What's more, it will be the second big series in a row for the Braves, who beat the Indians twice last week to improve to 6-0 for the year. The Indians were also 4-0 entering the week but slipped to 4-2 and into a tie for third place with the Giants.

The Tigers, 5-1 after two-timing the Cardinals 3-2 and 7-1 last week, were to face the Braves on April 8, 5:30 p.m., and will meet on April 12, 11:15 a.m., at John Baggerly Field at Blossom Hill Park.

The Braves held onto first place in the division with the two wins over the Indians. Steven Zavodnick and Nick Hirschman tossed the Braves to a 6-0 win over the Indians on Monday, then teamed up to toss the club to a 5-1 win over the Tribe on Saturday.

Zavodnick tossed three no-hit innings and Hirschman allowed just three hits over the final three frames in the 6-0 win to open the week. The hurlers finished with five strikeouts apiece.

John Sands had two hits in the win, including a single in a four-run second inning rally and a run-scoring triple in a two-run fourth. Hirschman also singled in the second.

Zavodnick belted a two-run homer and he and Hirschman flipped three innings apiece in the 5-1 win over the Indians. Zavodnick struck out six in three innings and Hirschman fanned seven over the final three frames as the two hurlers combined on a two-hitter.

The Indians took the early lead in the game when Marc Tonkel singled in the first and scored on a single by Nate Burke.

But Kyle Johnson singled for the Braves in the third and Zavodnick ripped the two-run homer.

Singles by Zavodnick, Hirschman and Justin Lewis keyed a three-run Braves rally in the fifth. Lewis also doubled in the win, and Hirschman ripped a triple.

Meanwhile, the Tigers swept the Cardinals to remain a game out in the standings.

Geo Shannon, Matt Calhoun and Jeffrey Clark combined to toss the Tigers to a 3-2 win over the Cards on Wednesday night. Shannon flipped three no-hit, no-run innings and Calhoun blanked the Cards in the fourth and fifth. Clark came on in the sixth to get the save.

A double by Clark, a single by Shannon and a two-run double by Bill Cardia gave the Tigers a 2-0 edge in the third. They added another run in the fifth when Mike Mitchell walked and scored on Clark's second double of the night.

The Cards made a game of it when doubles by Brett Litle and Patrick Scarlata sparked a two-run rally.

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the second on Saturday when Hendee Wall singled and scored on a single by Jason O'Brien, but the Tigers came charging back with five in the fifth and two in the sixth.

Mitchell, Shannon and Calhoun had two hits each in the Tigers' win.

The Red Sox also swept a pair of games last week, beating the Reds 8-3 and 12-3.

Colin Chapman homered and singled to knock in four runs and also tossed three innings in the 8-3 win for the Sox. Steven Hight flipped two scoreless innings in the win.

Doubles by Geoffrey Cleveland and Hight and a run-scoring single by Tim Garvey staked the Red Sox to a 2-0 lead in the first, but the Reds tied it on a two-run double by Jason Shepardson.

Chapman's three-run homer and singles by Hight and Garvey in the second gave the Sox a 6-2 lead, and singles by Vladimir Pomorenko and Chapman made it 7-3.

The Reds got a run back when Todd Ericson singled and scored on a single by Shepardson, but it was too little too late.

Hight struck out nine in four strong innings to lead the Red Sox to a 12-3 win over the Reds on Saturday.

A double by Brian Comstock keyed a two-run rally in the first for the Reds, but a single by Chapman and a two-run double by Hight tied it in the third.

The Reds went up 3-2 in the fourth on a run-scoring single by Shepardson, but the Sox broke the game open with a 10-run rally in the bottom of the fourth.

In other action, Jake Scullion homered and tripled and Jared Bernstein was 4 for 4 to lead the Cubs to a 13-12 win over the A's on Friday night.

Brian Rose, Drew Martig, Corey Lanagan and Kyle Weiss each had two hits for the A's.

The Yankees and Giants traded wins last week. The Yanks topped the Giants 5-4 on Tuesday, but the Giants came back with a 6-2 win on Saturday.

Kiko Alonso went the distance to toss a three-hitter, striking out 13 along the way, to lead the Giants to the Saturday win.

The Giants scored three in the third to take the lead. Harry Jordan doubled, Matt Horton singled, Alonso singled in a run and Matt Walleen singled in two runs.

The Yanks scored two in the bottom of the third, but the Giants came back with three in the fourth to wrap up the win.

Alonso had two hits in the game.

Gavin Honda and Alex Silva ripped two hits apiece to lead the Yankees to the 5-4 win over the Giants.

Andrew Salazar tossed two shutout innings and Kevin Murphy struck out two in a scoreless sixth.

Singles by Salazar and Silva in the first gave the Yankees the lead, but the Giants moved in front with two in the second and two more in the third. Three consecutive hits by Horton, Alonso and Walleen pushed the two runs across in the third.

But the Yankees scored a run in the fourth, then picked up three in the fifth to win it. Honda led off the inning with a single, and Murphy capped the rally with a two-run single.

Sean Harrington tossed a complete game for the Giants.