Carlos Lee's bloop single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Milwaukee Brewers their seventh straight victory, 6-5 over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
"That's baseball," said Brady Clark, who matched a career high with four hits. "You play 162 games, so anything is bound to happen."
Clark led off the ninth with an infield single against reliever LaTroy Hawkins (1-2) and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter Jeff Cirillo.
"It's good when you can manufacture runs like that," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "We're doing the little things to win ballgames."
After Geoff Jenkins struck out, Lee sent a soft fly to shallow right that second baseman Jerry Hairston couldn't reach.
Derrick Turnbow (3-1) blew a save opportunity in the ninth but earned the win. Chicago lost its fifth straight game to fall a season-low three games under .500.
Aramis Ramirez hit a solo homer with two outs in the ninth off Turnbow to tie the score at 5. Michael Barrett had a two-run shot for the Cubs.
Chad Moeller homered in the eighth to give Milwaukee a 5-4 lead. Pinch-hitter Wes Helms also connected for the Brewers.
Greg Maddux allowed four runs in six innings. The Cubs tied the score at 4 in the eighth on pinch-hitter Ben Grieve's two-out single.
Mets 7, Phillies 5
At New York, David Wright shattered his bat against the ground after striking out with the bases loaded in the third inning, then hit a tiebreaking double in the fifth to lead the New York Mets past Philadelphia.
Mike Piazza had four hits, including a three-run homer to end a 1-for-21 slide.
Starting Mets pitcher Kris Benson, on the disabled list since the start of the season because of a strained chest muscle, allowed two runs and five hits in 4 2-3 innings, wasting a 2-1 lead when he hit Pat Burrell with a pitch with the bases loaded in the fifth.
Aaron Heilman (3-2) relieved for just the second time in his major league career, allowed one hit in 3 1-3 innings, striking out five.
Vicente Padilla (0-4) gave up four runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings for the Phillies.
Braves 9, Astros
At Atlanta, John Thomson pitched a three-hitter, Adam LaRoche had a career-high four RBIs and Atlanta cruised past slumping Houston.
LaRoche, who has seven RBIs over the past two games, hit a three-run homer over the center-field wall in the first inning.
Thomson (3-2) gave up two runs in the first, but retired 27 of the last 29 hitters he faced in a dominating performance. He also had an RBI single in the sixth, when the Braves blew open the game with their second four-run inning. It was his first complete game since August 2003.
Padres 8, Cardinals 3
In St. Louis, Brian Giles had four hits and five RBIs in San Diego's victory over St. Louis, which turned the first triple play in the major leagues this season.
Giles ended an 0-for-22 slump by hitting a three-run homer and going 4-for-5, including an eighth-inning single that drove in the go-ahead run.
Chris Hammond (3-0) escaped a bases-loaded situation in the seventh to help the Padres end an 11-game losing streak in St. Louis with their first victory at Busch Stadium since Aug. 28, 2001. St. Louis is 43-9 against San Diego the last six seasons, and has won 19 of the last 22 at home.
Albert Pujols extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a double in the sixth. Ray King (0-1) took the loss.
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