Cubs will toast this comeback

Magic number at 2 after Brewers buckle

The Phillies were able to stay on top in the NL East thanks to Pat Burrell's tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning in Atlanta. (Tami Chappell/Reuters)

Geovany Soto and the Cubs can almost taste the champagne after one of their sweetest and most improbable victories of the season.

Soto hit a tying three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Derrek Lee singled in the winning run in the 12th, and Chicago beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, yesterday to move closer to the NL Central title.

The Cubs' magic number for winning their second straight division championship was reduced to two as they sent the Brewers to a crushing defeat.

Chicago was trailing, 6-2, with two out and nobody on in the ninth, with just three hits to that point, before scoring four runs off closer Salomon Torres.

"The beauty of baseball is you never know what is going to happen until that final out," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

Milwaukee, which began the day just a half-game back of the NL wild-card-leading Mets, was on the verge of winning two of three at Wrigley Field and restoring some momentum under interim manager Dale Sveum.

Instead, the Brewers have dropped 13 of 17 during a skid that cost manager Ned Yost his job Monday.

Pinch hitter Daryle Ward led off the 12th with a walk and was replaced at first by Jason Marquis, who moved up on Reed Johnson's sacrifice. Alfonso Soriano was intentionally walked before Ryan Theriot flied out, sending Marquis to third.

Lee then singled to center off Carlos Villanueva (4-7), leading to a wild celebration.

Kerry Wood (5-4) pitched two innings, escaping a second-and-third, no-out predicament in the top of the 12th for the win.

Phillies 4, Braves 3 - Pat Burrell hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the top of the sixth and Philadelphia finished an unprecedented sweep in Atlanta.

The Phillies, who stayed a half-game ahead of the Mets in the NL East, are the first team to sweep a season series longer than four games in Atlanta. They swept three three-game sets at Turner Field by a combined score of 49-24.

Cole Hamels (14-9) gave up six hits and two runs in six innings to improve to 3-0 in four starts against the Braves this season. Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth for his 38th save in as many chances.

Mets 7, Nationals 2 - Johan Santana took a shutout into the seventh in Washington, and New York catcher Brian Schneider enjoyed his first multihomer game in 5 1/2 years.

Santana (14-7) improved to 7-0 with a 2.26 ERA over his last 14 starts. He gave up one run and eight hits over seven innings as the Mets stretched their wild-card lead to 1 1/2 games over the Brewers.

Schneider hit solo drives in the second and fourth. Ryan Church, like Schneider a former National, hit two run-scoring singles.

Dodgers 4, Pirates 3 - James Loney's line-drive single scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th after Pittsburgh's Craig Hansen walked the bases full, and Los Angeles inched closer to winning the NL West.

The Dodgers drew 11 walks but left 12 men on base, and withstood two Pirate comebacks for their 15th victory in 18 games. The Dodgers' magic number for winning the division is seven, in any combination of Los Angeles wins and losses by Arizona, which hosted San Francisco last night trailing the Dodgers by four games.

Marlins 8, Astros 1 - At Miami, John Baker drove in four runs to lead Florida to its eighth win in a row. Florida is now tied with Houston five games back in the NL wild-card race.

Yankees 9, White Sox 2 - Bobby Abreu homered twice and drove in six runs, Mike Mussina improved to 18-9 in his quest for his first 20-win season, and host New York throttled sputtering Chicago.

The White Sox have lost seven of 11 to fall 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota in the AL Central. Abreu homered twice off White Sox starter Javier Vazquez (12-14), who was pitching on three days' rest.

In other games: Kendry Morales, Mike Napoli, and Brandon Wood hit solo home runs during a span of four pitches from Oakland's Keith Foulke in the seventh, and Francisco Rodriguez escaped a rocky ninth to pick up his 59th save for visiting Los Angeles in a 6-4 victory . . . Gregg Zaun doubled home the tying and go-ahead runs in the sixth to pick up Jesse Litsch (12-8), and host Toronto beat Baltimore, 3-2, to hand the Orioles their 19th loss in 22 games . . . Zack Greinke (12-10) combined with two pitchers on a three-hitter, Mike Aviles hit a three-run homer, and host Kansas City completed its first four-game sweep of Seattle in 19 years with a 12-0 win . . . Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer and Kyle Lohse (14-6) matched his career high for wins as St. Louis defeated host Cincinnati, 5-4, and snapped its season-high seven-game losing streak.