Kerry Wood gave the Cubs a boost heading into the All-Star break.

The Chicago ace came off the disabled list Sunday night and pitched the Cubs to an 8-4 victory St. Louis, slowing the team's freefall in the NL Central.

Sammy Sosa also helped out, driving in five runs, as many as the Cubs had scored - total - in their past five games, all losses.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, had an eight-game winning streak snapped. Though St. Louis took a seven-game lead over Chicago into the All-Star break, the Cubs were relieved. They knew it could have been nine games.

Well, most of them. The Cubs' struggles didn't appear to affect Wood at all.

"It was just a day to go out and get some work in and do the best I could," Wood said. "I wasn't worried about anything else that happened in the last five or six days.

"I guess that helped more than anything, not even thinking about it or worrying about it."

Wood (4-3) gave up one run and three hits in five innings, his first start since May 11 because of triceps tendinitis. He got his first win since April 24.

"That was the biggest getaway victory we've had," manager Dusty Baker said. "Woody was outstanding."

The Cardinals' Chris Carpenter had a rough outing. Sosa hit a three-run shot to center in the third, then chased Carpenter with a two-run single in the fourth that made it 6-0.

The Cardinals showed a spark in the ninth, scoring three times against LaTroy Hawkins. But the Cubs had plenty of room for error.

Wood's return gave his teammates a confidence boost as well.

"He was such a huge part of last year," Cubs catcher Michael Barrett said. "I wasn't there but I can sort of sense what he means to this team."

At San Francisco, Jason Schmidt won his 11th consecutive decision, the longest streak by a Giants' pitcher in 42 years, and San Francisco beat Arizona for its fourth win in five games.Schmidt (11-2) hasn't lost since April 26 - a span of 15 starts. Jack Sanford also won 11 straight for the Giants in 1962.Casey Fossum (2-8) lost for the Diamondbacks, losers of six of seven overall and 12 of 13 on the road.

At Milwaukee, Jason LaRue hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth inning and Wily Mo Pena followed with his second of the game, leading Cincinnati to a comeback victory over the Brewers.Pena went 4-for-5 with three RBIs in place of the injured Ken Griffey Jr., who was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the game because of a torn right hamstring.Dan Kolb (0-1) allowed the ninth-inning homers.Todd Jones (7-2) got two outs for the win and Danny Graves got his 33rd save in 40 chances.

At Philadelphia, Julio Franco hit a three-run home run and J.D. Drew had four hits, including a homer for the Braves, who took two of three to pull within a game of the first-place Phillies.Russ Ortiz (10-6) allowed four runs on six hits in 5 2-3 innings for Atlanta, which has won 12 of 15 overall.Atlanta's first six hitters combined for 14 of the team's 16 hits and scored all six runs as the Braves roughed up the Randy Wolf (3-5).

At Miami, Jeff Conine snapped a 3-for-34 skid with a grand slam off Al Leiter (5-3), helping Dontrelle Willis (7-5) beat the Mets for the fifth time in five tries.Armando Benitez pitched a perfect ninth for his 30th save.

At San Diego, Ryan Klesko hit his first homer in 152 at-bats and Mark Loretta also connected for the Padres, who snapped a four-game losing streak.Klesko's two-run shot off Denny Stark (0-4) with one out in the third inning was just his second this season and fourth since the All-Star break a year ago.Ismael Valdez (8-5) allowed a run in five innings, and Trevor Hoffman finished for his 23rd save.

At Los Angeles, Paul Lo Duca hit his first career grand slam, and Jose Lima (8-3) pitched six strong innings for the Dodgers.Jose Hernandez hit a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth for the Dodgers.The Dodgers snapped a four-game winning streak by Roy Oswalt (8-7).Carlos Beltran, named to the NL All-Star team earlier in the day to replace the injured Ken Griffey Jr., hit a tying two-run homer in the top of the sixth for the Astros.