Cubs 2, Cardinals 1

St. Louis – Albert Pujols hit his 300th career home run, becoming the fifth-youngest player to ever reach the mark.

The Cardinals slugger lined his 18th homer of the season on a 2-2 pitch from the Cubs’ Bob Howry in the eighth inning. The ball clanked off the foul pole in left field.

Pujols reached the mark at 28 years, 170 days. Alex Rodriguez is the youngest player to reach 300 homers at 27 years, 249 days.

Brewers 9, Pirates 1

Milwaukee – J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall hit two-run homers, and Ben Sheets worked out of several jams to earn his 10th win for Milwaukee.

Reds 3, Nationals 0

Cincinnati – Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run drive for career homer No. 604 and Bronson Arroyo worked six strong innings for Cincinnati.

Griffey followed Jay Bruce’s one-out double in the first with a 344-foot line drive that bounced off an advertising sign over the bench in the visitor’s bullpen down the right-field line.

Dodgers 10, Giants 7

San Francisco – Andre Ethier homered and hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth, Derek Lowe won for the first time in three starts and the Dodgers beat the Giants for their fourth straight win.

Braves 6, Astros 2

Atlanta – Jason Perry filled in quite nicely for Jeff Francoeur.

Perry hit a run-scoring triple in his first major league at-bat, Tim Hudson gave up only one run in seven innings and the Braves ended a five-game losing streak.

The Braves won hours after the demotion of Francoeur, a move general manager Frank Wren called the most difficult of his career. Wren plans to recall the slumping outfielder after the All-Star break.

Phillies 3, Mets 2

Philadelphia – Shane Victorino’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning lifted the Phillies over the Mets.

Duaner Sanchez (3-1) retired the first two batters before Pedro Feliz doubled to left field. Victorino followed with the game-winner.

Rockies 18, Marlins 17

Denver – Colorado defeated Florida after trailing by nine runs in the biggest comeback in Rockies history. Chris Iannetta singled home the winning run off Kevin Gregg.

Padres 5, Diamondbacks 1

Phoenix – Cha Seung Baek threw six shutout innings, and San Diego dropped the NL West leaders below .500.