Brian McCann homered twice to lift the Atlanta Braves to an 8-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Atlanta took three of four in the series and now moves on to play the New York Mets.
In other National League action, Arizona beats Washington 8-1 to open a three game lead over San Francisco in the NL West; the Giants lost 3-1 to Houston. St.Louis beat Pittsburgh 8-4.
In the American League, the New York Yankees became the first team in baseball history to hit three grand slam homers in a game as they beat Oakland 22-9. New York actually trailed 7-1 in the game before rallying to win.
In other AL action, Detroit blanks Tampa Bay 2-0 to increase its lead in the AL Central. Boston remains a game up on the Yankees in the AL East with a 6-0 win over Texas; the Rangers lead Los Angeles by two games in the AL West and those teams start a series in Texas tonight.
Baltimore beat Minnesota 6-1 and Kansas City stops Toronto 9-6 in other action. And Minnesota trades Jim Thome back to the Cleveland Indians where he began his big league career.