NEW YORK – Third baseman David Wright missed an easy force play, Oliver Perez hit a pair of batters with the bases loaded and the New York Mets stumbled out of the NL East lead with a 7-4 loss to the last-place Florida Marlins.

New York has lost five straight and 11 of 15 to fall one game back of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets’ eighth straight home loss dropped them out of first place for the first time since May 15.

The Mets had a seven-game lead on Sept. 12 with 17 games left. No major league team has blown such a big lead in such a short time to end a season.

Jeremy Hermida hit a two-run homer, Hanley Ramirez had three hits and Dan Uggla scored three runs for the Marlins, who took a 4-1 lead in the third as Perez (15-10) tied a major league record by hitting three batters in one inning.

Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer and Luis Castillo went 3-for-5 for the Mets.

Byung-Hyun Kim (10-8) allowed eight hits and four runs in five innings. He threw two pitches in the sixth before departing with a blister on his right hand.

Taylor Tankersley, Matt Lindstrom, Lee Gardner and Kevin Gregg followed with a scoreless inning apiece, with Gregg earning his 32nd save. Florida’s bullpen has not allowed a run in the last four games.

Phillies 6, Nationals 0

PHILADELPHIA – Cole Hamels struck out 13 in eight dominant innings, Ryan Howard hit his 45th homer and the Phillies took a one-game lead in the NL East with two games left.

Desperate to end a 14-year playoff drought, Hamels (15-5) shut down the Nationals with a combination of an overpowering fastball and his trademark changeup. He allowed six hits and walked one in his third start since missing a month because of a strained elbow.

Clay Condrey finished the six-hitter for Philadelphia’s fifth shutout.

Jimmy Rollins gave Hamels all the runs he would need with a two-run single in the fifth off Tim Redding (3-6). Howard crushed a two-run shot to left-center for insurance in the seventh.

The Phillies were seven games behind the New York Mets after losing to Colorado on Sept. 12, and hadn’t spent a day in first place until tying New York on Thursday night. While the Mets have collapsed, Philadelphia has won 12 of 15.

Cubs 6, Reds 0

CINCINNATI – Right-hander Carlos Zambrano kept his cool and kept the Reds down, and Alfonso Soriano’s leadoff homer helped the Cubs move to the brink of an NL Central title.

Since returning from a strained thigh that sidelined him for most of August, Soriano has gone on a tear. He has 13 homers in September, matching Ernie Banks’ record of 50 years ago.

Soriano hit the third pitch from Bronson Arroyo (9-15) into the seats in center field for his 32nd homer. His six leadoff homers in September are the most by any major leaguer in any month.

– and that’s wasn’t the end of it. The left fielder also threw Joey Votto out at the plate in the fourth inning, matching Hank Sauer’s team record of 19 assists for the season.

Keeping his emotions in check, Zambrano (18-13) allowed six hits in seven innings and strengthened his case to start the first game of the playoffs should the Cubs make it that far.

Zambrano could relax a little after Derrek Lee’s two-run homer off Arroyo made it 4-0 in the fifth inning. Jacque Jones’ two-run double made it 6-0 in the eighth.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 1

PITTSBURGH – Jim Edmonds broke open a tight game with a three-run single in the eighth inning, helping the Cardinals win their third straight.

So Taguchi drove in two runs and David Eckstein scored three times for the defending World Series champions, who have already been eliminated from the playoffs.

The go-ahead run scored without a hit, when Eckstein led off the eighth with a walk and stole second. Rick Ankiel sacrificed him to third and Albert Pujols was intentionally walked by John Grabow (3-2), who hit Ryan Ludwick and then walked Taguchi with the bases loaded.

Two batters and two pitchers later, Edmonds delivered a three-run, pinch-hit single.

Russ Springer (8-1) worked the seventh for the victory.