MIAMI – The Florida Marlins overcame an injury to Brad Penny and an eighth-inning deficit to build on their lead in the NL wild-card race.

Juan Pierre singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning Friday night, leading the Marlins over the Atlanta Braves 5-4.

Florida increased its wild-card lead to 1 games over Philadelphia, which lost 8-4 at Pittsburgh.

Penny gave up three runs before departing in the first inning with a hyperextended pitching elbow. Florida scored twice in the eighth against Jaret Wright to tie the game.

With their 82nd victory, the Marlins are assured of the second winning season in the 11-year history of the franchise. The only other time they finished above .500 was in 1997, when they won the World Series.

Yankees 10, Devil Rays 4

NEW YORK – Jason Giambi emerged from his slump with four hits and a homer, and Aaron Boone hit a three-run shot as the New York Yankees won their sixth straight, 10-4 over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Friday night.

Boone drove in four runs and had his first three-hit game since July 27, when he was with Cincinnati. Juan Rivera had two run-scoring doubles, and Nick Johnson added three hits and an RBI for the Yankees, who had 17 hits.

David Wells (14-6) pitched seven innings for his 199th win and improved to 8-1 career against the Devil Rays.

Tigers 3, Royals 0

DETROIT – Mike Maroth won for the first time since Aug. 2, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 3-0 Friday night for their fifth shutout this season.

Warren Morris drove in two runs and scored another for the Tigers, who stopped a six-game losing streak.

Kansas City, struggling to stay in the AL Central race, lost for the ninth time in 13 games. The Royals began the night 31/2 games back of Chicago and Minnesota, who shared the division lead.

Maroth (7-20) had been 0-5 in six starts since beating Minnesota in his first start of August. On Sept. 5, he became the first 20-game loser in the major leagues since Oakland’s Brian Kingman in 1980.

Pirates 8, Phillies 4

PITTSBURGH – Reggie Sanders hit a three-run homer during a three-hit night and the Pittsburgh Pirates stalled the Philadelphia Phillies’ pursuit of the NL wild card, winning 8-4 Friday.

Jose Hernandez stopped an 0-for-26 September skid with a two-run, pinch-hit single, and Abraham Nunez added a solo shot to support Kip Wells’ fourth straight strong start. The Pirates won for only the fourth time in 11 games.

Athletics 9, Rangers 3

ARLINGTON, Texas – Erubiel Durazo’s go-ahead two-run single keyed a five-run seventh inning as the Oakland Athletics rallied from three runs down for a 9-3 victory Friday night over the Texas Rangers.

Rangers starter Ryan Drese took a 3-1 lead into the seventh and Texas seemed on the verge of finally beating Barry Zito.

Expos 7, Mets 4

MONTREAL – Michael Barrett hit a two-run homer in his first game in nearly seven weeks, and Vladimir Guerrero had a three-run double to lead the Montreal Expos over the New York Mets 7-4 Friday night.

Montreal won its 10th in a row at Olympic Stadium and third straight overall. The last-place Mets have dropped a season-high eight straight games.

Barrett, hitting just .207 when he was sidelined by a hip injury on July 27, hit his 10th homer of the season off Al Leiter (14-8) following Joe Vitiello’s one-out double in the sixth.

Pinch-hitter Jose Vidro and Brad Wilkerson singled and, one out later, Orlando Cabrera singled to load the bases and chase Leiter.

Guerrero lined a 3-2 pitch from Orber Moreno to the wall in right-center, clearing the bases as the crowd of 10,701 roared with delight.

The Expos, who entered 71/2 games behind Florida in the NL wild-card race, hadn’t played in Montreal since completing a four-game sweep of Philadelphia on Aug. 28 that left them in a virtual tie for the wild-card lead.

After losing six straight in Florida and Philadelphia to fall out of contention, the Expos went 3-3 against the Marlins and the Chicago Cubs during a six-game “homestand” in Puerto Rico, the last of 22 home games moved there to increase revenue.

T.J. Tucker (1-2), originally scheduled to start Saturday, allowed six hits and two runs in six innings after manager Frank Robinson decided to give Javier Vazquez an extra day of rest.

Luis Ayala struck out the side in the ninth for his fifth save.

Ty Wigginton went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for New York.

The Mets opened the scoring in the fourth. Timo Perez hit a leadoff single and, one out later, advanced to third on Jason Phillips’ double before scoring on Wigginton’s grounder.

Wilkerson and Henry Mateo hit consecutive RBI doubles in the fifth to put Montreal up 2-1.

Barrett singled off Leiter to begin the fifth and advanced on Tucker’s sacrifice. Wilkerson’s hard-hit grounder to first bounced over Phillips for an RBI double, tying it at 1.

Mateo gave the Expos a 2-1 lead with a run-scoring double high off the left-field wall, missing his first major league homer when his drive struck no more than a foot from the top of the fence.

Wigginton’s two-out RBI single in the sixth drew the Mets even before Montreal’s five-run outburst in the bottom half made it 7-2.

New York scored two off Scott Stewart in the seventh on Roger Cedeno’s RBI grounder and Raul Gonzalez’s pinch-hit single.

Notes: Actor Chris Noth of “Sex and the City” was at the game, pumping his arms in the air to acknowledge the crowd’s applause when he was shown on the video board. … Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay was in attendance as well. Earlier in the week, Tremblay urged citizens to show their support for the franchise by attending the team’s six-game homestand – the Expos’ last home games of the season. … Expos first baseman Wil Cordero left after the second inning because of a left knee contusion.

AP-ES-09-12-03 2209EDT