Monday’s N.L. games

Braves 3, Phillies 1: Replacement starter Travis Smith pitched five solid innings, Andruw Jones homered and the Braves buried Philadelphia a little deeper in the East with a win over the visiting Phillies. Philadelphia, expected to threaten Atlanta’s streak of 12 straight division titles, instead dropped 13 1/2 games behind in the East. They have only 25 games remaining.

Cubs 9, Expos 1: Aramis Ramirez hit a pair of two-run homers and Carlos Zambrano allowed four hits in eight innings to lead Chicago past visiting Montreal. Mark Grudzielanek, Derrek Lee and Michael Barrett also homered for the Cubs, who took a half-game lead over idle San Francisco in the wild card race.

Padres 7, Cardinals 3: Ryan Klesko singled in the go-ahead run with none out in the eighth inning as San Diego beat visiting St. Louis. The loss snapped the Cardinals’ nine-game winning streak. San Diego remained 2 1/2 games behind the Cubs in the wild card race.

Astros 11, Reds 5: Astros pitcher Brandon Backe hit his first career homer, a two-run shot, and allowed one run in seven innings to lead Houston past visiting Cincinnati. Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman and Jeff Kent also homered as Houston stayed 1 1/2 games behind Chicago in the wild card race.

Brewers 9, Pirates 5: Brady Clark drove in four runs and Milwaukee used a six-run third inning to get a win in Pittsburgh. The win was the Brewers’ fourth in five games, while the slumping-again Pirates dropped their fifth in a row and 14th in 18 games. With a 62-75 record, the Pirates must go 19-6 over their remaining 25 games to avoid a franchise-record 12th consecutive losing season.