By The Associated Press

ATLANTA - Miguel Cabrera homered in the 11th inning and the Florida Marlins took the NL wild-card lead with a 6-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

The Marlins pulled a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost to Cincinnati.

Cabrera lined a pitch from Will Cunnane (2-2) into the seats in left leading off the 11th. Starting pitcher Brad Penny hit a three-run double earlier.

The Braves tied it with two runs in the ninth off closer Braden Looper. Javy Lopez cut it to 5-4 with his 42nd homer of the season - and 41st as a catcher. That matched the major league record for backstops set by Todd Hundley of the New York Mets in 1996.

Mark DeRosa's RBI single made it 5-5.

Atlanta closer John Smoltz came off the disabled list and pitched for the first time since Aug. 23. He retired his only batter in the ninth inning.

Rick Helling (1-0) was the winner.

Gary Sheffield homered and got his 2,000th career hit. The Braves set a franchise record by using nine pitchers.

Pirates 8, Cubs 2

PITTSBURGH - Rookie Ryan Vogelsong allowed only an unearned run over seven dominant innings, and Pittsburgh stalled Chicago's run at the playoffs.

The Cubs' second loss in a row to the non-contending Pirates kept them from closing within a half-game of the NL Central lead. The Astros stayed 11/2 games up despite losing to St. Louis. Houston has eight games to play, and the Cubs seven.

Matt Clement (13-12), trying for a career-high 14th victory, was in command early until suddenly losing his control in the Pirates' five-run fourth.

Vogelsong (2-1) won his second straight following six consecutive losses to begin his career. The right-hander gave up five hits, striking out eight and walking one. Sammy Sosa struck out four straight times, three against Vogelsong.

Cardinals 3, Astros 2, 13 innings

ST. LOUIS - Albert Pujols homered in the 13th inning and St. Louis beat Houston, keeping its faint playoff hopes alive.

The Astros lead the NL Central by 11/2 games over Chicago and five over the Cardinals. St. Louis has six games to go, including the series finale against Houston on Sunday.

Fernando Vina had three hits and a walk for the Cardinals, who snapped a five-game losing streak against the Astros.

Jason Simontacchi (9-5) pitched two hitless innings for the win.

Pujols ended it with his 43rd homer, connecting against Dan Miceli (1-3) with one out in the 13th. It was the second game-winning shot of Pujols' career - the other came July 12 against the Padres.

Pujols has 114 career homers, tied with Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner (1946-48) for the most in a player's first three seasons.

Expos 4, Mets 3, 10 innings

NEW YORK - Todd Zeile's home run in the 10th inning lifted Montreal to a victory over the Mets, New York's seventh straight loss.

Zeile homered off Mike Stanton (2-7), keeping Montreal mathematically alive in the NL wild-card race. The stumbling Mets have lost 15 of 16. They also dropped seven straight earlier this month.

Chad Cordero (1-0), drafted in the first round out of Cal-State Fullerton in June, pitched a scoreless ninth for his first major league win. Rocky Biddle worked a hitless 10th for his 32nd save.

Wil Cordero hit his 15th homer and Endy Chavez had a two-run double for the Expos.

Padres 11, Rockies 3

DENVER - Gary Bennett drove in a career-high five runs, and Phil Nevin homered and had three RBIs to lead San Diego over Colorado.

The Padres won for the second time in nine games.

Brian Lawrence (9-15) pitched 7 1-3 innings and had two hits in San Diego's six-run seventh inning. He earned his fourth win in his last six starts.

Jay Payton and Preston Wilson homered for Colorado, which has lost five of seven. Cory Vance (1-2) allowed four runs in five innings in his third major league start. He pitched in place of right-hander Jason Jennings, who was hospitalized Friday with flulike symptoms and was unable to make his scheduled start.

Diamondbacks 10, Brewers 4

MILWAUKEE - Luis Gonzalez drove in three runs and Elmer Dessens won for the first time in almost a month as Arizona beat Milwaukee.

Dessens (8-8), who lost and had four no-decisions since his last victory Aug. 21, gave up two runs and seven hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked two as the Diamondbacks won for the sixth time in seven games.

Jose Valverde got four outs for his 10th save in 11 chances.

Wayne Franklin (10-13) allowed eight runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. Richie Sexson hit his 41st homer.

Giants 6, Dodgers 0

LOS ANGELES - Kirk Rueter combined with two relievers on a seven-hitter, and Marquis Grissom went 4-for-5 with an RBI for San Francisco.

The Giants, winners of six of their last seven, already have clinched the NL West title. The Dodgers' loss dropped them 31/2 games behind Florida in the wild-card race.

Barry Bonds went hitless in two official at-bats, leaving him three homers behind Willie Mays' 660 for third on the career list. Bonds walked twice and drove in the Giants' first run with a towering sacrifice fly during a four-run sixth inning.

Rueter (9-5) shut out the Dodgers on five hits in six innings, and had an RBI single. Hideo Nomo (16-12) gave up four runs on eight hits in 5 1-3 innings.