The Milwaukee Brewers overcame the loss of injured starter Ben Sheets and, boosted by Prince Fielder's three-run double, beat the Chicago Cubs 6-2 Wednesday to end a five-game losing streak.

Sheets left after two innings because of a tender elbow. The Brewers gave interim manager Dale Sveum his first victory and stayed a half-game behind New York in the National League wild-card race.

The Cubs had won five in a row. Their magic number for clinching the NL Central remained at four.

Sheets was replaced by Mark DiFelice (1-0), who pitched two innings for his first major league win.

Fielder lined a bases-loaded double into the right-field corner in the first off Jason Marquis (10-9). Mike Cameron's leadoff single and walks to Ray Durham and Ryan Braun had filled the bases for the Brewers.

Mets 9, Nationals 7

At Washington, Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado also went deep, and New York built a big lead then barely held on to beat Washington.

Brandon Knight (1-0), a 32-year-old journeyman back from the Olympics, earned his first major league victory with five solid innings.

The Mets had lost four of their previous five games to fall out of first place in the National League East. They remained a half-game behind the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies, who beat Atlanta.

New York began the day with a half-game lead over Milwaukee for the wild card.

Reyes led off the game by homering off Shairon Martis (0-3), and Delgado also hit a solo shot in the first. Beltran hit a two-run drive in the third, and a solo homer in the eighth.

Phillies 6, Braves 1

At Atlanta, Ryan Howard drove in the first run in Philadelphia's four-run first inning, and rookie J.A. Happ pitched six scoreless innings to help the Phillies down Atlanta to earn their season-high sixth straight win.

Howard, bidding to win his second NL MVP award in three years, has 29 RBIs in his last 21 games and 137 this season to lead the majors.

Happ (1-0) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out two in his fourth career start and first since getting no decision July 9 in Philadelphia's 4-2 win over St. Louis.

Diamondbacks 7, Giants 6

At Phoenix, Brandon Webb pitched seven solid innings and added a key two-run double, helping Arizona edge San Francisico and gain ground in the NL West.

The Diamondbacks have won three straight for the first time since August 19-21 against the Pirates and trimmed the Dodgers' division lead to 3 1/2 games. Los Angeles lost 15-8 at Pittsburgh.

Justin Upton and David Eckstein went deep for Arizona, which has 11 games left.

San Francisco scored three runs in the ninth before Tony Pena earned his third save.

Webb (21-7) allowed three runs - two earned - and eight hits. His double in Arizona's five-run second tied it at 3.

Pirates 15, Dodgers 8

At Pittsburgh, Adam LaRoche hit a grand slam among his two homers and Pittsburgh stalled Los Angeles' late-season surge with an eight-run seventh inning rally.

Ryan Doumit, who drove in four runs, hit a go-ahead, two-run homer as nine consecutive batters reached base in the seventh after reliever Scott Proctor retired the first two batters, only to be lifted. Los Angeles had bounced back to tie it in the top of the inning after trailing 7-4.

Doumit's 14th homer came off rookie left-hander Scott Elbert (0-1), who didn't retire any of the four batters he faced

Marlins 14, Astros 2

At Miami, Hanley Ramirez homered twice before departing with an injured shoulder, Jorge Cantu hit a grand slam and Florida beat slumping Houston.

Hunter Pence homered twice for the Astros, who have lost four straight and fell four games back of NL wild card-leading New York.

Florida has won seven straight to tie its longest winning streak of the season.

Ricky Nolasco (15-7) allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings to win his fourth straight decision.

Reds 3, Cardinals 0

At Cincinnati, Aaron Harang pitched a six-hitter and Cincinnati hit back-to-back homers to send St. Louis to its seventh straight loss.

Andy Phillips and Jay Bruce opened the fourth inning with consecutive home runs and Paul Janish added the first of his career later in the inning to help Harang (5-16) to his first win since Aug. 22.

The Reds have won four straight and seven of their last nine games.

St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer (12-8) didn't allow a hit until Phillips led off the fourth inning with a home run to center, his second homer of the season. Bruce followed with another homer to center, his 19th this year. Janish connected two outs later.

Rockies 1, Padres 0

At Denver, Joe Koshansky homered and five Colorado pitchers combined for a five-hitter in a win over San Diego.

Starter Livan Hernandez (2-3), on short notice, and relievers Glendon Rusch, Ryan Speier, Manny Corpas and Brian Fuentes shut down the Padres' offense.

Koshansky, Chris Iannetta and Ian Stewart had two hits each for the Rockies, who won the last two games of the three-game series.

Koshansky accounted for the only run with a two-out drive over the center-field wall off of San Diego starter Josh Greer (2-1) in the fourth inning.

Sapa-AP

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