Chipper Jones' season is going so well he fulfilled both of his birthday wishes.

Jones celebrated his 36th birthday with a home run and a perfect 3-for-3 night at the plate to lead Atlanta past the NL East-leading Florida Marlins 7-4 Thursday.

"I always feel like I need to do something cool on my birthday," the third baseman said. "Hit a homer or have three hits. I would have taken either one, to be honest. Today, I got 'em both. It was awesome."

Jones is used to getting what he wants on April 24: he's hitting .500 (18-for-36) with four homers, eight RBI and 10 runs for his career.

Not that it's anything new this season. Jones raised the best average in the majors to .442, with seven homers and 20 RBIs.

"Every day has been his birthday," Braves manager Bobby Cox joked.

While Jones got everything from a Dale Earnhardt video box set to an autographed guitar from country stars Rascal Flatts, the best present of all might have been a surprise from Brian McCann, the Braves' slow-running catcher.

In the eighth, he drove one off the wall in right, the ball bouncing away from Jeremy Hermida, and flopped into third with something resembling a headfirst slide for his first career triple. Jones nearly buckled over in the dugout, laughing at McCann's inelegant work on the basepaths.

"That was just pure poetry in motion," Jones said, still chuckling about it in the clubhouse. "That's pretty much how Pete Rose used to draw it up."

McCann's hustle set up an insurance run. Jeff Francoeur followed with a deep drive to center for the sacrifice fly, his third RBI of the game.

"I owe McCann a beer," said Francoeur, a friend of the catcher's since childhood.

Astros 5, Reds 3

At Cincinnati, Lance Berkman hit his 18th homer at Great American Ball Park — the most by any visiting player — and drove in three runs, leading Houston to its fifth straight win.

Berkman had a two-run homer and a run-scoring double off rookie Johnny Cueto (1-2).

Phillies 3, Brewers 1

At Milwaukee, Pat Burrell's two-out, two-run double off reliever David Riske (0-1) broke a tie in the eighth, and the Phillies held on to beat Milwaukee.

Rockies 4, Cubs 2

At Denver, Aaron Cook (3-1) won his third straight start with eight strong innings, and Brian Fuentes earned his first save in 10 months for Colorado.

Kevin Hart (2-1) took the loss in relief to snap the Cubs' six-game win streak. They'd won nine of their previous 10.

Nationals 10, Mets 5

At Washington, Felipe Lopez's grand slam and two-run single gave him a career high-tying six RBI and led Washington to just its fourth victory in the past 20 games.

Ex-Pirate Oliver Perez (2-1) was the loser.

Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 4

At Los Angeles, Jeff Salazar hit a two-run homer and Conor Jackson also had a pair of RBIs, leading Arizona over the Dodgers.

Giants 1, Padres 0

At San Diego, Rich Aurilia homered off Chris Young (1-2) in the seventh inning to keep Tim Lincecum (4-0) perfect this season and give San Francisco a win over the Padres, who have lost eight of nine.

White Sox 7, Yankees 6

Joe Crede's RBI single to center in the bottom of the ninth Chicago a victory over the Yankees and young reliever Joba Chamberlain, who suffered his first major league loss.

Chamberlain had given up three runs in 32 innings over 26 regular-season appearances since being called up last season. He gave up one earned run in 19 outings in 2007.

Angels 7, Red Sox 5

Joe Saunders pitched six innings to win his fourth consecutive decision, and Gary Matthews Jr. singled in the go-ahead runs in the Angels' four-run seventh inning. Saunders (4-0) left trailing 3-1 but the Angels rallied in the seventh, when three Red Sox relievers allowed four singles and three walks to give Los Angeles a 5-3 lead.

David Ortiz hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth for Boston, but Francisco Rodriguez got Manny Ramirez on a fly to deep center to earn his ninth save.

Tigers 8, Rangers 2

Magglio Ordonez hit two of Detroit's five homers as the Tigers outscored Texas 37-10 in the three-game series. The Tigers have won a season-best four straight while the Rangers have lost seven in a row.

Athletics 11, Twins 2

Rajai Davis, claimed off waivers from San Francisco on Wednesday, got three hits in his debut with the Athletics, who tagged Minnesota starter Francisco Liriano (0-3) for six runs in the first inning. Donnie Murphy hit solo homers in the fifth and sixth innings for his first career multihomer game.

Indians 9, Royals 6 Indians 2, Royals 0

Cliff Lee faced only two batters over the minimum in a three-hitter that gave Cleveland the sweep. Lee (4-0) struck out nine and did not issue a walk while shrinking his major league-best ERA to 0.28. His nine strikeouts tied his career best.

The Royals have lost seven straight.

In the opener, Grady Sizemore, Casey Blake and Jason Michaels each had two RBI for the Indians. Fausto Carmona (3-1) survived five shaky innings and benefited from an early 7-1 lead.

Rays 5, Blue Jays 3

Andy Sonnanstine (3-1), coming off a three-hit shutout of Chicago, allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. Closer Troy Percival worked out of a ninth-inning jam for his third save in as many nights as Tampa Bay swept the three-game series at Disney World.

Orioles 8, Mariners 7

Brian Roberts homered to open the eighth for Baltimore, which had rallied from a five-run deficit. Chad Bradford (2-1) got the final out of the seventh and worked the eighth to get the win. Former Seattle reliever George Sherrill pitched the ninth for his eighth save, five against the Mariners.