CHICAGO — The Friendly Confines have never seemed friendlier, and that's a big reason why the Cubs are the best team in baseball entering June for the first time in 100 years.

Alfonso Soriano homered, Jim Edmonds drove in two runs, and the Chicago Cubs beat the reeling Colorado Rockies, 5-3, yesterday to complete a perfect seven-game homestand.

The Cubs entered June with the best record in baseball (36-21) for the first time since 1908, when they last won a World Series. They started the new month by finishing a four-game sweep of the defending National League champions and sending them to their seventh straight loss.

Chicago is 26-8 at Wrigley Field after wrapping up its first perfect homestand of at least seven games since April 14-26, 1970.

"At the end of the day, you should play better at home," second baseman Mark DeRosa said. "I just think the splits and the numbers get skewed. We've only been on the road two or three times. You run into one bad road trip, it looks worse than it is."

The Cubs play 23 of their next 32 games on the road, where they're 10-13 heading into a seven-game trip to San Diego and Los Angeles.

"We'll get a pretty good gauge of where we're at," Piniella said.

Rookie Sean Gallagher (3-1) gave up three runs and six hits while striking out a career-high eight in 5 2/3 innings for the Cubs. Kerry Wood worked the ninth for his 14th save in 18 chances.

Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez (1-6) remained winless since April 8, allowing four runs, three earned, and seven hits in five innings.

Phillies 7, Marlins 5: Chase Utley hit his major league-leading 20th homer, Pat Burrell had a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning, and host Philadelphia rallied against Florida. Utley went deep for the fourth straight game and Geoff Jenkins connected for the second pinch-hit homer of his career to help Philadelphia win the weekend series and move back into first in the NL East.

Reds 6, Braves 2: Ken Griffey Jr. remained one homer shy of 600, but Jay Bruce had a solo shot and a run-scoring single to lead host Cincinnati over Atlanta. Rookie right-hander Johnny Cueto (4-5) allowed only a bunt single through the first six innings against the Braves and starter Tim Hudson (7-4), who left after straining his left hamstring in the seventh. He will be evaluated today.

Diamondbacks 5, Nationals 0: Dan Haren (6-4) gave up four hits, walked three and struck out five in seven innings and Orlando Hudson hit a three-run, first-inning homer for host Arizona against Washington. The Diamondbacks have posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since May 26-27, 2006, at Cincinnati. Brandon Webb beat the Nationals, 4-0, on Saturday.

Brewers 10, Astros 1: Ryan Braun and Russell Branyan hit two-run homers and host Milwaukee finished off a sweep of Houston. Gabe Kapler and Craig Counsell each went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Brewers, who have won six of seven and earned their first sweep since they took three from San Francisco on April 4-6.

Cardinals 7, Pirates 4: Braden Looper (7-4) allowed eight hits and three runs in 5 2/3 innings and helped himself at the plate as host St. Louis beat Pittsburgh. Looper had two singles, scored twice, and drove in a run to raise his batting average to .429 — tops among pitchers in the majors.

Giants 4, Padres 3, 10 innings: Pinch-hitter Fred Lewis hit a two-run, game-tying triple off San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman in the 10th inning and scored the winning run on Jose Castillo's infield single for host San Francisco. San Diego had taken a 3-1 lead when Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the top half of the inning against Alex Hinshaw (1-0).

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Red Sox 9, Orioles 4: Manny Ramirez hit his 501st home run, Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew also connected as Boston beat host Baltimore. Ramirez drove a 1-0 pitch from Brian Burres (4-5) into the right-field seats to put Boston up 6-3 in the fourth inning. Serving as the designated hitter for injured David Ortiz (sprained wrist), Ramirez went 3-for-5, drove in three runs and scored twice. Ortiz is expected to have an MRI exam today in Boston.

Rays 4, White Sox 3, 10 innings: Gabe Gross hit a leadoff homer in the 10th inning, giving AL East-leading Tampa Bay a comeback victory over visiting Chicago. Gross lined a two-run triple off Mark Buehrle to make it 3-all in the fifth. Gross then delivered his third homer of the season on an 0-2 pitch from lefty Matt Thornton (1-1) in the 10th.

Twins 5, Yankees 1: Michael Cuddyer drove in three runs and Minnesota's bullpen came through against visiting New York with 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief after starter Nick Blackburn was hit in the nose by Bobby Abreu's line drive. Brian Bass (2-1), Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan shut down the Yankees the rest of the way. Blackburn's X-rays were negative and he is day-to-day with a bruised nose.

Royals 6, Indians 1: Brian Bannister pitched into the eighth inning, and Mark Grudzielanek and Jose Guillen homered to help host Kansas City beat Cleveland. Bannister (5-6) was working on a shutout when Grady Sizemore homered with one out in the eighth. Grudzielanek hit a two-run drive off Paul Byrd (2-5) to give the punchless Royals a 6-0 lead in the fifth.

Angels 4, Blue Jays 3: Toronto closer B.J. Ryan (1-1) hit Howie Kendrick with a pitch to force home the tying run in the ninth inning, and Maicer Izturis singled in the game-winner one pitch later as host Los Angeles beat Toronto. Ryan's first blown save in 13 attempts this season spoiled a masterful performance by A.J. Burnett, who allowed two runs and three hits over eight innings but was pulled by manager John Gibbons after 102 pitches.

Athletics 13, Rangers 8: Jack Cust and Mark Ellis homered in a nine-run seventh inning as Oakland rallied past host Texas to end a four-game losing streak. Cust's two-run shot, Jack Hannahan's two-run double, Bobby Crosby's two-run single and Ellis' solo shot highlighted the A's biggest inning of the season. Josh Hamilton hit his AL-best 15th homer and drove in two runs, giving him a major league-high 63 RBIs for Texas.

Tigers 7, Mariners 5: Placido Polanco hit a tiebreaking single and Detroit scored four times in the ninth inning off struggling J.J. Putz (2-3) to beat host Seattle. Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera each drove in two runs as the Tigers won for the fifth time in six meetings with the Mariners. Putz's poor outing ended a scoreless streak of 18 2/3 innings by Seattle's bullpen.

Mets 6, Dodgers 1: Johan Santana (7-3) pitched into the eighth inning to earn his 100th win, Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church each hit a two-run homer and New York beat visiting Los Angeles. Back in the lineup after his second concussion this year, Church capped a five-run third with his shot to right. He finished with a double and three hits for the Mets (28-27), who took three of four from the Dodgers.