(Best E Casino) - After getting a gutsy outing from their ace, the New York Mets will try to move closer to a playoff spot tonight with a hurler who hasn't lost in nearly two months.

Oliver Perez will take the hill for the Mets tonight, as they play the third contest of their four-game series with the National League Central-champion Chicago Cubs at Shea Stadium.

Behind a career-high 125 pitches, Johan Santana threw eight innings of two-run ball to help lead New York to a much-needed 6-2 win over the Cubs. The victory trimmed the Mets deficit to the first-place Phillies in the NL East to 1 1/2 games after Philadelphia lost to Atlanta on Tuesday.

New York is trying to rally past the Phillies for its first division title since 2006 after blowing a seven-game lead over Philadelphia with 17 games to play last year.

The Mets also still hold the NL wild card spot by a game over Milwaukee, which defeated the Pirates yesterday.

Jose Reyes hit a three-run triple as part of a four-run sixth inning for the Mets, while David Wright had two hits to help snap New York's three-game losing streak.

Left-hander Oliver Perez starts for New York tonight and is 3-0 over his last nine starts, having not lost since August 3. However, he has posted three straight no-decisions, including Friday in Atlanta after he allowed four runs (3 earned) on six hits and three walks over seven innings.

The 27-year-old is 10-7 with a 4.10 earned run average on the season and 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA in seven career starts versus the Cubs, who he hasn't faced since 2005.

For the Cubs, Carlos Zambrano will try to recover from a rough outing as he prepares for Chicago's postseason run.

Coming off a no-hitter, Zambrano was tagged for eight runs on six hits and three walks in just 1 2/3 innings of work versus the Cardinals on Friday. The loss was the shortest outing of the right-hander's career since going 1 1/3 frames versus Pittsburgh on September 4, 2006, and dropped him to 14-6 on the season with a 3.77 ERA.

The 27-year-old defeated New York on April 21 with seven innings of one-run ball -- part of a two-game sweep by the Cubs over the Mets in Chicago -- and is 4-1 with a 2.92 ERA in six starts and one relief outing against them lifetime.

Reed Johnson and Kosuke Fukudome each had two hits with an RBI yesterday for the Cubs, who have already locked up homefield advantage throughout the NL playoffs and lost to the Mets for the first time in four games this season.

Chicago, which also won the NL Central a year ago, is trying for its first World Series title since 1908.