ST. LOUIS — St. Louis manager Tony La Russa wasn't too optimistic as the Cardinals entered the ninth inning trailing the Chicago Cubs by two runs yesterday afternoon.

With Chicago closer Kerry Wood out on the mound to begin the inning, La Russa figured his club was in trouble.

"I didn't like our chances," La Russa said. "(Wood) has so many weapons. This guy is really good."

So was La Russa's bunch on this day.

Outfielder Rick Ankiel slapped a two-run, two-out single to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a three-run rally and lead the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Cubs.

The win brought the Cardinals (50-39) to within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Cubs (52-36) in the National League Central.

Ankiel, who had three hits and three RBIs, also hit a solo homer in the sixth inning. In the ninth, he picked on an 0-1 slider to give St. Louis its fifth win in the last eight outings. Wood (4-2) blew his fifth save in 27 tries.

"I was just looking for a pitch to drive up the middle," Ankiel said. "Kerry Wood is tough; he throws hard."

The Cardinals had little problems against one of the game's top closers. Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina drew walks to begin the rally and Adam Kennedy hit a double to right to cut the deficit to 4-3. Wood appeared set to wriggle out of a bases-loaded no-out jam before Ankiel came to the plate with two outs.

"We were one pitch away from getting out of it," Wood said. "But it seems to always be the case when you're in that role."

St. Louis reliever Kyle McClellan (1-3) picked up his first major league victory with two perfect innings of relief.

The Cubs led throughout the game. They jumped to a 1-0 lead in the third on Mark DeRosa's 11th home run of the season. Ryan Theriot singled in DeRosa in the fifth for a 2-0 advantage. Albert Pujols followed Ankiel's blast with a double into left-center. One out later, Ryan Ludwick hit a double down the line in left to score Pujols.

Chicago's Aramis Ramirez broke a 2-2 tie by hitting a 2-0 pitch from reliever Ryan Franklin to left-center field for his 15th homer of the season in front of 46,865 fans, a new record for the three-year-old Busch Stadium.

BREWERS 2, PIRATES 1

MILWAUKEE — Prince Fielder singled in Rickie Weeks with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting Milwaukee over Pittsburgh for its second straight win.

Pirates reliever Tyler Yates (3-2) walked Weeks to lead off the inning. J.J. Hardy's sacrifice bunt ended his 16-game hitting streak but put the winning run in scoring position and Yates, a Kaua'i High alum, intentionally walked Ryan Braun to bring up Fielder.

ASTROS 6, BRAVES 1

ATLANTA — Mark Loretta had three doubles and drove in four runs as Houston beat Atlanta to snap a four-game losing streak.

Chris Sampson (4-3) gave up two hits and one run in five innings in his first start since May 25 for the Astros.

REDS 3, NATIONALS 2

CINCINNATI — Brandon Phillips singled in Jerry Hairston Jr. from second base with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Cincinnati over Washington.

After Jesus Flores' ninth-inning sacrifice fly tied it at 2 and handed Francisco Cordero (4-1) his fourth blown save of the season, Hairston led off the ninth with a single off Joel Hanrahan (5-3). He stole second, but Jay Bruce struck out and Ken Griffey Jr. was intentionally walked. Luis Ayala came in to face Phillips, who grounded a single through the hole into left field.

METS 9, PHILLIES 4

PHILADELPHIA — Pinch-hitter Brian Schneider lined a two-out, two-run tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and New York rallied against the majors' best bullpen, ending Philadelphia's four-game winning streak.

J.C. Romero (4-2) let two runners reach in the eighth. Tom Gordon threw a wild pitch that scored the tying run, then gave up Schneider's hit. Rudy Seanez gave up three more runs in the ninth.

PADRES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 2

PHOENIX — Jake Peavy (6-5) spaced three hits over seven scoreless innings and Scott Hairston homered twice as San Diego beat slumping Arizona.

Adrian Gonzalez also homered for the Padres, who have won two straight after dropping 10 of their previous 11. Stephen Drew homered for the Diamondbacks, who lost for the fifth time in eight games to fall two games under .500 for the first time this season.

ROCKIES 12, MARLINS 6

DENVER — Matt Holliday homered and drove in four runs, and Joe Koshansky hit his first major league homer to lead Colorado past Florida for its season-best fifth straight victory.

One night after hitting six homers in an 18-17 win over the Marlins, the Rockies went deep four more times. Chris Iannetta and Brad Hawpe also connected for Colorado, which has its longest winning streak since last fall's unfathomable 21-1 run-up to the World Series.

GIANTS 5, DODGERS 2

SAN FRANCISCO — Randy Winn and Fred Lewis hit two-out RBI singles during a four-run seventh inning and San Francisco kept Los Angeles out of first place in the NL West with a comeback victory.

Bengie Molina added a two-run double for the Giants, who tagged the Dodgers' bullpen shortly after starter Chan Ho Park was pulled for a pinch-hitter with a 2-1 lead.