Cubs rally late, beat Cardinals

CHICAGO — It was all going so well for St. Louis. Chris Carpenter had a solid 2012 debut and Pete Kozma swiped home for the go-ahead run, putting the Cardinals in position to extend their timely winning streak.

Then it all fell apart in a hurry.

Darwin Barney connected for a tying two-run homer off Fernando Salas with two outs in the ninth inning and David DeJesus hit a game-ending single in the 11th to lift the Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 victory on Friday.

DeJesus came to the plate with two out and lined an 0-2 pitch from Joe Kelly (5-6) into right field to score pinch runner Brett Jackson.

Alberto Cabrera (1-1) struck out two in a perfect 11th to earn his first career victory.

St. Louis had won four in a row and entered Friday with a 2?-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for the second NL wild card.

"We got to a two-run lead with two strikes in the ninth, but wouldn't finish it off," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

Carpenter threw five effective innings and was in line for the win until Barney drove a 1-2 pitch from Salas into the left-field bleachers. Salas allowed a single to DeJesus with two outs and nobody on after getting two strikes on him, too.

"I made the pitches I wanted to make," Salas said. "It was a fastball in to DeJesus and a soft hit and then Barney was bad luck. He made good contact."

The Cardinals' regular closer, Jason Motte, was unavailable after pitching three days in a row and four out of the last five.

"He's been very, very good for us lately and he's been in that situation before so it's a good fit," Matheny said of Salas. "You can look at a pitch now and say it should have been somewhere else, but it's easy to do now."

Carpenter threw 77 pitches, with a light rain falling throughout the game. The 37-year-old allowed two runs and five hits, struck out two and walked one.

"My stuff wasn't as sharp as I'd like and it wasn't as sharp as it's been in the simulated games," Carpenter said. "But I tried to get as many outs as I could and give us a chance. . . . Hopefully my stuff will get better and sharper as I get out there more often."

Carpenter went 4-0 in the 2011 postseason, but hadn't pitched since winning Game 7 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers. He had surgery July 19 to relieve a nerve ailment that caused numbness up and down the right side of his body.

Phillies 6, Braves 2

In Philadelphia, Kevin Frandsen hit one of the Phillies' four solo homers to back Kyle Kendrick, and the hosts inched closer in the NL playoff race with a victory over Atlanta.

Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and Chase Utley also went deep for the resurgent Phillies.

Brewers 4, Nationals 2

In Washington, Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez had consecutive RBI hits in the ninth off Nationals closer Tyler Clippard and Milwaukee extended its season-high winning streak to six games with a win over the hosts.

Held to one run over eight innings against Washington starter Edwin Jackson, the Brewers scored three against Clippard (2-6).

In the ninth, Norichika Aoki's bunt single initiated the Brewers' rally and later scored. He finished 1-for-4.

Dodgers 3, Reds 1 (10)

In Cincinnati, Matt Kemp's two-out single with the bases loaded in the 10th sent Los Angeles to a victory that denied the Reds' first chance to clinch the NL Central.

Mets 7, Marlins 3

In New York, the Mets managed to avoid falling into last place in the NL East, beating cellar-dwelling Miami behind Scott Hairston' two-hit, three-RBI performance.

New York had lost nine straight at home since beating Houston on Aug. 26.

Astros 7, Pirates 1

In Houston, Jed Lowrie hit a three-run homer and Justin Maxwell and Brett Wallace added solo shots to help the Astros coast to a win over Pittsburgh, further dampening the Pirates already dim postseason hopes.

Diamondbacks 15, Rockies 5

In Denver, rookie Wade Miley pitched six innings for his 16th win, Chris Johnson homered among his three hits and drove in three runs, and Arizona beat slumping Colorado.

Miguel Montero had three hits and three RBIs, and Adam Eaton added a home run for the Diamondbacks, who set season-highs with 15 runs and 19 hits.

Miley (16-10) is the second rookie NL pitcher since 1986 to win 16 games. Jason Jennings also won 16 for Colorado in 2002 when he was named the NL Rookie of the Year.

Giants 5, Padres 1

In San Francisco, Buster Posey hit a tiebreaking RBI single on the night he received a prestigious award and the Giants reduced their magic number for clinching the NL West to two with a victory over the Padres.

Posey was honored in a pregame ceremony with the "Willie Mac" award as the most inspirational player on the team. He then delivered another big hit when he drove in Marco Scutaro with a single off Casey Kelly (2-2) that gave San Francisco a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.

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