Braves find win behind Foltzynewicz, Freeman

ATLANTA — Mike Foltzynewicz had a career-high 11 strikeouts, Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 7-2 on Saturday night.

Miami led 1-0 in the sixth when Giancarlo Stanton slugged his 36th homer, most in the majors. One night after homering twice, Stanton crushed Foltynewicz's fastball deep into the seats in the left field , but the Braves took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning on Freeman's RBI single and Nick Markakis' RBI double.

Freeman hit his 20th homer and Brandon Phillips had a two-run single in a five-run seventh.

Foltynewicz (10-6) struck out eight of the first 12 batters he faced. He allowed four hits and one run in 6 1/3 innings and did not issue a walk for the first time in 15 starts.

The Braves have won each of Foltynewicz's last seven home starts. He's 5-0 with a 2.43 ERA over that stretch. His previous career high in strikeouts was 10 .

Dan Straily (7-8) lost his fourth straight start, allowing five hits, two runs, one walk and striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings.

Stanton added an RBI double in the eighth.

Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino earned a save for the second straight night, relieving Luke Jackson with the bases loaded in the ninth and retiring the two batters he faced.

Cardinals 4, Reds 1

CINCINNATI — Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer and Lance Lynn got past Joey Votto's first-inning home run to win his fourth straight start as the St. Louis Cardinals eased past the Cincinnati Reds.

Lynn (10-6) retired 12 of the last 14 batters he faced, walking Votto twice. The right-hander limited the Reds to three hits and a run with three walks and four strikeouts.

Seung Hwan Oh allowed a harmless two-out single in the seventh, Tyler Lyons struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth - including Votto looking to end the inning - and Trevor Rosenthal worked around a walk and a single in the ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances.

The win was the Cardinals' first in six games at Cincinnati this season and the first in their last six overall decided by more than one run.

Cincinnati rookie Luis Castillo (2-5) struggled with his control, tying his season and career high with five walks and hitting two batters while giving up four runs - three earned. The Cardinals collected just three hits with four strikeouts in his 6 1-3 innings.

Votto drove a 1-1 curveball into the right field seats for his 28th homer of the season, one shy of matching his total from last season.

DeJong delivered the Cardinals' first hit and gave them a 2-1 lead with a two-run homer on a 1-0 fastball with one out in the third, his first homer since July 25.

The Cardinals pushed across two insurance runs in the seventh on Tommy Pham's bases-loaded infield hit and a passed ball charged to Devin Mesoraco.

Dodgers 7, Mets 4

NEW YORK — Yasiel Puig hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and the thundering Los Angeles Dodgers went deep five times, rallying past the New York Mets to extend their incredible surge.

Chris Taylor, Justin Turner, Corey Seager and rookie Cody Bellinger also connected for the Dodgers, who are 43-7 since June 7. That's the best 50-game run by a big league team since the 1912 New York Giants compiled the same mark from May 14 to July 3.

Los Angeles has won all but one of its last 13 games, upping the top record in the majors to an astounding 78-32. That puts the Dodgers at 46 games above .500 for the first time since they were 98-51 on Sept. 15, 1962.

That team — led by Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax and NL MVP Maury Wills — didn't even win the pennant after dropping a best-of-three playoff to rival San Francisco. This year's Dodgers are looking to end a World Series drought that dates to the franchise's last championship in 1988.

Leadoff man Michael Conforto, Wilmer Flores and Curtis Granderson homered in the first inning off Dodgers lefty Rich Hill, the NL pitcher of the month for July.

Mets starter Seth Lugo held Los Angeles hitless until the fifth, but it didn't last.

Taylor homered leading off the sixth, connecting in a third straight game for the first time in his career. One out later, Turner singled and Bellinger nearly went down to one knee to lift his 31st homer over the right-center fence, tying it at 3.

Puig hit his 21st of the season leading off the seventh against Paul Sewald (0-4), lining a laser shot to left for his second in two games. Turner sent a solo shot to center off Sewald in the eighth, and Seager added a two-run drive into the second deck in right field against Fernando Salas in the ninth.

The five home runs equaled a season high for Los Angeles. Brandon Morrow (4-0) pitched a hitless sixth for the win.

Rene Rivera homered in the bottom of the ninth for the Mets, who have lost six of seven.

New York has dropped eight straight to the Dodgers dating to last year. The Mets have given up 23 homers and been outscored 49-15 in losing all six meetings this season.

Interleague Brewers 3, Rays 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Zach Davies gave up one hit in seven innings and the Milwaukee Brewers remained a halfgame behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs with a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was the second straight shutout for the Brewers, who have given up only one run while winning three straight.

Davies (13-5) walked two and struck out two. Two relievers helped the Brewers stretch their streak of shutout innings to 22.

Lucas Duda's single to center with one out in the sixth was the only hit off Davies, who is 6-1 with a 2.38 ERA over his last eight starts.

Keon Broxton scored the game's first run after a leadoff single off Rays starter Alex Cobb in the third. Broxton stole a base and scored on Orlando Arcia's double.

Hernan Perez added a home run, his 12th of the season, to help the Brewers tack on two runs in the ninth off reliever Ryne Stanek.

Two errors on Perez set up the Rays' first scoring threat in the fifth, before they had a hit.

Two singles off reliever Jacob Barnes and a throwing error on catcher Manny Pina put two more runners in scoring position with one out in the eighth, but Barnes got out of it with a strikeout and a fly ball.

Anthony Swarzak pitched the ninth for his first save.

Cobb (9-8) gave up one run and five hits in six innings.