Sledge's grounder off John Grabow (0-4) to Randall Simon appeared as if it would end the inning. But Sledge hustled down the line to beat Simon to the bag for a single. Wilkerson also kept running on the play from second and scored almost before Simon could react and get the ball home. Pinch-hitter Ron Calloway added a two-run single.
Marlins 6, Mets 5
In New York, pinch-hitter Lenny Harris came through with a go-ahead single in the ninth inning, spoiling Scott Erickson's bid for his first major league win in nearly two years.
Miguel Cabrera tied it with an RBI single off closer Braden Looper (2-2), who gave up four straight hits in the ninth.
Shane Spencer hit a three-run homer for the Mets, who built a 5-2 lead for Erickson in his first big league appearance since Aug. 31, 2002, with Baltimore.
But Cabrera hit a two-run single off Orber Moreno in the seventh, and the Marlins jumped on their ex-teammate two innings later.
Josias Manzanillo (2-2) worked a scoreless inning for the win.
Cardinals 5, Cubs 4
In Chicago, Scott Rolen hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning off Carlos Zambrano to lead St. Louis to its 12th win in 14 games.
The Cardinals homered three times to increase their NL Central lead over the Cubs to nine games.
Zambrano (9-5) was ejected in the eighth inning after hitting Jim Edmonds with a pitch right after Rolen's two-run shot -- the second time Zambrano hit Edmonds. Because the benches had been warned, Cubs manager Dusty Baker was also ejected.
Reds 8, Brewers 4
In Cincinnati, Wily Mo Pena hit his sixth homer in his last eight games, and also had a run-scoring single and a double.
Right-hander Aaron Harang (6-2) won his second straight start against the Brewers, fighting through control lapses while protecting an early lead..
Dodgers 7, Astros 6
In Houston, Milton Bradley and Shawn Green hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning to lift Los Angeles to its seventh straight win.
Adrian Beltre hit his career-high 24th homer for the Dodgers, who have won 13 of their last 14 games.
Dan Miceli (3-5) gave up the back-to-back homers to Bradley and Green and took the loss.
Giants 6, Diamondbacks 1
In Phoenix, Brett Tomko pitched into the eighth inning, and the San Francisco Giants made up for the absence of Barry Bonds with baserunning and timely hitting.
The slugger sat out the game after having a root canal Monday morning, but the Giants won for the sixth time in eight games to stay 2 1/2 games behind NL West leader Los Angeles.
The Cubs activated shortstop Alex Gonzalez from the disabled list Monday and designated Rey Ordonez for assignment.
Gonzalez was put on the DL on May 6 with a broken right wrist after fouling a ball off his hand the day before. In 25 games, he was batting .244 with three homers and seven RBIs.
Ordonez appeared in 23 games, hitting .164 with a homer and five RBIs. The three-time Gold Glove winner was called up from Triple-A Iowa on May 28.
The Cubs have 10 days to trade Ordonez, send him outright to the minors or place him on waivers.
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