Washington overcame a seven-run deficit to beat New York.