New York's David Wright, left, and Carlos Delgado celebrate after a victory over Philadelphia. The Mets defeated the Phillies, 3-1, on Thursday in New York.

Mets 3, Phillies 1

New York – Carlos Delgado hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth inning, and Oliver Perez stifled Philadelphia again, helping the New York Mets earn a 3-1 win that gave them sole possession of first place in the NL East.

Perez struck out 12 in 72â3 innings, and Billy Wagner recorded three outs for his second save in as many days. The Mets took two of three in the series after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth inning of the opener, putting them alone in first place for the first time since April 19.

Brewers 4, Cardinals 3

St. Louis – Ryan Braun had four hits for a second straight game, including a two-run homer in the ninth. The Brewers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to sweep a series in St. Louis for the first time since September 1999.

Giants 1, Nationals 0

San Francisco – Matt Cain pitched a four-hitter, Dave Roberts singled home a run in the eighth inning, and San Francisco earned its first three-game home sweep of the season. Cain (6-8), the hard-throwing right-hander who’s had his share of hard luck the past two seasons, retired his first 11 batters and didn’t issue a walk for the first time this year. After going 0-2 in his previous three starts, he struck out four in an efficient, 113-pitch performance to boost his strikeout total to 130.

Pirates 9, Padres 1

Pittsburgh – Yoslan Herrera pitched six shutout innings for his first major league win, and Pittsburgh got back-to-back homers from Jason Bay and Xavier Nady in a 9-1 victory over San Diego. Nate McLouth also homered and had three RBIs for the Pirates, who have won four straight. They stopped a six-game skid against the Padres.

Cubs 6, Marlins 3

Chicago – Carlos Zambrano pitched seven solid innings, and Chicago snapped a 10-game losing streak to Florida. After a 2-4 road trip, the Cubs got home runs from Henry Blanco and Ronny Cedeno and a two-run double from Aramis Ramirez to improve to 38-12 at Wrigley Field.