The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE - Randall Simon homered twice and drove in five runs and Sammy Sosa added a solo shot to help Kerry Wood win for the first time in a month as the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-2 Sunday.

The win, coupled with Houston's loss to the Padres, put Chicago a half game ahead of the Astros in the NL Central.

Wood (12-11) gave up eight hits and two runs in seven innings and had six strikeouts to raise his major league leading total to 234.

Phillies 5, Mets 4

PHILADELPHIA - Marlon Byrd and Philadelphia overcame another shaky outing from the bullpen to maintain their NL wild-card lead.

Byrd's bases-loaded single in the 11th inning gave the Phillies their sixth straight victory. The Phillies have won eight of 10 following a six-game losing skid and hold a one-game lead over Florida in the wild-card race.

Marlins 3, Expos 1

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Dontrelle Willis pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning to lead Florida.

Willis (12-6) struck out six and retired 15 batters in a row at one point, as the Marlins took two of three games in Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

Braves 2, Pirates 1

ATLANTA - Javy Lopez hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh, and Mike Hampton pitched four-hit ball over eight innings.

Hampton (13-7) snapped a two-game losing streak, allowing just one hit over his final five innings.

Dodgers 6, Rockies 2

DENVER - Adrian Beltre drove in three runs and had four hits to back Wilson Alvarez in Los Angeles' win.

Diamondbacks 9, Giants 6

SAN FRANCISCO - Pinch-hitter Danny Bautista hit a tiebreaking two-run single to highlight a five-run eighth inning and to lead Arizona to the win.

Edgar Gonzalez (2-1) got the win.

Padres 7, Astros 1

SAN DIEGO - Brian Giles hit his first home run for San Diego in the win, dropping the Astros out of first place in the NL Central.

The Astros had won three in a row, but the loss put them a half-game behind Chicago.