up Braves just wanted to leave. Reds rookie catcher Devin Mesoraco capped a series full of homers with his first career grand slam Thursday night, leading Cincinnati to a 6-3 victory and a four-game sweep. Atlanta has played 16 of its last 20 games on the road. The Braves won nine of those first 12 road games, then fell apart in Cincinnati, where they hadn't been swept in a four-game series since 1980 at Riverfront Stadium. “Oh, I'm so ready to go home,” said reliever Kris Medlen, who gave up the slam in the sixth. “It's been a super-long month on the road.” Now, the Braves have their first four-game losing streak since they dropped the first four games of the season. They'll remember this one as four bad days in one of the majors' most homer-friendly ballparks. In a free-swinging series, they couldn't keep up. It didn't help that they were missing two of their top hitters. Third baseman Chipper Jones was limited to one pinch-hit appearance because of a bruised left calf. Catcher Brian McCann missed the last three games with an illness. The Reds have won six straight, their longest winning streak since August 2010 when they started their push toward the NL Central title by taking seven in a row. Phillies 10, Cardinals 9: After coming back from a six-run deficit to tie the game, the Cardinals let it slip away. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny wanted to make sure his players remembered to focus on all the good work they did just to get back into the game before losing 10-9 to the Philadelphia Phillies. “I just went in there, went around the room and told them I was real happy with the way, especially our offense and defense went about that game,” Matheny said. “There's a whole lot of positives. Being down that much early and having a chance to win the game, there was a lot of things they should be proud of. St. Louis got down 6-0 after two innings but tied it at 7 in the sixth only to fall short and lose 10-9 to the Phillies on Thursday night. “I'm not going to beat myself up and I want to make sure they're not beating themselves up,” Matheny said. “That was a hard-fought game.” Shane Victorino and Freddy Galvis each drove in three runs, including Galvis' go-ahead single in the sixth inning for the Phillies. Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz and Ty Wigginton added three hits apiece for Philadelphia, which had a season-high 18. Padres 11, Mets 5: Jeremy Hefner was off to a good start in the rain. He lost his grip after a long delay. Hefner was hit hard once he returned to the mound in the third inning following a stoppage of 1 hour, 8 minutes, and the New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres to spoil his first big league start. “It was pretty difficult (trying to get going again), but I still think I had the ability to go in and shut down the lineup, and I didn't,” Hefner said. “It's a learning experience, and if I ever have to face it again, I now know what I need to do.” Mets manager Terry Collins was confident Hefner could bounce back after the break because the rookie had given up just one hit in the first two innings. “He hadn't thrown very many pitches and he kept himself active during the break,” Collins said. “He said he was fine; we brought him back out. I think he lost his edge a little bit.” Giants 14, Marlins 7: Melky Cabrera had three hits and drove in four runs for the San Francisco Giants, who gave Ryan Vogelsong robust run support for a change to beat the Miami Marlins 14-7. Vogelsong (3-2) allowed three runs in 6 1-3 innings, which hiked his ERA to 2.50. The Giants had 22 runs in his previous seven starts. The Giants came into the game leading the majors in stranded runners, but went 7 for 17 with runners in scoring position. Their run total and 15 hits were both season highs. Angel Pagan had four RBIs, while Cabrera raised his average to .362. Giancarlo Stanton drove in three runs and hit another tape-measure home run for the Marlins. They began the night with the best record in the majors since May 1, but lost their second in a row. Anibal Sanchez (2-3) gave up five runs in 5 1-3 innings, his shortest and worst outing this year.
