Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Ben Sheets, right, celebrates with teammates defeating the New York Mets 6-1 on Sunday. (John Bazemore/Associated Press)
Braves 6, Mets 1
ATLANTA — Ben Sheets pitched six scoreless innings in his first game in two years and the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 6-1 on Sunday for their season-high seventh straight victory.
Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer in a six-run fifth inning and Sheets (1-0) allowed two hits and one walk with five strikeouts in his first start since July 19, 2010.
The Mets have lost four straight and seven of 10. Atlanta improved to a season-high 10 games over .500.
Johan Santana (6-6) gave up eight hits, six runs, two walks and struck out three in five innings.
The Braves had placed just two runners in scoring position before Matt Diaz, who began the game hitting .514 in 35 career at-bats against Santana, doubled to lead off the fifth.
Nationals 4, Marlins 0
MIAMI — Stephen Strasburg pitched six scoreless innings and drove in a run for the Washington Nationals in a 4-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
Strasburg (10-4) allowed six hits and struck out seven.
Steve Lombardozzi, Michael Morse, and Danny Espinosa also drove in a run for the Nationals.
The Marlins were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position as they were shut out for the ninth time this season.
Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard loaded the bases in the ninth with no outs, but retired the next three batters. Omar Infante flew out to Bryce Harper in foul territory to end the game as Harper collided with second baseman Lombardozzi.
Brewers 4, Pirates 1
MILWAUKEE — Yovani Gallardo struck out a career-high 14 in seven innings and the Milwaukee Brewers used a four-run sixth to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Sunday.
Gallardo (8-6) gave up four hits, including Andrew McCutchen's homer in the fourth.
Gallardo struck out two in every inning except the sixth and the side in the seventh.
A.J. Burnett's nine-game winning streak ended.
McCutchen, who had three of the Pirates' five hits, hit his 21st homer and fifth in the past four games. He also had two singles. He is batting .560 (28 for 50) with seven homers, 19 runs scored and 16 RBIs in past 12 games and leads the majors with a .371 average.
Cubs 3, Diamondbacks 1
CHICAGO — Darwin Barney homered and Matt Garza threw seven shutout innings to lift the Chicago Cubs to a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 3-1 win Sunday.
Barney clubbed a Trevor Cahill pitch into the left-field bleachers for a two-run homer in the second inning to help Chicago match a season high with its fourth straight win.
Garza (5-7) held Arizona to five hits and one walk, striking out seven en route to his first win in July. He's allowed three earned runs or fewer in his last 18 starts at Wrigley Field.
Carlos Marmol got the last two outs for his 10th save.
Phillies 5, Rockies 1
DENVER — Cole Hamels pitched eight innings of one-run ball, Hunter Pence hit a three-run home run and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1 Sunday for their first series victory in nearly a month.
Hamels (11-4), making his 100th career road start, scattered six hits and had seven strikeouts in his first win in three career outings at Coors Field. He was 0-1 with an 8.38 ERA at Colorado's hitter-friendly park coming into the game.
Antonio Bastardo finished up with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Drew Pomeranz (1-4) went five innings and allowed five runs on five hits in taking the loss. He struck out five and walked two.
Cahill (7-8) allowed three runs on four hits over 5 1-3 innings, losing for the third time in his last four decisions.
Giants 3, Astros 2
SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey had three hits and two RBIs to back Matt Cain, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros 3-2 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Cain wasn't as dominant as he was when he pitched the first perfect game in Giants history against the Astros on June 13 but did just enough to win for just the second time since that historic night. San Francisco's right-hander struck out six and walked one.
The Giants won despite being without their best hitter. Melky Cabrera took a temporary leave to attend the birth of his child in Florida.
Marwin Gonzalez had two hits and scored Houston's only run. The Astros fell to 1-10 in July.
Padres 7, Dodgers 2
LOS ANGELES — Chase Headley homered for the second straight game, and the San Diego Padres used six unearned runs to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 on Sunday.
Cameron Maybin and Everth Cabrera scored the tying and go-ahead runs on third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr.'s second throwing error of the seventh inning.
The Padres were trailing 2-1 with nobody on and two outs in the seventh when Hairston gave them life with his first error on a grounder by Maybin. Cabrera followed with a single, and a walk to John Baker loaded the bases.
Yasmani Grandal batted for starting pitcher Jason Marquis, and Hairston's hurried throw on his grounder down the line sailed past first baseman James Loney as two runs scored.
Marquis (2-5) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings.
Chris Capuano (9-5) was charged with four runs — all of them unearned — and five hits in 7 2-3 innings after his infield committed four errors behind him, all on poor throws.
Reds 4, Cardinals 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Scott Rolen hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning Sunday night, sending the Cincinnati Reds to a 4-2 victory and three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Reds' sixth straight win matched their best surge of the season, moved them a season-high 12 games over .500, and jumped them a game ahead of Pittsburgh for the NL Central lead. St. Louis fell 4 1/2 games back.
Rolen's two-out single off Mitchell Boggs snapped a 2-all tie and provided a satisfying moment for the 37-year-old third baseman, limited by a bad shoulder and back. Jake Westbrook (7-8) set up the rally with a walk, a wild pitch and a hit batter.
Homer Bailey (8-6) went eight innings during a fill-in start for Johnny Cueto, sidelined by a blister.
