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MLB

The Philadelphia Phillies have leaders the Atlanta Braves in their sights after beating the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0.

Cole Hamels allowed just three hits in seven scoreless innings of pitching for the Phillies, whose sole RBI came from Carlos Ruiz.

The win took them to within just one game of the Braves, who suffered a 6-1 setback at the Florida Marlins.

Two triples from Logan Morrison allied to Andrew Miller holding the Braves to just one run in five innings was enough to earn the Marlins a third win in succession.

The St Louis Cardinals began the task of reining in NL Central leaders the Cincinnati Reds by winning the first of the sides' three-game series 3-2. Jon Jay's RBI triple in the first inning got the Cards off to the perfect start and cut the Reds' lead to seven games.

The NL West race remains a close one as the San Francisco Giants wasted the chance to take advantage of the San Diego Padres' home loss to the Colorado Rockies by losing themselves, 4-2 at the Los Angeles Dodgers, for whom Chad Billingsley contributed a two-run single.

The Padres - who have now lost eight in a row - were beaten 4-3 by the Rockies as Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki hit two-run homers.

Elsewhere in the National League the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 8-5, the Chicago Cubs edged the New York Mets 7-6 and the Arizona Diamondbacks claimed their fourth win in a row by defeating the Houston Astros 4-3.

The race for the American League East title remains a tight one as the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays both won to keep the former's advantage at two games.

The Yankees claimed a 7-3 success at home to the Toronto Blue Jays - their seventh win in a row - as four combined runs and RBIs from Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson saw them home.

The Rays were 4-1 victors at the Baltimore Orioles thanks to some impressive pitching from Matt Garza.

AL Central leaders the Minnesota Twins edged past AL West leaders the Texas Rangers 4-3 at Target Field thanks to RBI singles from JJ Hardy and Denard Span in the seventh.

The Oakland Athletics remain the Rangers' closest challengers in the West as they won 8-0 at home to the Los Angeles Angels.

The Detroit Tigers won 9-5 at the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Mariners edged the Cleveland Indians 1-0 while the Chicago White Sox's match at the Boston Red Sox was postponed due to rain.