ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves clinched their 13th consecutive division title Friday night, winning the NL East with an 8-7 victory over the Florida Marlins.

Marcus Giles’ go-ahead single capped Atlanta’s three-run rally in the eighth inning. The Braves’ record streak of division championships began with the 1991 NL West title and excludes the 1994 strike-shortened season.

Giles delivered a two-run single against Marlins closer Armando Benitez, who took over for Guillermo Mota (9-7) in the eighth.

The Braves have relied on strong pitching through their run, but they used seven relievers Friday night after starter Russ Ortiz was chased in the third inning.

Cubs 2, Mets 1

NEW YORK – Derrek Lee hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and Aramis Ramirez homered in the seventh, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the New York Mets.

The Cubs won their fourth straight and 13th in 16 games to maintain their lead in the NL wild-card race.

Mark Grudzielanek was walked by Braden Looper (2-4), pitching for the third straight night, to lead off the 10th. Grudzielanek advanced to second on Corey Patterson’s tapper in front of the plate – he failed twice at a sacrifice attempt – and scored on Lee’s single to center with one out, sending Cubs fans at Shea Stadium into a loud “Let’s Go Cubs!” chant.

Cardinals 5, Rockies 4

DENVER – Albert Pujols homered, Jeff Suppan improved to 10-0 on the road and the St. Louis Cardinals made a winner of Larry Walker in his return to Colorado by beating the Rockies 5-4 Friday night.

Edgar Renteria had three RBIs to lead the Cardinals’ offense. Walker went 0-for-4 in his first game back at Coors Field since the Rockies traded him to St. Louis on Aug. 6.

Walker, who spent 9 seasons with Colorado and is largely considered the best player to wear a Rockies uniform, said before the game it was such an emotional return that “I’m almost not looking forward to it.”

Twins 8, Indians 2

CLEVELAND – Johan Santana became the second 20-game winner in the major leagues with his 13th consecutive victory, leading the Minnesota Twins over the Cleveland Indians 8-2 Friday night.

Santana (20-6) set a Minnesota record for strikeouts in a season, though his 33-inning scoreless streak was snapped. He allowed a run – his first in September – and two hits in six innings, striking out six to put his AL-leading total at 260.

Bert Blyleven set the previous Twins mark with 258 in 1973.

Orioles 7, Tigers 5

BALTIMORE – Miguel Tejada hit a game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Expos 8, Phillies 1

MONTREAL – Sun Woo-Kim came within an out of his first career complete game and shutout and also hit a two-run double in the Montreal Expos’ 8-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

Kim (4-5) allowed seven hits and one run in 8 2-3 innings – his longest outing in 26 career starts. He lost his shutout bid on Jason Michaels’ RBI double in the ninth.

Devil Rays 4, Blue Jays 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Aubrey Huff hit his 29th homer and Mark Hendrickson pitched seven solid innings, leading the Tampa Bay Devil Rays past the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2.

Julio Lugo broke a 2-all tie with a two-run single in the sixth for Tampa Bay, which leads Toronto by 1 games for fourth place in the AL East.

The Devil Rays have finished last in all six years of the team’s existence.

Huff’s homer in the first put the Devil Rays up 1-0 and extended his streak of at-bats with a hit to eight – tying Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki and San Francisco’s Deivi Cruz for the majors’ longest run this season. The streak ended when Toronto left fielder Reed Johnson made a diving catch of Huff’s liner in the fourth.

Hendrickson (10-15) gave up two runs and five hits. Danys Baez pitched the ninth for his 29th save in 31 opportunities.

Toronto starter Josh Towers (9-7) allowed four runs and seven hits over 5 2-3 innings. It was his second start since missing two outings because of right shoulder soreness.

Orlando Hudson had an RBI infield single during a two-run third that gave Toronto a 2-1 lead.

Tampa Bay tied it on Carl Crawford’s homer in the fifth.

Both benches were warned by plate umpire Joe West after Hendrickson’s first pitch to Guillermo Quiroz leading off the third was well inside at knee level. No action was taken when Quiroz was hit in the foot by a breaking ball from Hendrickson on a 1-2 pitch.

Hendrickson also hit Russ Adams with a pitch with a runner on first and no outs in the fifth. Again, no action was taken, and Blue Jays manager John Gibbons left the dugout and briefly discussed the matter with West.

Tampa Bay pitchers have hit 89 batters this season. They started the day leading the majors in that category.

Tampa Bay’s Rocco Baldelli was hit by Towers’ pitch in the second.

Notes: Tampa Bay officials are monitoring the progress of Hurricane Jeanne. “Let’s hope Hurricane Jeanne doesn’t influence our weather,” Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said. The Devil Rays will play a doubleheader Thursday with Detroit to make up two games postponed because of Hurricane Frances earlier this month. … Toronto CF Vernon Wells went 0-for-4, ending his 13-game hitting streak. … The Devil Rays signed a two-year agreement with Class A Visalia of the California League.

AP-ES-09-24-04 2141EDT