Carlos Ruiz matched a career high with four RBIs, Joe Blanton allowed one run in six innings and the Philadelphia Phillies extended their September surge by beating the Florida Marlins 11-4 Monday. Ruiz, Jayson Werth, Chase Utley and Greg Dobbs all homered for the National League East leaders, who are 10-3 in September. The Phillies remained a game ahead of Atlanta, which beat Washington. Philadelphia's Ryan Howard reached the 100-RBI mark for the fifth straight season, while Werth and Utley each scored twice. Blanton (7-6) struck out eight and walked two, dropping his ERA to 5.00, the lowest it's been since May 8. Dan Uggla hit his 30th home run for Florida, making him the first second baseman in Major League history to reach that plateau four times. Braves 4, Nationals 0: At Atlanta, Derek Lowe set a career high with 12 strikeouts and combined with Billy Wagner on a six-hitter to lead Atlanta over Washington. Lowe (13-12) was 0-3 with a 6.11 ERA in his first three starts against Washington this season before delivering an impressive win marked by two personal milestones. He earned an ovation from the small crowd of 18,647 with his 1,500th career strikeout against Ian Desmond in the fourth. Lowe struck out Wilson Ramos in the eighth for his 12th of the game. The right-hander gave up six hits and no walks in eight innings. Reds 7, Diamondbacks 2: At Cincinnati, Jay Bruce returned from a two-week layoff and homered in each of his first two at-bats as Cincinnati went deep five times against Arizona to secure its first winning season since 2000. The Reds' nine-year streak of losing seasons was their longest in a half-century. With each win, the NL Central leaders close in on another breakthrough - their first playoff appearance since 1995. They moved seven games ahead of second-place St. Louis, which lost to the Cubs. Bruce missed the last two weeks because of a strained abdomen. He hit a solo homer and a two-run shot off Barry Enright (6-4), and later added an RBI single. Drew Stubbs, Joey Votto and Orlando Cabrera also homered. Cubs 5, Cardinals 1: At St. Louis, Jeff Samardzija pitched shutout ball in his first major league start this season and drove in a run to lead Chicago past St. Louis. Samardzija (1-1) filled in admirably for Carlos Silva, scratched due to pain in his pitching elbow. In his first big league appearance since April 19, the former Notre Dame football star allowed six hits in 5 2-3 innings. He walked four and struck out one. Geovany Soto went 3 for 3 with an RBI single and reached base all four times up. Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs and Kosuke Fukudome had an RBI single for the Cubs. Mets 1, Pirates 0, 10 innings: At New York, pinch-hitter Nick Evans singled home the winning run in the 10th inning to give New York a rain-delayed victory over Pittsburgh. Padres 6, Rockies 4: At Denver, Miguel Tejada equaled a season high with four RBIs to help San Diego remain on top of the NL West by ending Colorado's 10-game winning streak. The Padres have a half-game lead over San Francisco.
