Julio Franco seemed to be showing some signs of slowing down during April and May.

The 46-year-old Atlanta first baseman has shown in June that he clearly can still play the game.

At Miami, Franco hit his eighth career grand slam, a pinch-hit shot, and Horacio Ramirez pitched the streaking Braves past the Florida Marlins 7-2 on Monday night in a game called during the eighth inning because of rain.

In his last seven appearances, Franco is hitting .458 with four home runs and 11 RBI, and is making plenty of entries on those oldest-to-do-whatever lists.

Earlier this month, he became the oldest player in baseball history to have a two-homer game, the oldest in the last 96 years to steal a base and, on Monday, extended his own mark for being the oldest to hit a grand slam.

"For me, nothing gets old," Franco said. "You guys (are) the ones saying, 'He's the oldest guy to do this, the oldest guy to do that.' I don't feel old."

And he doesn't look it, either. Still in super shape, Franco - no longer a true everyday player, yet Braves manager Bobby Cox insists he could be - is hitting .394 in June, nearly doubling the .217 he put up in May and dwarfing the .243 he posted for April.

"He is truly amazing at his age, to do what he does," Cox said. "Pinch-hitting is one of the toughest things in the world a player can do, let alone at his age. He can do it, and he can play every day as well. ... He's just a remarkable specimen of an athlete."

In other NL games, it was: Houston 11, Colorado 5; and the Los Angeles Dodgers 5, San Diego 4.

Franco's shot blew the game open and helped seal the ninth win in 11 games for Atlanta, which moved within 2½ games of first-place Washington in the NL East.

At Denver, Lance Berkman homered and drove in three runs, Wandy Rodriguez (3-3) was strong into the seventh inning, and Houston beat Colorado pitcher Jamey Wright (4-8) for the 12th straight time.

At Los Angeles, Jeff Kent was 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI, J.D. Drew and Mike Edwards hit run-scoring doubles. D.J. Houlton (4-1) allowed four runs - three earned - and five hits with five strikeouts in seven innings.

Bartolo Colon won his 10th straight start against the Rangers, Vladimir Guerrero drove in three runs and Los Angeles extended its winning streak to seven with a 13-3 victory Monday night in Texas.The Angels' winning streak began with a three-game sweep of second-place Texas last week. They lead the division by 7½ games, their biggest margin since Aug. 31, 1995 - though they squandered that cushion as Seattle took the crown.

At Baltimore, the Yankees responded after a tongue-lashing by The Boss.Pinch-hitter Bernie Williams drove in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, and New York rallied from a three-run deficit to hand the Orioles their sixth straight defeat.

At Boston, Kevin Millwood (3-5) pitched six innings of three-hit ball and Travis Hafner had three extra-base hits to help Cleveland snap Boston's seven-game winning streak. Last week, the Red Sox went to Cleveland and stopped the Indians' nine-game win streak.

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Hideo Nomo (5-6) pitched seven strong innings and Aubrey Huff hit a three-run homer. The victory moved Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella (1,479-1,375) within one of tying Earl Weaver for 19th place on the career list. The Devil Rays snapped a six-game skid at home.

At Minneapolis, Joe Mays (4-3) pitched eight sharp innings and Minnesota sent Kansas City to its seventh straight loss. The Twins won consecutive games for first time since taking three straight June 5-8.Joe Nathan got his 19th save, leaving the Royals 0-7 on their nine-game road trip. Zack Greinke (1-9) allowed two runs in six innings.