Marlins compound Cubs' late meltdown

MIAMI - Panic, Cubs fans.

The Cubs' grip on the NL Central lead became shaky Wednesday night, when they were shut out over the final 5 2-3 innings and lost for the second night in a row to the last-place Florida Marlins, 7-4.

Chicago retained a two-game lead over second-place Milwaukee, who lost to St. Louis. The Cubs' magic number for clinching the division dropped to three with four games left in the regular season.

A two-out RBI single in the fifth inning by backup catcher Matt Treanor put the Marlins ahead to stay. Miguel Cabrera added a two-run homer, his 34th.

In the wake of the Cubs' loss Tuesday, players patiently endured a fresh round of questions about the franchise's history of collapses. Then they failed to build on an early lead against rookie Daniel Barone, who remained winless in six starts but left with the score 4-all.

The series is reminiscent of 2003, when Florida rallied from a three-games-to-one deficit and beat the Cubs in the NL championship series. One difference: The 2007 Marlins began the night tied with Pittsburgh for the league's worst record.

The Marlins beat the Cubs for the ninth game in a row over the past two seasons. That victory tied for the longest active streak between two major league teams.

The announced crowd was 19,051, with at least two-thirds cheering for the Cubs. Matt Lindstrom (4-4) pitched a perfect seventh. With closer Kevin Gregg nursing a sore forearm, Lee Gardner finished for his second save in two chances.

Jason Marquis (12-9) lost for the first time since Aug. 26, allowing five runs, four earned in five innings.

Jacque Jones drove in three runs with a single and a sacrifice fly for the Cubs, who came from behind twice before their offense stalled. Mark DeRosa hit a double and triple and scored twice, and Derrek Lee hit his 21st homer.

The Marlins' Jeremy Hermida improved to 5-for-8 in the series. He hit a two-run single in the first, and after he doubled leading off the seventh, Cabrera homered off Carlos Marmol for a 7-4 lead.

For the second night in a row, breaks went against Chicago. Hermida's run-scoring single landed barely fair, and just before Lee's homer, the Cubs' Alfonso Soriano was doubled off first on a close call they disputed.