Beltran’s hit lifts Mets in the ninth

NEW YORK -- Carlos Beltran singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning and the New York Mets rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-6, Thursday night to halt their slide.

New York rallied in the rain to move to within one game of National League East-leading Philadelphia with three games to play. The Mets are tied atop the wild-card race with Milwaukee.

Rich Harden gave up two hits in six innings but walked five batters in his final playoff tuneup for the NL Central champions, and lightly used rookie Micah Hoffpauir was five for five with five runs batted in and his first two major league home runs, including a tiebreaking drive in the seventh inning that gave Chicago a 6-3 lead.