Atlanta – The Atlanta Braves took another step toward their 14th straight division title, moving the Florida Marlins closer to postseason elimination.
Andruw Jones hit his major league-leading 51st home run as the Braves beat the Marlins 6-1 Saturday night.
Atlanta (88-67) lowered its magic number for clinching the NL East to four and eliminated the Marlins from contention in the division.
Florida (80-75) has lost eight of 10 in a playoff push that has gone into reverse and is five games behind Houston (85-70) in the wild-card race with seven games remaining.
Jeff Francoeur and Rafael Furcal hit two-run homers in the second inning, and Chipper Jones connected in the third to reach 20 homers for the 11th straight season.
John Thomson (4-5) won for the first time since May 5, allowing one run and four hits in seven innings.
He had been 0-3 in seven starts since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 13. Thomson was injured May 16 when he strained a flexor tendon in his right middle finger.
A native of Lake Charles, La., Thomson said before the game his family is fine and his family’s home survived Hurricane Rita without serious damage.
Chris Reitsma and Kyle Farnsworth completed the five-hitter.
Brian Moehler (6-10) gave up five runs and six hits in three innings.
Florida loaded the bases with no outs in the second but got only one run, on Paul Lo Duca’s double-play grounder.
Atlanta went ahead in the bottom half on Francoeur’s 13th homer, his first since Sept. 3, and Furcal’s 12th homer.
After the rocky second, Thomson allowed only two runners the next five innings, giving up a double to Mike Lowell with two outs in the fourth and a single to Lo Duca with two outs in the seventh.
Andruw Jones homered in the eighth off Randy Messenger.
Astros 8, Cubs 3
Chicago – Ezequiel Astacio, starting in place of injured ace Roger Clemens, allowed four hits in six innings, and Houston preserved its lead in the NL wild-card race.
Craig Biggio matched his career high with his 24th homer, a solo shot in the first inning, and drove in another run, and Lance Berkman also homered. It was the ninth win in 11 games for Houston.
Nomar Garciaparra homered for the Cubs. Carlos Zambrano (14-6) had his career-best six-game winning streak snapped, giving up six runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Astacio (3-6) was tapped to start after Clemens was scratched Friday with a sore left hamstring.
Clemens, who won his record seventh Cy Young Award last year at 42 and is leading the majors with a 1.89 ERA this season, has been bothered by the injury all month. The Astros decided it would be better to give him some extra rest in case they make the postseason.
Mets 5, Nationals 2
Washington – Tom Glavine carried a shutout into the sixth inning for his 274th career win and David Wright’s grand slam capped a five-run first off Livan Hernandez.
The Mets (77-77) have won six of their last eight games, and if they complete a series sweep today, they’ll move up to fourth place in the NL East and drop the Nationals (78-77) into last.
