No team in baseball is playing as well as the Milwaukee Brewers and no hitter is on a tear like Ryan Braun.

The left fielder hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to cap his second straight four-hit game and Milwaukee won its eighth straight, 4-3 over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

The latest win completed a 7-0 road trip that included a four-game sweep of the Cardinals.

"Right now, our confidence level is at an all-time high," Braun said. "This is the way you want to start the second half of the season."

The run, which has coincided with the acquisition of starter CC Sabathia from Cleveland, has the Brewers within one game of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

"Clutch hitting, great pitching, this was a great road trip," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "We've got a lot of clutch players, a lot of guys who really want to win and it shows."

Braun, who has reached base in nine consecutive plate appearances, went 14-for-29 on the trip with three homers. He said the home run off closer Ryan Franklin (3-4) that gave Milwaukee a 4-3 lead, provided him with a huge thrill.

"To me, a game-winning homer is the best feeling in the world," he said. "There's nothing better."

The Brewers have hit at least one home run in each of their last 20 games, a franchise record.

J.J. Hardy had three hits and Prince Fielder added two for the Brewers as their Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters went 9-for-12 on a night Milwaukee had 10 hits.

Eric Gagne (3-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Salomon Torres recorded his 19th save.

"I made some really good pitches (but) messed up on one," Franklin said.

Mets 3, Phillies 1

Carlos Delgado hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth inning and host New York took over sole possession of first place in the NL East for the first time since April 19.

Former Pirate Oliver Perez struck out 12 in 7X\c innings, and Billy Wagner got three outs for his second save in as many days.

Cubs 6, Marlins 3

Carlos Zambrano pitched seven solid innings and the host Cubs got home runs from Henry Blanco and Ronny Cedeno to snap a 10-game losing streak to Florida.

Giants 1, Nationals 0

Matt Cain pitched a four-hitter and Dave Roberts singled home a run in the eighth inning as San Francisco completed its first three-game home sweep of the season.

Royals 4, Rays 2

In Kansas City, Mo., Gil Meche threw seven scoreless innings after a sweaty, shaky start and John Buck drove in two runs, helping Kansas City hold off Tampa Bay 4-2 to extend the AL East-leading Rays' road losing streak to seven games.

Game 1 Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1 Game 2 Blue Jays 7, Orioles 1

Roy Halladay scattered seven hits over seven innings in the regularly scheduled game and the Blue Jays reached the .500 mark (51-51). In the completion of the suspended game, which halted by rain in the sixth inning Wednesday, the Toronto bullpen allowed two hits over four innings.

Halladay (12-7) gave up one run, struck out six and walked one. He took over the major league lead in innings pitched (159Z\c) and lowered his ERA to 2.82. Halladay is 18-4 lifetime against the Orioles, who fell a season-worst five games under .500 (48-53).

Adam Lind and Marco Scutaro both had three hits for the Blue Jays, who won three of four from Baltimore after losing their previous seven series on the road.