Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ó Adron Chambers drove in the go-ahead run with his first major league hit and Tyler Greene added an RBI double in the 11th inning to help St. Louis beat Philadelphia 4-2, keeping the Cardinals’ playoff push alive while putting the Phillies’ title celebration on hold.
St. Louis appeared to have the game won in the ninth, but Corey Patterson dropped Carlos Ruiz’s drive to right with two outs allowing the tying run to score.
The Phillies (97-51), who have already clinched no worse than the wild card, entered the game with a magic number of two to clinch their fifth straight NL East title, needing a win combined with loss by the Atlanta Braves to the New York Mets.
Yadier Molina homered and Albert Pujols went 4 for 4 for the Cardinals, who won for the eighth time in nine games, and remained 41/2 games behind the Braves for the NL wild card, and 51/2 back of Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Kyle McClellan (12-6) pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the victory, and Fernando Salas earned his 24th save in 29 chances with a scoreless 11th.
1:Brewers 6, Reds 3
CINCINNATI (AP) ó Ryan Braun homered twice and became the second player in Brewers history to get 30 homers and steals in a season, as Milwaukee began a final push toward its first NL Central title by eliminated defending NL Central champion Cincinnati from playoff contention.
Braun hit one of Milwaukee’s four homers off Bronson Arroyo (8-12), then added his 30th off reliever Jeremy Horst. Braun, who also has 31 steals, joined Tommy Harper as the franchise’s only 30-30 players.
The Brewers led by 101/2 games on Sept. 5, but allowed the Cardinals to stay in it by dropping six of their last nine. They’re on pace to clinch next week in Chicago.
Prince Fielder, Mark Kotsay and George Kottaras also homered off Arroyo, who has given up a club-record 44. Milwaukee had seven hits, five of them homers.
Left-hander Randy Wolf (13-9) gave up three runs and seven hits while pitching into the eighth inning.
1:Mets 12, Braves 2
ATLANTA (AP) ó David Wright drove in five runs with two homers and New York responded to criticism from its manager to beat a struggling Derek Lowe and Atlanta.
Atlanta leads St. Louis by only 3 1/2 games in the NL wild-card race with 11 games remaining in the regular season. The Cardinals gained ground by beating the Phillies.
The Mets matched their season high with 20 hits in ending a six-game losing streak.
Chris Capuano (11-12) gave up two runs on six hits in five innings to earn his second win in three weeks against the Braves.
Lowe (9-15) gave up nine hits and six runs in only 2 1-3 innings while losing his third straight start. His ERA rose to 4.94.
1:Marlins 3, Nationals 0
WASHINGTON (AP) ó Javier Vazquez threw his first complete-game shutout in more than six years as Florida snapped a four-game losing streak and ended Washington’s five-game winning streak.
Vazquez (11-11) allowed five hits for his eighth career shutout and first since he pitched the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 1-0 win at Detroit on May 22, 2005.
Mike Stanton had an RBI double and two singles for the Marlins.
Washington starter John Lannan (9-13) lost for the sixth time in seven starts.
1:Cubs 4, Astros 3, 12 innings
CHICAGO (AP) ó Matt Garza pitched nine strong innings and Marlon Byrd hit an infield single in the 12th inning to lift Chicago to victory.
Starlin Castro set up the winning rally with a leadoff walk, went to second on Darwin Barney’s sacrifice, and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored when third baseman Chris Johnson couldn’t handle Byrd’s dribbler up the line off reliever David Carpenter (0-3).
Garza was one strike from finishing off a five-hitter when Carlos Lee hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot into the left-field bleachers that tied it 3-all.
Jeff Samardzija (7-4) threw a scoreless 12th to pick up the win and send the Astros to their 99th defeat, extending a franchise record for losses in a season.
Geovany Soto led off the third with his 15th homer, and Aramis Ramirez had three hits, including his first triple of the season.