Thursday’s N.L. games

Giants 4, Brewers 0: Barry Bonds remained one homer shy of joining Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron in the 700-homer club, but he finished 3 for 3 with a walk as visiting San Francisco defeated Milwaukee. Rookie Brad Hennessey (2-2) allowed two hits over seven innings as the Giants remained one-half game ahead of Chicago in the race for the N.L. wild card.

Cubs 5, Reds 4: Aramis Ramirez homered three times for all of Chicago’s runs, and the Cubs defeated host Cincinnati to keep pace with San Francisco in the playoff race. The Cubs, opening their final road trip of the regular season, are set to play 12 games in four cities.

Astros 8, Cardinals 3: At St. Louis, Jeff Kent had two doubles and four runs batted in, and St. Louis committed a season-high four errors as Houston snapped Jason Marquis’ 11-game winning streak. The Astros took two of three from the Central leaders, staying two games behind the Giants for the wild card.

Marlins 4, Expos 3: At Miami, Dontrelle Willis won for the first time in five starts and Juan Encarnacion hit a two-run triple to lead Florida over Montreal. Jeff Conine drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning single. The Marlins are 3 1/2 games behind the Giants in the wild-card chase.

Mets 9, Braves 4: Richard Hidalgo and Todd Zeile hit back-to-back homers during a seven-run first, leading New York to a win over visiting Atlanta.

Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 5: Danny Bautista hit a run-scoring double in the seventh and scored on Alex Cintron’s sacrifice fly, lifting Arizona over Colorado at Phoenix.

Padres 3, Dodgers 0: Adam Eaton allowed five hits over seven innings for his career-high 10th victory, and Brian Giles homered for the second consecutive game as visiting San Diego defeated Los Angeles. The West-leading Dodgers’ lead was cut to 2 1/2 games over San Francisco — their smallest since July 31.