The Associated Press

MIAMI - Playing for the first time in five days following Hurricane Frances, the Florida Marlins picked up right where they left off.

A.J. Burnett allowed two hits in 6 1/3 innings, Miguel Cabrera hit a tape-measure homer and the Marlins extended their longest winning streak since 1997 to eight games by beating the New York Mets 7-3 Tuesday night.

New York allowed two unearned runs, totaled three hits and lost its 10th game in a row.

The winning streak by the defending World Series champions has put them back in the playoff race. They began the night trailing NL wild-card leader Chicago by three games.

Frances washed out a big weekend series against the Cubs and left the Marlins with 30 games to play in the final 27 days of the regular season. But the layoff didn't cool them off.

Florida built a 5-0 lead against Tom Glavine (9-12), who lasted just five innings. He has lost five consecutive decisions against the Marlins, and he's 2-5 since the All-Star break.

Burnett (6-6), pitching on eight days' rest, walked five and hit one but still beat the Mets for the first time in his career after five losses. Throwing at up to 99 mph, he allowed three runs, including one in the sixth when he walked three batters and hit one.

Closer Armando Benitez needed just five pitches in a perfect ninth.

Cabrera made it 3-0 in the third with a two-run homer estimated at 471 feet that easily cleared the scoreboard. The homer, his 28th of the year, was the longest at Pro Player Stadium this season and the fourth-longest by the Marlins at their ballpark.

The Marlins' winning streak is their longest since May 11-20, 1997 - the year they won their first World Series title. They climbed nine games above .500 for the first time since May, and they're 14-3 this season against the Mets.

Pirates 2, Brewers 0

PITTSBURGH - Dave Williams pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings for his first victory in nearly three seasons, and the Pirates ended a five-game losing streak with only their sixth victory in 21 games

The Brewers lost their ninth in 10 road games, and are 1-5 in Pittsburgh this season.

Williams (1-1 pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the first, then allowed only one more hit - Craig Counsell's single in the fifth.

Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 37th save in 42 opportunities, wrapping up the Pirates' sixth shutout. Mesa had been scored upon in six of his previous 11 outings.

Expos 7, Cubs 6, 12 innings

CHICAGO - Brian Schneider hit a go-ahead single in the 12th inning and Montreal beat the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago is a half-game ahead of San Francisco and Houston in the NL wild-card race.

Juan Rivera beat out an infield single to start the 12th against Todd Wellemeyer (1-1), the Cubs' eighth pitcher, and advanced on pinch-hitter Henry Mateo's sacrifice.

Schneider hit a hard single to center on a 2-2 pitch to give the Expos the lead, and Jamey Carroll added a sacrifice fly.

Chad Cordero (5-3) got the victory with two innings of scoreless relief. Joe Horgan pitched the 12th and gave up Corey Patterson's second homer of the game with one out before finishing for his second save in three chances.

Rockies 8, Giants 7

DENVER - Jeromy Burnitz hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to overshadow Barry Bonds' 698th homer and lift Colorado over San Francisco.

Colorado took a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning on Mark Sweeney's grand slam, only to give it back on Ray Durham's two-run double off Tim Harikkala (6-3) in the eighth.

Burnitz followed with a two-run homer in the bottom half off Jason Christiansen (4-3), giving Colorado its fifth win in six games.

Shawn Chacon gave up Deivi Cruz's RBI single and loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but struck out Marquis Grissom for his 33rd save.

Michael Tucker also homered for San Francisco, which failed to make up ground on the Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card race.

Bonds' fly toward left in the third inning didn't appear to have enough on it to clear the wall, but it bounced off left fielder Matt Holliday's glove and landed in the stands for a two-run homer that put the Giants up 3-2.

Giants starter Jason Schmidt allowed six runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings.