Miami ? The Chicago Cubs’ 24-hour visit to Miami included a brief stay atop the NL wild-card standings. Then they lost their lead because they couldn’t beat David Weathers.

The journeyman right-hander, making his first start in six years, limited Chicago to two hits and one run in five innings, and the Florida Marlins won, 5-2, for a split of their doubleheader Monday.

Mark Prior allowed just five hits in 7 2/3 innings and outpitched Carl Pavano in the opener to help the Cubs win, 5-1.

With the victory in Game One, Chicago climbed one percentage point ahead of San Francisco in the wild-card race. But the Cubs ended the day where they started: a half-game behind the idle Giants.

“We’ve been knocking on first place for a while,” Chicago manager Dusty Baker said. “We’ll keep knocking until we kick the door in.”

The Marlins, who had hoped to gain ground with a sweep, instead remained 4 1/2 games behind San Francisco. The defending World Series champions have no games left against the four teams ahead of them.

“Time’s running out on us,” manager Jack McKeon said. “Maybe it’s not going to happen. But as long as we’ve got the least bit of life, we’ll give it a run.”

Weathers (7-7) showed the Marlins that anything was possible. Pitching for his third team this season, he came into the game 0-4 lifetime against the Cubs with an 11.44 earned-run average. But he earned a standing ovation from fans behind the Florida dugout when he walked off the mound after the fifth with a 5-1 lead.

“It felt good to go out there and do something to help, instead of sitting around collecting a free check,” Weathers said.

Rudy Seanez pitched out of a jam in the sixth, and Guillermo Mota and Armando Benitez completed the five-hitter.

Cubs catcher Paul Bako hits the wall after diving for a ball hit by Florida's Paul Lo Duca during the eighth inning of the first game of a doubleheader. The Cubs and Marlins split a twinbill Monday in Miami.

Cardinals 7, Brewers 4

Milwaukee — Now the St. Louis Cardinals can celebrate their NL Central championship. Two days after they clinched it.

Albert Pujols hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning, and the Cardinals beat Milwaukee for their 98th victory.

St. Louis ensured its third division title in five seasons Saturday when the Cardinals beat Arizona, 7-0, and San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs each lost. But manager Tony La Russa refused to acknowledge that his team already had won the crown. La Russa wanted to clinch it on the field.

After Milwaukee’s Trent Durrington grounded out for the final out, the Cardinals smiled and shook hands in a subdued celebration.