Mets lead again

Daniel Murphy hit a tiebreaking double after Carlos Delgado’s second solo homer had tied the game in the eighth and New York beat host Philadelphia 6-3 on Wednesday night to reclaim first place in the N.L. East.

Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and Jayson Werth homered for the Phillies, who fell a half-game behind the Mets in the division.

One night after New York’s bullpen blew a ninth-inning lead for the 10th time this season, the Phillies couldn’t protect a one-run lead in the eighth.

With two outs, Delgado tied it at 3 off Rudy Seanez (5-4). After Carlos Beltran reached on an infield single and stole second, Brad Lidge, who is 31 for 31 in save chances, came in and intentionally walked Ryan Church. Murphy doubled for a 4-3 lead. Brian Schneider followed with a bloop single that drove in two runs.

Other N.L. highlights

•Cubs 2, Pirates 0: At Pittsburgh, Jason Marquis allowed five hits over seven innings and Chicago turned two well-placed bunts into two runs in the seventh inning in a victory.

It was Cubs’ third three-game sweep of the Pirates this season. Chicago won the season series 14-4, the most victories against Pittsburgh since going 15-7 in 1954.

Chicago, a major league-best 83-50, won its fifth straight and 13th of 16. The Cubs are 33 games better than .500 for the first time since they were 98-56 at the end of the 1945 season.

•Padres 5, Diamondbacks 4: At San Diego, Jody Gerut singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth and host San Diego denied Randy Johnson his 295th career win in a victory. The Padres swept the West leaders, who have lost four straight and six of seven.

•Nationals 5, Dodgers 4: In Washington, Tim Redding outpitched Greg Maddux to send Los Angeles to a season-high sixth consecutive loss.

The Dodgers, who have scored 10 runs in the past six games, have lost eight straight road games for the first time since June 2005.

•Marlins 4, Braves 1: Florida’s Josh Johnson threw a four-hitter for the first complete game of his career in Florida’s win at Atlanta.

•Cardinals 5, Brewers 3: At St. Louis, Ryan Ludwick was a triple short of a cycle and had two RBIs to lead St. Louis’ comeback from a three-run deficit. The Cardinals pulled within 3 1/2 games of Milwaukee for the N.L. wild-card lead.

•Giants 4, Rockies 3: At San Francisco, Tim Lincecum (15-3) struck out 10 to boost his majors-leading total to 210, winning his third straight start for the first time since April.

American League highlights

Rays 1, Blue Jays 0: At. St. Petersburg, Fla., Matt Garza and two relievers combined on a six-hitter and Carlos Pena homered to lead East-leading Tampa Bay past Toronto.

Garza (11-7) allowed six hits and three walks with five strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings.

•Red Sox 11, Yankees 3: Jason Bay drove in four runs and Dustin Pedroia hit a grand slam for Boston. New York dropped seven games behind Boston, which leads the A.L. wild-card race by 2 1/2 games over Minnesota.

The Red Sox remained 3 1/2 games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the East.

•Orioles 11, White Sox 3: At Baltimore, Brian Roberts had three RBIs as the Orioles ended a five-game losing streak and cut the White Sox lead in the Central to one game.

Roberts gave the Orioles the lead for good with a two-run single in the second, then drove in a run with his A.L.-leading 46th double in the fourth.

Around the majors

Royals general manager Dayton Moore said he met with Jose Guillen after the outfielder confronted a heckling fan Tuesday night in Kansas City. Guillen had to be restrained by catcher Miguel Olivo, third-base coach Luis Silverio and others when a fan down the right-field line harassed him in the fourth inning of a 2-1 loss to visiting Texas. … The Red Sox acquired center fielder Mark Kotsay from Atlanta for a minor leaguer, one day after placing J.D. Drew on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain.