PHILADELPHIA – Carlos Beltran homered twice for the second straight game, leading the New York Mets to an 8-3 victory over the free-falling Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

Paul Lo Duca and David Wright also connected, and Jorge Sosa (7-3) pitched five effective innings before he left after straining his left hamstring running to first in the sixth. Pedro Feliciano recorded the final six outs for his first save.

Beltran, who finished 4-for-5, gave the Mets a 5-3 lead with a two-run drive off starter J.A. Happ (0-1) in the fifth inning. His solo shot off Ryan Madson in the seventh made it 6-3. It was the fifth time Beltran homered from both sides of the plate.

Phillies center fielder Aaron Rowand nearly made a spectacular catch on Beltran’s second homer, climbing the fence and reaching over only to have the ball hit off his glove.

Beltran had a pair of solo homers Friday off Cole Hamels, helping New York complete a sweep of a day-night doubleheader. The last time he hit two homers on consecutive days was last July 29-30 at Atlanta.

Ryan Howard hit his 19th homer for injury-riddled Philadelphia, which fell six games behind the NL East-leading Mets.

Brewers 13, Cubs 4

CHICAGO – Milwaukee bounced back from a tough defeat, scoring nine runs in the first three innings to make it easy for Ben Sheets (10-3), who had a season-high 11 strikeouts in winning his sixth straight decision.

Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer and went 4-for-5 with four RBIs for Milwaukee, which finished with 15 hits in ending Chicago’s seven-game winning streak.

On Friday, the Brewers plated five in the opening inning, only to lose 6-5 when the Cubs got three in the ninth.

Prince Fielder had a pair of doubles in the first two innings and three RBIs Saturday as Milwaukee jumped out early against Sean Marshall (4-3).

Sheets allowed four runs and six hits with one walk. Milwaukee’s ace is 6-0 in his last seven starts and 9-1 over his last 14.

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