National League Roundup: Cubs complete sweep of Brewers

Cubs 11, Brewers 4

Milwaukee – Jim Edmonds hit two homers, including a grand slam, and Chicago finished a four-game sweep of Milwaukee to extend its lead in the NL Central.

Just five days ago, the Cubs and Brewers were tied atop the division. After the sweep, the Brewers have lost five straight and are five games behind Chicago, which has won five straight. Rich Harden (1-1) picked up his first NL victory, giving up a run and six hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts. He has yet to allow more than one run in any of his four starts since being traded to the Cubs.

Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome also homered for the Cubs, who swept four games from the Brewers for the first time since 2003.

Edmonds provided all the offense needed after missing the previous three games because of a sore left knee. He led off the third with a homer to right to give the Cubs the lead. Chicago scored first in each game of the series, and outscored Milwaukee, 31-11, in the series. The Cubs improved to 8-2 at Milwaukee in the last two seasons.

Brewers starter Dave Bush (5-9) retired the first two batters in the fourth, but Aramis Ramirez walked, Fukudome doubled and Bush hit Mark DeRosa with an 0-2 pitch to bring up Edmonds.

The 38-year-old center fielder, who joined Chicago May 14, hit an opposite-field grand slam to left to make it 5-0. It was the seventh grand slam of his career and the 27th time he’s hit two homers in a game. Edmonds started the year with the San Diego Padres, hitting .178 in 26 games with one homer.

Braves 9, Cardinals 4

Atlanta – Rookie Clint Sammons homered and drove in three runs to lead Atlanta past St. Louis, snapping the Braves’ five-game losing streak.

Marlins 12, Rockies 2

Miami – Anibal Sanchez won his first start in 15 months, and Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu hit home runs. Sanchez (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 52â3 innings to win in his first start since May 2007. A shoulder injury that required surgery last June sidelined Sanchez for most of last season, after he won 10 games and threw a no-hitter as a rookie in 2006.

Phillies 8, Nationals 4

Washington – Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth homered, and Philadelphia stretched its winning streak to five. The first-place Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the injury-riddled Nationals and took a one-game lead over the idle New York Mets in the NL East.

Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 1

Los Angeles – Brandon Webb scattered six hits in eight innings to win his big-league-leading 15th game, and Arizona beat Los Angeles to extend its lead over the Dodgers to two games in the NL West.