The Associated Press

MONTREAL - Robert Fick hit his first home run in six weeks as the Atlanta Braves reduced its magic number for clinching a record 12th straight division title to three with a 10-6 victory over the Montreal Expos Monday night.

Horacio Ramirez (11-4) won his third straight decision for Atlanta, which got its major league-leading 94th win and moved 10 games ahead of Florida in the NL East.

Ramirez allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings.

Fick hit a three-run homer off Livan Hernandez (15-9) in the second for his first home run since July 27, when he connected twice against the Expos in a 13-10 loss in Montreal.

Hernandez allowed seven runs - six earned - and five hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Despite the short outing, Hernandez raised his season total to 217 1/3 innings, one-third of an inning more than he needed to trigger a contract option that guarantees him a $6.5 million salary next season.

Montreal's Brian Schneider hit a pinch-hit grand slam off Trey Hodges in the ninth to make it 10-6.

Cubs 4, Mets 1

CHICAGO - Matt Clement matched his career high with his 13th victory as Chicago gained ground in the NL Central race by beating New York.

Randall Simon had two RBI for Chicago, which pulled within 1 1/2 games of first-place Houston, which was idle. The Mets lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

New York managed just three infield singles against Clement, and the only run he allowed was unearned. He walked two and struck out five in seven innings. Of his 102 pitches, 64 were strikes.

Cardinals 11, Brewers 2

ST. LOUIS - Brett Tomko allowed six hits over eight innings and drove in three runs as St. Louis snapped a four-game losing streak against Milwaukee.

Tomko went 2-for-4, including a two-run single in the second and an RBI single in the third, as the Cardinals moved within five games of idle Houston in the NL Central.

Albert Pujols hit his 42nd home run, leaving him tied with Barry Bonds for the NL lead. Jim Edmonds also homered for the Cardinals, who scored seven times in the first three innings off Wes Obermueller.