PHILADELPHIA — Jamie Moyer can rest his arm when he retires. For now, the old man is doing whatever it takes to extend the Philadelphia Phillies' season.

Moyer pitched 5 2/3 effective innings on three days' rest, Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 43rd homer and the Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-3, last night to gain ground in the playoff race.

"He's been consistent all year," manager Charlie Manuel said of Moyer, 45, the oldest player in the majors. "Goes to show you the old man can still pitch."

The Phillies pulled within three games of the NL East-leading New York Mets and the wild card-leading Brewers by roughing up Ben Sheets (13-8). They remain four behind New York in the loss column.

Moyer (14-7) allowed three runs and four hits, improving to 7-1 in his last 13 starts. The left-hander moved ahead of Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for 52nd on the career list with 244 wins.

Pitching on short rest for the first time since 2004, Moyer kept the Brewers off balance with his usual assortment of batting practice-speed fastballs and even slower stuff. He left after Prince Fielder's two-run drive made it 4-3.

"As I got deeper, I think I got a little tired a little quicker," Moyer said. "I'm here, I'm healthy. Sometimes you have to step up."

Fielder's homer was his first since Aug. 13, but slumping Milwaukee lost for the eighth time in 11 games.

"This series has no more importance or value than the last series, but every day is important, every game is important," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "It's must-win, that must be your mind-set in September."

Ryan Madson pitched two innings, Chad Durbin threw one pitch to retire the only batter he faced with two on in the eighth and Brad Lidge finished for his 36th save in as many chances.

CUBS 3, CARDINALS 2

Rich Harden (5-1) allowed two runs and five hits over six innings and Kerry Wood got Albert Pujols to pop up with two men on for the final out to preserve visiting Chicago's victory over St. Louis.

Pujols drove in his 100th run with a sixth-inning double, becoming only the third player in major league history to reach the milestone in his first eight seasons. Al Simmons did it his first 11 seasons, and Ted Williams also did it his first eight.

BRAVES 8, ROCKIES 4

Rookie Jair Jurrjens (13-9) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings, and Yunel Escobar's three-run homer capped a five-run bottom of the sixth inning for Atlanta, which completed a three-game sweep of Colorado.

PADRES 11, GIANTS 3

Adrian Gonzalez homered twice and drove in four runs to set career highs with 31 homers and 103 RBIs, leading host San Diego to a rout of San Francisco.

ASTROS 6, PIRATES 0

Roy Oswalt (15-9) threw a three-hitter for his second straight shutout, set a Houston record for consecutive scoreless innings (32 1/3) and drove in a run in a five-run sixth to help beat Pittsburgh.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ANGELS 7, MARINERS 4

Francisco Rodriguez got the final three outs for his 57th save to tie Bobby Thigpen's major league record as host Los Angeles beat Seattle.

Rodriguez replaced Scot Shields with runners on first and second and no outs. He got Ichiro Suzuki to ground into a double play, gave up an RBI single to Jeremy Reed and a single to Adrian Beltre before finally ending it on Raul Ibanez's broken-bat grounder to first.

BLUE JAYS 6, WHITE SOX 4

Shaun Marcum (9-6) took a three-hit shutout into the eighth and allowed two runs and five hits, and Toronto ended a scoreless game with six runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat Chicago.

ROYALS 3, TWINS 2

David DeJesus hit an RBI single with one out in the top of the 10th inning to break a 2-all tie and lift visiting Kansas City over Minnesota, which remained one game behind first-place Chicago in the AL Central.

ORIOLES 6, INDIANS 3

Melvin Mora, out since Aug. 29 with a strained left hamstring, returned with a two-run double that gave him 99 RBIs as host Baltimore beat Cleveland to split the four-game series.

RANGERS 6, ATHLETICS 1

Hank Blalock homered, Chris Davis and Joaquin Arias each drove in two runs, and Dustin Nippert (3-4) gave up a run and four hits in five innings to lead visiting Texas past Oakland.