Jay Bruce homered in three consecutive at-bats as the first-place Cincinnati Reds extended their two-week playoff surge by beating the Chicago Cubs 7-1 Friday. The Reds are 10-3 since getting swept at home by the St. Louis Cardinals from Aug. 9-11. The streak pushed Cincinnati back ahead of the Cardinals in the National League Central, which the Reds have led for the last 13 days. Johnny Cueto (12-4) got his first win since serving a seven-game suspension for kicking a couple of Cardinals during a brawl in their series. The right-hander gave up a run and six hits in eight innings. Bruce hit a solo homer and a three-run shot off left-hander Tom Gorzelanny (7-8), who lasted only five innings. He added a solo shot in the seventh off reliever Scott Maine, giving him three homers in a span of five pitches. It was Chicago's first loss since manager Lou Piniella retired on Sunday and was replaced by Mike Quade. Phillies 3, Padres 2, 12 innings: At San Diego, Brad Lidge balked home the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, forcing Philadelphia to play three more innings before beating NL West-leading San Diego on a perfect slide by Jimmy Rollins. Rollins doubled to the right-field wall off rookie Ernesto Frieri (0-1) leading off the 12th and came around to score on Placido Polanco's single to center. Luis Durango made a strong throw to catcher Yorvit Torrealba, but Rollins slid wide to avoid the tag and reached back with his left hand to touch the plate. Philadelphia, which had been swept in four home games by Houston, took a half-game lead over San Francisco in the wild-card race and pulled within two games of first-place Atlanta in the NL East. The Padres remained six games ahead of San Francisco in the NL West. Chad Durbin (4-1) pitched two innings for the win. Marlins 7, Braves 1: At Atlanta, the Florida Marlins led off a game with back-to-back homers for the first time in franchise history, and went on to beat the slumping Atlanta Braves 7-1 in the National League. Cameron Maybin hit the first pitch of the game into the left-field seats, immediately ending Atlanta pitcher Tommy Hanson's streak of 47 2-3 innings without giving up a homer. Logan Morrison then connected off Hanson (8-10) for his first major league home run. Hanson gave up two more runs in the second, including a run-scoring single by Florida starting pitcher Chris Volstad (8-9). The Marlins chased Hanson in the sixth, leading off with another pair of consecutive homers. The NL East leaders lost their fourth in a row, their worst slump since a nine-game skid in April. The past two defeats have been especially ugly – Atlanta squandered a 10-1 lead at Colorado and fell 12-10, then got blown out by the Marlins. Cardinals 4, Nationals 2: At Washington, rookie pitcher Jaime Garcia steered St. Louis to victory over Washington. Jaime Garcia (12-6) tossed 5 1-3 scoreless innings, extending his streak to 20 1-3 innings without conceding an earned run. He had seven strikeouts and has the most wins this season among rookie pitchers. Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols hit his 401st career home run and 35th of the season when he connected off Scott Olsen (3-7). Dodgers 6, Rockies 2: At Denver, Casey Blake hit a grand slam in a five-run eighth inning to help Los Angeles beat Colorado and spoil ace Ubaldo Jimenez's bid for a franchise record 18th win. Diamondbacks 6, Giants 0: At San Francisco, Tim Lincecum lost his fifth straight start as Arizona beat San Francisco. Mets 2, Astros 1: At New York, Mike Pelfrey pitched eight dominant innings as New York edged Houston. Brewers 7, Pirates 2: At Milwaukee, Alcides Escobar's two-run triple sparked a six-run seventh inning that sent Milwaukee to a victory over Pittsburgh. Chris Narveson pitched seven innings in his longest start since he went eight in a 3
