Houston Astros’ Willy Taveras is greeted in the dugout by teammates after scoring on a hit by Lance Berkman during the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 7-4 win over the Pirates. Associated Press Photo.

The St. Louis Cardinals' magic number to clinch the NL Central for a third straight season dropped to five last Wednesday.

Six days - and seven straight losses - later, it's still five.

The San Diego Padres beat the Cardinals 7-5 Tuesday night, cutting St. Louis' lead in the division to 11/2 games over the Houston Astros, who won their seventh straight, 7-4 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

What was supposed to be a week of getting ready for the playoffs has become a week of trying to survive for the Cardinals.

The Astros, meanwhile, have suddenly found themselves in a pennant race as they try to repeat as NL champions.

“This is unbelievable right now,” Houston starter Andy Pettitte said. “I mean, really, you don't know what to say. ... Maybe we ought to keep saying we got no shot, you know?”

Cincinnati beat Florida 5-3 to stay one game behind Houston in the NL Central.

San Diego reduced its magic number to win the NL West to four with the win over the Cardinals.

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat Colorado 11-4 Tuesday and took a one-game lead in the wild-card race over Philadelphia, which lost 4-3 to the Washington Nationals.

At St. Louis, Mike Cameron's two-run double capped San Diego's four-run seventh inning against Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter.

Williams (11-5) won his fourth straight game with six solid innings. Trevor Hoffman got the last three outs for his major league-leading 44th save.

Astros 7, Pirates 4

Craig Biggio drove in three runs and Pettitte won his third straight decision as the Astros improved to 79-78, the first time they've been over .500 since June 22.

Luke Scott had two hits, two runs and an RBI for the Astros. Pettitte (14-13) scattered 10 hits and a walk while striking out two in 6 2-3 innings. He improved to 7-1 lifetime against Pittsburgh.

Jason Bay and Jose Bautista homered for the host Pirates, who have lost five in a row. Freddy Sanchez went 4-for-5 to raise his league-leading average to .346.

Dodgers 11, Rockies 4

At Denver, Nomar Garciaparra homered and drove in three runs, Russell Martin drove in four runs and Greg Maddux won his 332nd career game. Maddux (14-14) allowed three earned runs and seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts in six innings, throwing only 76 pitches.

Jason Jennings (9-13) allowed five earned and nine hits in five innings.

Nationals 4, Phillies 3

Ryan Zimmerman went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs for the host Nationals. Chad Cordero earned his 29th save when he got Ryan Howard to fly out to deep center to end the game with the tying run on.

Brett Myers (12-7) had been 8-1 on the road this season, including six consecutive winning decisions. He went seven innings, allowing six hits and three runs.

Reds 5, Marlins 3

David Ross hit two homers for the Reds, who won their third straight. Matt Belisle, making his first start of the season after 28 relief appearances, pitched 3 2-3 innings for the Reds and gave up one run and three hits. Ryan Franklin (6-7) worked 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the win.

Dontrelle Willis (12-12) gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings for the Marlins, who have lost four straight and were eliminated from the wild-card race.

Braves 12, Mets 0

At Atlanta, John Smoltz (15-9) gave up six hits over eight innings to reach 15 wins for the first time in eight years, and Andruw Jones became the first Braves hitter with consecutive 40-homer seasons.

Oliver Perez (3-13) gave up seven hits and six runs in 5 1-3 innings as the NL East champions lost their third straight and sixth of seven.

Cubs 14, Brewers 6

Henry Blanco had four hits and four RBIs to help Sean Marshall get his first win since July 5. Marshall (6-9), in his fifth start since coming off the disabled list with a right strained oblique muscle, allowed six hits and three runs in six innings.

Carlos Villanueva (1-2) went five innings, giving up eight hits and five runs for the visiting Brewers, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Giants 4, Diamondbacks 2

At San Francisco, Moises Alou hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to end the Giants' five-game losing streak. Mike Stanton (7-6) pitched the ninth for the victory as San Francisco won for the third time in 13 games.

Brandon Webb allowed one earned run and three hits in eight innings, while Morris gave up two runs and seven hits in eight innings and avoided losing his fifth straight start.

Randy Choate (0-1) got the loss.