St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Carpenter (R) scores on a wild pitch by Cincinnati Reds' relief pitcher Manny Parra as Parra misses the throw during the eighth inning of their MLB game in St. Louis Tuesday. — AP MIAMI — Kris Medlen allowed only an unearned run in seven innings Tuesday night, and the Atlanta Braves earned their fifth consecutive victory by beating the punchless Miami Marlins 3-2. The Braves improved to 7-1, their best start since 2007. The Marlins fell to 1-7 with their fourth consecutive defeat, and they're off to their worst start since the 1998 team began the season 1-11. Evan Gattis hit his second homer and Justin Upton doubled home a run. Craig Kimbrel pitched around a leadoff walk in the ninth for his fourth save in as many chances to complete a four-hitter. Atlanta has allowed six hits and two runs in the first two games of the series. Announced attendance was 14,222, the smallest crowd at Marlins Park since it opened a year ago. Phillies 8, Mets 3: Michael Young and Ryan Howard homered, Cliff Lee came within one out of a complete game and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets. John Mayberry Jr. also went deep for Philadelphia and Young had three hits, missing the cycle by a double. Lee (2-0) allowed three runs — two earned — and eight hits, striking out six in 8 2-3 innings. The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner didn't win his second game until July 31 last year. Padres 9, Dodgers 3: Will Venable homered and hit a bases-loaded triple for the San Diego Padres, who rebounded from a dreadful six-game trip to win their home opener against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Venable tied his career high with four RBIs. He homered in the first and his two-out triple highlighted a five-run eighth against three Dodgers relievers. The Padres sent 11 batters to the plate that inning, five of whom walked. Cubs 6, Brewers 3: Pinch-hitter Scott Hairston had a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and David DeJesus added a two-run single, lifting the Chicago Cubs over the Milwaukee Brewers. Carlos Marmol (1-1) pitched a scoreless eighth. Kyuji Fujikawa worked a scoreless ninth for his second save, stranding two runners when he got Jonathan Lucroy to pop out. The Cubs rallied from an early 3-0 deficit. Cardinals 5, Reds 1: Lance Lynn (1-0) struck out 10 in six sharp innings and rookie Matt Adams connected for his first career pinch-hit homer as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds. Other results: Pirates 6, Diamondbacks 5; Giants 9, Rockies 6. Inter-League Nationals 8, White Sox 7: Adam LaRoche ended an 0-for-15 start to the season with homers in consecutive at-bats, Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond also homered, and the Washington Nationals opened an early interleague series by edging the Chicago White Sox. — Agencies
