Cardinals 6, Cubs 4

Chicago – Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel homered, Scott Rolen drove in three runs with a pair of doubles, and St. Louis moved within three games of the NL Central lead.

Ankiel, the pitcher-turned-outfielder, made a great throw in the first to cut down Chicago leadoff hitter Ryan Theriot when he tried to stretch a double into a triple. Leading off the seventh against rookie Carmen Pignatiello, he hit his fourth homer to put St. Louis up 6-4.

Braves 14, Reds 4

Cincinnati – Mark Teixeira hit a pair of homers for the second straight game, and Brian McCann had a first-inning grand slam for the Braves.

Giants 8, Marlins 7

Miami – Bengie Molina drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning with his third RBI single.

Nationals 7, Astros 0

Houston – Tim Redding threw seven shutout innings against his former team, Dmitri Young hit a three-run homer, and Washington ended a four-game losing streak.

Newly acquired Wily Mo Pena homered for the second straight game and added an RBI single for Washington.

Brewers 9, Diamondbacks 0

Phoenix – Prince Fielder homered for the second straight day, and Milwaukee moved back into a tie for the NL Central lead.

Fielder drove in four runs, and Bill Hall hit a three-run drive for the Brewers, who won for the second time in eight games to pull even with the Cubs in the division. Yovani Gallardo struck out six in six innings and hit his first major-league homer.

Pirates 4, Rockies 2, 11 innings

Denver – Freddy Sanchez singled in the winning run, and Pittsburgh handed Colorado its fifth loss in seven games.