San Francisco Giants' slugger Barry Bonds has tied a major league baseball home run record, hitting at least 30 homers for 12 straight seasons.
Bonds hit his major league-leading 30th homer Saturday to lead the Giants to an 8-1 victory over the host Arizona Diamondbacks. Bonds has now clubbed homers in five straight games, and eight of the last nine.
In another National League contest, Ken Griffey also hit a homer for the fifth straight game to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-1 defeat of the Brewers in Milwaukee.
Chicago star Sammy Sosa homered in the Cubs' 7-3 win over the visiting Braves, ending Atlanta's eight-game winning streak. Since returning June 18 from a seven-game suspension for using a corked bat, Sosa has hit 12 of his 18 homers this year, and driven in 23 runs.
St. Louis got a game-ending two-run homer from Albert Pujols, giving the Cardinals a 9-7 win over the San Diego Padres.
The other National League winners Saturday were the Phillies, Expos, Pirates and Rockies.
The Philadelphia Phillies scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning to beat the New York Mets, 4-2. The Montreal Expos eased by the visiting Florida Marlins, 7-1. The Pittsburgh Pirates scored four runs in the first inning on the way to downing the Astros, 5-2, in Houston. And the Colorado Rockies used Todd Helton's third homer in two games to beat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3.
In the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays ended a four-game losing streak with a 10-3 victory over the New York Yankees. Toronto starter Roy Halladay, who won his 13th straight, also became the first pitcher in the majors with 13 wins this year.
The Boston Red Sox pulled to within one game of the Yankees in the A.L. East, scoring twice in the top of the 11th inning to put down the Detroit Tigers, 4-2. The win was the Sox' fifth straight.
In other American League games Saturday, the White Sox and Indians split a double-header, while the Athletics, Angels, Royals and Devil Rays also notched victories.
Chicago's Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer in the top of the 10th inning to give the White Sox a 7-4 win over Cleveland, before the Indians came back to win the later game, 4-2. Oakland's Scott Hatteberg hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth for a 5-3 Athletics win over the Baltimore Orioles.
The Anaheim Angels cruised by visiting Minnesota, 6-1, handing the Twins their seventh straight loss. The Kansas City Royals downed the host Texas Rangers, 8-2. And the Tampa Bay Devils Rays used four home runs to edge the Mariners, 6-5, in Seattle.