Philadelphia moved to within three and a half games of St Louis in the race for the second National League wild card spot with a 3-1 win over the New York Mets.
Cliff Lee struck out 10 to better fellow Cy Young contender RA Dickey as the Phillies returned to winning ways.
Jimmy Rollins homered with the help of video replay and Domonic Brown also hit a solo shot off Dickey.
Philadelphia had lost three of four at last-place Houston before their visit to Citi Field as the Mets fell to 4-22 at home since the All-Star break.
The Atlanta Braves improved their chances in the National League East with a 7-5 win over the Miami Marlins to follow up a three-game sweep over Washington at the weekend.
Dan Uggla hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Martin Prado tied a career-best with four hits as the Braves again closed on the Nationals.
Gorkys Hernandez had his first three-hit game for Miami, the rookie's average going from .157 to .178. Bryan Petersen and Hernandez hit consecutive triples in a four-run fourth inning for Miami.
The San Francisco Giants extended their lead to eight games over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Brandon Crawford tripled, doubled and scored on a passed ball and Hunter Pence singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning.
Madison Bumgarner (15-10) allowed one run and four hits in six innings while walking a career-high five.
The Chicago White Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-4 to increase its lead in the American League Central to three games.
Omar Infante's throwing error on a potential double play helped Chicago scored two runs in the fifth inning.
Nate Jones (8-0) helped the White Sox win their fourth straight in a game which had been postponed by rain last Thursday to make Monday's makeup game the final meeting of the season between the division's two front runners.
Trailing 4-3, the White Sox loaded the bases for a third straight inning in the fifth, driving out Detroit starter Doug Fister (9-9).
When Dayan Viciedo hit a one-out grounder to short, the Tigers tried to turn the inning-ending double play, but Alex Rios slid hard into second baseman Infante and forced a bad throw that got by Prince Fielder as two runs scored, giving Chicago a winning lead.
The Boston Red Sox hurt the hopes of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East and also enhanced their wild card chances with a 5-2 win in Florida.
Jacoby Ellsbury homered and drove in three runs and Aaron Cook stopped his five-game losing streak.
Tampa Bay, coming off a 1-5 road trip to Baltimore and New York, fell five and a half games behind the AL East-leading Yankees.
Ellsbury hit a two-run homer in the sixth and added an RBI single during a three-run seventh for the Red Sox, who were eliminated from play-off contention Sunday.
Baltimore were 10-4 winners over Seattle while Pittsburgh saw off Chicago 3-0.
