Jim Edmonds hit two home runs including a grand slam as the Chicago Cubs claimed a 11-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cubs claimed their fifth straight win to open up a five-game lead over the Brewers, who have lost five straight, in the National League Central Division.

Edmonds got Chicago on the board with a solo homer in the third and belted his grand slam in the next inning to give Harden some breathing room.

Both homers came off Milwaukee starter Dave Bush (5-9), who also yielded a solo shot to Alfonso Soriano in the eighth.

Harden, who has a 1.11 ERA and 39 strikeouts in his first four starts with the Cubs, kept the Brewers scoreless until giving up a homer to Prince Fielder leading off the seventh. He allowed one run and scattered six hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.

The Cubs also opened up a five game lead over the St Louis Cardinals, who went down 9-4 to the Atlanta Braves.

Clint Sammons smashed his first career homer and drove in three runs and Mike Hampton drove in two runs in his second start of the year as the Braves salvaged the finale of a four-game set.

Shane Victorino reached base four times and extended his hitting streak to 11 games to give the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies an 8-4 victory over the Washington Nationals.

The Phillies are one game ahead of the idle New York Mets and a game and a half in front of the Florida Marlins, who enjoyed a 12-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.

In a battle between the top two in the NL West, Brandon Webb pitched eight outstanding innings to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series.

Webb (15-4) allowed one run and six hits while walking one and striking out six to earn his major-league leading 15th win, helping the Diamondbacks to extend their lead over the Dodgers to two games.