Chipper Jones homers on his 40th birthday (off Aaron Harang) as the Braves beat the Dodgers, 4 – 3. He becomes the fifth player in major league history to do this, following Bob Thurman, Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs and Tony Phillips.

For the first time in major league history, four different pitchers combine to walk four consecutive batters when the Marlins hurlers load the bases and then force in a run in a 2-1 loss against the Mets. Josh Johnson walks Lucas Duda, then Randy Choate issues a free pass to Justin Turner, followed by Steve Cishek’s base-on-balls to Scott Hairston, and finally, Mike Dunn forces home Josh Thole with the tying run with the last of the only walks given up by the Miami staff in the Citi Field contest.

The Dodgers’ Andre Ethier extends his hitting streak to 21 games with an RBI single in a five-run 1st inning as Los Angeles beats the Cubs, 7 – 3.

The Braves complete their first sweep of the Giants in San Francisco since 1998 with a 9 – 6 win in 10 innings. Nate McLouth hits a two-run single off Brian Wilson to place the Braves ahead. Atlanta also beat last postseason’s heroes, Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner, during the three-game series.

Roy Halladay strikes out a career-high 14 batters in a 3 – 1 win over the Padres. The Phillies ace shows some fatigue in the 9th and newly-minted closer Antonio Bastardo picks up the save, with regular closer Brad Lidge and his understudy Jose Contreras both on the disabled list.

Wade LeBlanc pitches six scoreless innings and records his first win of the year as the Padres shut out the Reds, 5 – 0, for their eighth consecutive victory. Adrian Gonzalez, Will Venable and Yorvit Torrealba all hit home runs for the red-hot Padres.

After undergoing shoulder surgery in November 2009, Ted Lilly pitches six scoreless innings in his first start of the year for the Cubs, leading his team to a 5 – 1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Carlos Zambrano, who, in a controversial decision, was moved to the bullpen to make room for Lilly in the starting rotation, pitches an inning and a third in his first relief appearance in almost eight years. He gives up the Brewers’ sole run, but drives in one of the Cubs’ tallies with a sacrifice fly.

Jorge Cantu of the Florida Marlins goes 0 for 4 in the second game of today’s doubleheader, ending his hitting streak at 21 games, dating back to last September. He still drives in the Marlins’ lone run in an 8 – 1 loss to the Rockies, giving him 20 RBI for the season. Cantu went 1 for 4 as Florida won the first game, 4 – 1. His hitting streak included a 10-game stretch to start the year during which he collected at least a hit and a RBI in each game.

At Fenway Park, Mariano Rivera is charged with a rare blown save in the first matchup between the Yankees and Red Sox this season. With two outs in the 9th inning, Rivera gives up a two-run home run to Jason Bay to tie the score, 4 – 4. Kevin Youkilis homers over the Green Monster in the 11th for a 5 – 4 Boston win.