MILWAUKEE (AP) — Miles Mikolas won in his first big league game after a three-year stint in Japan, but left his biggest impression at the plate.

Hitting a home run to help spoil the Milwaukee Brewers’ home opener sure was special for the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander.

Paul DeJong connected for the second straight game, hitting his third homer this season, and Mikolas collected his first big league hit with a two-run homer in the Cardinals’ 8-4 win on Monday.

Mikolas (1-0) gave up a two-run homer to Eric Thames and solo shots to Lorenzo Cain and Manny Pina. But the 29-year-old righty benefited from the Cardinals’ own outburst at hitter-friendly Miller Park.

“I guess I figured if I’m going to give up some home runs, I might as well try to get one back, help my cause a little bit,” Mikolas joked.

It was a memorable return to the majors for Mikolas, and a disappointing opener for the Brewers. They lost for first time after opening the season with a three-game sweep at San Diego.

“Any pitcher home run, pitcher RBI, it always feels tough to come back from that,” manager Craig Counsell said.

Mikolas gave up seven hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first big league start since Aug. 25, 2014, when he pitched eight innings for the Texas Rangers in a 2-0 win over Seattle.

He played 37 games for San Diego and Texas in 2012-14. He was 4-6 on the mound and 0 for 4 at the plate.

The power started building in Japan, where Mikolas hit two home runs in three seasons.

He’ll savor his fifth-inning drive off Zach Davies (0-1) that broke a 2-all tie for a while.

“I might remember the home run just because that was a highlight of the day,” Mikolas said. “But looking back I’ll probably look at the mistakes I made as a pitcher … and make myself better moving forward.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals 3B Jedd Gyorko left before the bottom of the seventh with a strained right hamstring. … RHP Adam Wainwright (left hamstring strain) shagged fly balls and grounders during batting practice. Wainwright went on the disabled list on March 26 and is eligible to come off Thursday, which is the Cardinals’ home opener against Arizona. Asked how he felt, Wainwright said with a smile, “That’s what everybody wants to know. It’s a secret.”

Manager Mike Matheny didn’t rule out starting Wainwright for the home opener. “We didn’t take anything off the table,” Matheny said. “Just kind of take all the information in. Just see what happens.”

IT’S A HIT

Nothing like self-motivation on social media to get Dexter Fowler going at the plate. The Cardinals outfielder snapped a 0-for-13 slump to start the season with a third-inning single to center.

Before the game, Fowler wrote “I will get a hit ” 13 times in a tweet. After Fowler broke through, the Indians’ Jose Ramirez and the Astros’ Josh Reddick , posted similar tweets. Both players have also opened the year with extended hitless streaks.

Fowler didn’t last long on the bases though. He was thrown out trying to steal second by Pina following his single.

TURNING POINT

DeJong’s two-run shot, highlighted a four-run sixth that gave St. Louis an 8-2 lead.

The Brewers threatened in the bottom of the sixth. After Thames homered, they put runners on the corners, but reliever Bud Norris struck out Orlando Arcia on a 2-2 slider to end the threat.

The Brewers lost their fourth straight home opener.

“I’d like to win one of these opening day games, that’s first … but business goes on tomorrow. You feel like the rest of the season starts for us tomorrow,” Counsell said.

DAVIES’ DAY

Davies allowed eight hits and seven runs — six earned — over 5 1/3 innings in his season debut. The 25-year-old right-hander is coming off a career-best 17-win season in 2017.

“It was just a bad pitch. Ball slipped middle up, and he crushed it,” Davies said about Mikolas’ homer.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty makes his first start of the season against the team he faced in the 2017 season finale. He allowed four runs on five hits over five innings on Oct. 1, his only career outing against Milwaukee.

Brewers: RHP Chase Anderson starts in his first turn since tossing six shutout innings to begin the 2-1 win in extra innings on opening day in San Diego. He is 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA in nine career starts against the Cardinals.

— Associated Press —

NEW YORK (AP) — Paul DeJong made the right decision to give up the scalpel, trumpet and piano to concentrate on baseball.

A rising star on the St. Louis Cardinals, the 24-year-old shortstop had the first multihomer game of his young big league career Sunday and helped the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 5-1 to avoid an opening three-game sweep.

DeJong hit .285 with 25 home runs and 65 RBI as a rookie last year, earning a $26 million, six-year contract. He had 13 homers at Triple-A Memphis before his major league debut on May 28 — when he homered off Colorado closer Greg Holland on his first big league swing.

“I know that I can consistently hit for power, whether it’s doubles or homers,” DeJong said.

A 2015 graduate of Illinois State who majored in biochemistry and pre-medicine, he was selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round of that year’s amateur draft. During spring training last month, when the Cardinals gave him the big contract, he attended several social events of the Palm Beach Symphony — not a regular nightlife stop of most big leaguers.

“I like all types of music, from Metallica to Chopin,” he said.

His younger brother Matthew is in a master’s program for piano at Florida State.

“He was always more devoted to music than I was,” DeJong said. “I played the piano, as well. Also the trumpet. But I stopped sophomore year in high school for the trumpet and a little earlier than that for the piano.”

DeJong sent a fastball from Steven Matz off the facing of the left-field second deck in the second inning and drove Jacob Rhame’s slider off an orange M&M advertisement just over the left-field wall in the eighth for his second solo homer.

“He’s dangerous,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “I won’t put a ceiling on him.”

DeJong was 9 for 12 in a series against the Mets just before last year’s All-Star break and is 15 for 41 versus New York with five doubles, six homers and eight RBI overall. He is 3 for 3 with a pair of homers against Matz.

“I had two strikes on him and I left the ball right over the plate,” the lefty said.

Luke Weaver (1-0), a rare starting pitcher with a single-digit uniform number (7), struggled through a 27-pitch first inning in his first outing and gave up Amed Rosario’s tying single in the second. The 24-year-old right-hander, who last summer became the first Cardinals rookie to win seven straight starts since Ted Wilks in 1944, wound up allowing five hits in five innings, four of them singles.

“A grind is like the perfect definition of what it was,” Weaver said.

Marcell Ozuna broke out of an 0-for-9 start with three hits, including an RBI double in the third and a run-scoring single in the fifth.Yadier Molina hit a leadoff homer in the fourth for the Cardinals, outscored 15-6 in the first two games.

After solid starts by Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, Matz (0-1) tried to put behind an injury-decimated sophomore season in which the lefty slumped to a 2-7 record. He struggled with his control and was up to 51 pitches after two innings and 73 after three. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs and four hits, as the Mets kept up their terrible trend of last year, when they were 16-36 in series finales.

“All three runs I gave up I had two strikes on the guys,” Matz said. “I was leaving the ball up a lot.”

In the Cardinals clubhouse after the game, there was loud, thumping music. DeJong hasn’t grooved to classical music yet for batting practice.

“I’ve thought about it. I just haven’t pulled the trigger. I don’t bring my headphones with me, usually,” he said. “I don’t like to get too far in my head with music. Sometimes that can happen.”

SLUMPING START

Cardinals leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts before walking in the eighth inning and has started the season 0 for 13 with six Ks.

TRADING PLACES

St. Louis obtained OF Johan Mieses from the Los Angeles Dodgers for INF Breyvic Valera, who had been designated for assignment.

HONORING RUSTY

New York will wear a patch on the right sleeves of its jerseys for the rest of the season in honor of former Mets star Rusty Staub, who died Thursday. Sunday would have been his 74th birthday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: CF Brandon Nimmo was scratched after being up most of the night with flu-like symptoms. … RHP Anthony Swarzak was to be evaluated after leaving Saturday’s game with a sore left oblique. … LHP Jason Vargas (broken right hand) threw a bullpen Saturday and is to throw a simulated game Monday.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas makes his first big league appearance since Aug. 25, 2014, when he starts Monday at Milwaukee. He spent the past three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan’s Central League.

Mets: RHP Matt Harvey, coming off a 5-7 season, makes his 2018 debut Monday against visiting Philadelphia and Ben Lively.

— Associated Press —

NEW YORK (AP) — Mickey Callaway’s first game as a manager with the Mets went exactly according to plan.

Yoenis Cespedes drove in three runs and newcomer Adrian Gonzalez hit a go-ahead double to lead Noah Syndergaard and New York past the St. Louis Cardinals 9-4 in their opener Thursday.

Syndergaard (1-0) struck out 10 and walked none in six innings after missing most of last season with a torn lat muscle.

Leadoff man Brandon Nimmo, subbing for injured All-Star Michael Conforto, reached safely four times and scored twice as the Mets chased a furious Carlos Martinez in their five-run fifth inning to make Callaway a winner at sold-out Citi Field.

“It feels great,” Callaway said. “What a ballpark. All of us, the coaches, were sitting there going, man, this is something special. This is a different place than most.”

The 35-year-old Gonzalez also was on base four times with two hits and two walks in his New York debut. The five-time All-Star first baseman was signed for the major league minimum during the offseason after struggling with a bad back last year with the Dodgers.

“Obviously, getting off to a good start is huge, both personally and as a team. I think we accomplished both,” he said.

Yadier Molina hit an early two-run homer for St. Louis that clanged off the left-field foul pole . Jose Martinez (3 for 4) also went deep against Syndergaard and knocked in two but committed a run-scoring throwing error at first base.

“I was mad at myself not making that play, for sure. I put Carlos in a tough situation right there,” Jose Martinez said. “I don’t feel very happy with my performance, because that play was huge for us.”

New York got hitless relief from Robert Gsellman, newcomer Anthony Swarzak and closer Jeurys Familia to finish with 15 strikeouts in an opener played only hours after the death of former Mets star Rusty Staub .

“I thought it was a great team win. A lot of fun,” Syndergaard said. “Kind of kicking myself in the butt for allowing that Martinez guy to get a little too comfortable, but that won’t happen again.”

Todd Frazier, also making his Mets debut, drew a one-out walk from Carlos Martinez (0-1) in the fifth and scored from first on Gonzalez’s double into the right-field corner for a 4-3 lead.

Syndergaard, who threw his first three pitches 99 mph , helped himself with a sacrifice bunt, and young shortstop Amed Rosario — batting ninth behind the pitcher — delivered a two-run single .

Cespedes, who had a two-run single in the second, chased Carlos Martinez with an RBI single . The two-time All-Star pitcher, who walked six, really went wild once he got to the bench, knocking over a bucket of bubble gum.

“I didn’t have command,” he said. “In the last game (of) the spring I was comfortable, so I don’t know what happened.”

Jay Bruce, back after the Mets traded him to Cleveland last August, added an RBI single off Matt Bowman to cap the outburst.

“I put our lineup against anyone,” Bruce said. “We have veteran guys. We have young guys with so much talent.”

New York catcher Kevin Plawecki also had two walks and two hits, including a late RBI single.

“Just a great all-around effort today,” Frazier said. “A good kick-start to the season.”

HELP ON THE WAY

Less than two hours before the first pitch, the Cardinals landed a closer. Greg Holland agreed to a $14 million, one-year contract with the team, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical and had not been announced. A three-time All-Star, Holland was a free agent after leading the National League with 41 saves last year for Colorado. His addition would be a major boost to an unsettled Cardinals bullpen lacking a proven closer in the wake of several injuries.

FAST STARTERS

Despite losing their first eight openers in the 1960s, the Mets have baseball’s best record on opening day at 37-20. They’ve won 22 of their last 25 season openers at home. The previous Mets manager to win his debut was Jeff Torborg in 1992.

A ROCK BEHIND THE PLATE

Molina started on opening day at catcher for the 14th straight season, a franchise record for one position.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: The club had planned to use newcomer Luke Gregerson as its closer early this season, but he strained his left hamstring late in spring training and opened on the 10-day disabled list with no timetable for his return.

Mets: General manager Sandy Alderson said the team will decide in a couple of days whether Conforto needs a minor league rehab assignment before coming off the disabled list. Conforto is ahead of schedule in his recovery from surgery for a dislocated left shoulder and is eligible to return late next week, when the Mets are in Washington.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha (12-9, 4.13 ERA) starts the second game of the season Saturday afternoon against RHP Jacob deGrom (15-10, 3.53 ERA), the Mets’ initial choice for opening day before his schedule was slowed at the outset of spring training by a stiff back and the birth of his child.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers’ season is over, but they took some satisfaction from challenging the Cubs in the NL Central and staying in contention until the final weekend.

For the Cardinals, 2017 fell short of the franchise’s always lofty expectations.

Aaron Wilkerson took a perfect game into the sixth inning, Brett Phillips hit a three-run homer and the Brewers beat St. Louis 6-1 on Sunday, closing out their near-miss of a season with the best record of any team that did not make the playoffs.

Jesus Aguliar added a two-run homer in the eighth for the Brewers, who finished 86-76, 13 games ahead of last year’s pace. They were in first place or tied for the top spot in the NL Central for 65 days, but ultimately they were eliminated from wild-card contention with a loss on Saturday.

“It’s still a season that we’re proud of,” shortstop Eric Sogard said. “We’ll keep our heads held high and we’ll be excited about the future for this team.”

St. Louis finished 83-79, three games worse than last year. The Cardinals failed to make the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time since 2007-2008.

“No matter what happens, if you don’t make the (playoffs) it’s not a good year,” said catcher Yadier Molina, who missed the last six games with concussion-like symptoms.

Herman Perez had hoped to make a different kind of history in the meaningless game by playing all nine positions, just as Andrew Romine did Saturday night for the Tigers, but manager Craig Counsell nixed the idea after a couple innings.

“I rained on the parade,” Counsell said. “I wanted to win the game.”

Perez, known for his utility skills, started the game at third base and moved to shortstop for the second. That’s when Counsell stepped in.

“I respected his decision,” Perez said. “Maybe I can do it another time.”

Perez, who was hoping to become the sixth player in major league history to play every position in a game, would have had a tough time bouncing Wilkerson (1-0) off the mound.

Making his second start of the season, Wilkerson allowed one run on two hits over seven innings. He set down the first 17 hitters before Jose Martinez delivered a pinch-hit single to right with two out in the sixth.

“I just stuck with the game plan,” Wilkerson said. “To have a start like this at the end of the season bodes well going into spring training.”

Counsell was impressed with the rookie.

“The big thing was he just pounded the strike zone,” Counsell said. “He threw a ton of strikes. He was very efficient.”

Phillips, a September call-up, highlighted a four-run first inning with his fourth homer of the season.

“He’s a player that’s made us maybe change the way we think about things this offseason.” Counsell said.

Randal Grichuk homered in the seventh for the Cardinals, who lost four of their last five.

“There are a lot of positives,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “And there are things we’ve got to get better at.”

Jack Flaherty (0-2) gave up five hits and four runs over five innings.

The Cardinals drew 3,447,937 fans, the fifth-highest attendance in franchise history. It was their 14th successive season of 3 million-plus.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder Tuesday. The recovery time is six weeks, and he expects to be healthy in time for next season. …3B Aledmys Diaz left in the second inning with a hamstring issue.

UP NEXT:

Brewers: Milwaukee opens the 2018 season on March 29 against the Padres in San Diego.

Cardinals: St. Louis’ next game will be March 29 on the road against the Mets.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Cardinals were eliminated from postseason contention when Leonys Martin leaped at the center-field fence to rob Paul DeJong of a tying home run with two outs in the 11th inning, preserving the Chicago Cubs’ 2-1 win over St. Louis on Thursday night.

St. Louis, which went 5-14 against its rival, missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2007 and 2008. At 82-77, the Cardinals are assured their fewest wins since going 78-84 in 2007.

A day after clinched their second straight NL Central title, the defending World Series champions started only two position players who had played in at least 100 games: outfielders Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber.

Schwarber singled off Matt Bowman (3-6) with one out in the 11th and Davis, who struck out in his first three at-bats, hit a run-scoring double down the left-field line.

Jen-Ho Tseng (1-0) pitched three hitless innings.

Happ homered in the first off Lance Lynn, who allowed three hits in five innings. Lynn is eligible for free agency and likely was making his final start for the Cardinals.

Kyle Hendricks struck out nine and allowed four hits in five innings. Dexter Fowler had an RBI groundout in the sixth against Justin Grimm.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina remains in a concussion protocol and likely will not play for the remainder of the season. He was removed from Monday’s game after taking two foul tips off the mask on successive pitches.

UP NEXT

Cubs: LHP Jose Quintana (7-3, 3.50) will face visiting Cincinnati and RHP Robert Stephenson (5-6, 4.86) on Friday. Quintana pitched a three-hit shutout over Milwaukee on Sept. 24.

Cardinals: RHP John Gant (0-0, 3.65) will face Milwaukee and RHP Chase Anderson (11-4, 2.81) on Friday in St. Louis. Gant will be making his second start this season.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The last time the Cubs went to the postseason three straight years was in 1906-08. The World Series champions won the National Central for the second straight year with a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.

Under .500 and trailing Milwaukee in the division race at the All-Star break, the Cubs turned things around with a stellar second half.

“It was tough,” starter John Lackey said. “It’s always a challenge and we got a lot of people’s best shots. We played well and we’re back in the playoffs and we’ll see what happens.”

Addison Russell hit a three-run homer and Lackey pitched six strong innings for Chicago.

The Cubs are the first defending World Series champion to win their division the next season since the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies and the first defending champion to reach the playoffs the next season since the Cardinals won the wild card in 2012.

“It’s fun to be a team that people want to beat,” Cubs infielder Kris Bryant said. “We embrace that and we’re going to go with that for as long as we can. It feels good right now knowing they (the Cardinals) always beat up on us before and now we’re able to kind of get of a taste of that, too.”

The Cubs became the second visiting team to celebrate a title at Busch Stadium III. The 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers won the NLDS at St. Louis.

“It’s a blessing to be in a situation to win a World Series on a team and win a division in a tough division the very next year,” Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward said. “That’s not my plan. That’s someone else’s plan there. It just happened to be here. Fans, rivalry, whatever, it is what it is, but I know we had a lot of fun competing.”

Lackey (12-11) retired the final 10 batters he faced. The former Cardinal and three-time World Series winner struck out three and gave up two hits and two walks.

“I’ve got to keep telling these kids (young Cubs players) `Don’t take anyone of these for granted. You never know if it’s your last one,” Lackey said. “If you start thinking this is something easy, it’s time for you to go home.”

Six Cubs relievers combined for three scoreless innings.

Cardinals starter Michael Wacha needed just 60 pitches to cruise through the first six innings, striking out eight, before running into trouble in the seventh. Anthony Rizzo and Bryant started the inning with singles and Russell drove a 2-1 pitch over the left field wall to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead.

Wacha (12-9) was chased after allowing the first six Cubs to reach base in the seventh. Heyward and Tommy La Stella had RBI doubles as the Cubs sent 10 batters to the plate against three St. Louis pitchers.

Paul DeJong’s single scored Jedd Gyorko to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the second.

Former Cub Dexter Fowler came to the plate with the bases loaded as the tying run in the eighth, but Carl Edwards Jr. got him to fly weakly to right field, ending the Cardinals’ threat.

The loss drops the Cardinals elimination number to one.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny didn’t watch the Cubs’ celebration.

“Usually when I watch we don’t have any more games to play,” Matheny said. “We’re getting ready for tomorrow. When I watch in the playoffs it’s because our season was over. Our season is not over.”

The Cubs will draw Washington in the NLDS, but Lackey isn’t focused on the Nationals yet.

“I think we’re going to have a good time tonight,” Lackey said. “I don’t really care about the Nationals.”

BAD BLOOD

Rizzo was hit by a 99 mph fastball on the first pitch he saw from Wacha with two outs and nobody on in the first. Rizzo was visibly upset after getting hit, throwing his bat over-handed towards the Cubs’ dugout.

 

Earlier in the day, Cardinals OF Tommy Pham told media that he believed he was hit by a pitch on purpose by the Cubs in Tuesday night’s game.

Both batters were hit in the ribs.

TRAINING ROOM

Cubs: OF Albert Almora Jr. (bruised right shoulder) is day-to-day.

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina will undergo further testing under the league’s concussion protocol.

UP NEXT

Cubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (7-5, 3.14 ERA) has made eight consecutive quality starts. He is 2-2 with a 3.62 ERA in his career against St. Louis, including taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his last start at Busch Stadium on Sept. 12, 2016.

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (11-8, 3.47 ERA) could possibly be making his final start as a Cardinal after six seasons with the club. Lynn, an unrestricted free agent, is 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA in 18 career appearances against Chicago.

— Associated Press —

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals are running out of time to make their September surge extend their season beyond the first day of October.

Seung Hwan Oh’s difficult season hit another low point when he surrendered a go-ahead two-run homer to Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte in the fifth inning on Sunday as the Pirates pulled away for a 4-1 victory to blunt the Cardinals’ momentum heading into the regular season’s final week.

St. Louis dropped 2 1/2 games behind Colorado for the NL’s second wild card, mustering just four hits against Jameson Taillon and five relievers while falling to Pittsburgh for the second time in less than 24 hours. The Cardinals headed home for a seven-game homestand starting on Monday against the Chicago Cubs with little wiggle room left.

“Yeah we understand the urgency,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “We understand all the numbers. We just don’t spend too much time on them because they’re irrelevant to what we have to do. What we have to do is go play good baseball, that’s it.”

The Cardinals came into Pittsburgh riding a sweep of Cincinnati. They leave having dropped two of three to the Pirates. On Saturday night Pittsburgh chased Lance Lynn in the first inning of an 11-6 romp. On Sunday the Pirates relied on five strong innings from Taillon (8-7) and pounced when Oh (1-6) ran into trouble in the fifth.

With the score 1-1, Pat Bostick singled against Oh leading off the inning and Starling Marte followed with his seventh home run. The drive was the 10th allowed by Oh this season in 62 appearances. He gave up just five in 76 games a rookie in 2016.

“Obviously, everyone can see how it is, very tough,” Oh said through a translator. “None of the fastballs or off-speed pitches are working well.”

Jordan Luplow went deep an inning later off Brett Cecil to give Pittsburgh a three-run cushion. Taillon labored at times through his final home start of the season and needed 95 pitches to get 15 outs. He kept the Cardinals in check and five pitchers combined for hitless relief, with Felipe Rivero striking out two in a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances.

“The command was a little off, but he made pitches at crunch time throughout the game,” Hurdle said of Taillon. “His competitive fire was burning.”

Matt Carpenter hit his 22nd home run for St. Louis but the Cardinals went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. St. Louis had a chance to close the gap in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs. Pittsburgh reliever George Kontos got Tommy Pham to hit into a forceout to end the threat.

“We were getting two outs, men in scoring position, bases loaded,” Matheny said. “Someone’s got to come through and do something really big and it didn’t happen. It’s not easy to do.”

FINISHING KICK

Taillon’s first full season in the majors included a battle with testicular cancer that forced him to miss more than a month. He’s endured an uneven year on the mound and has only worked into the seventh three times since returning from the disabled list in June. Still, the 25-year-old lowered his ERA this month to 3.91 in four starts.

“That was my goal I committed to in September, specifically after that little layoff I had,” Taillon said. “I really wanted to finish strong, so it felt strong to have a good one.”

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle praised Taillon’s mettle in the fifth, when Taillon battled through a pair of one-out singles to strike out Carpenter and Pham.

“He showed the guys in the dugout something,” Hurdle said. “I think he threw one fastball at 97. He threw some curveballs that were sharp even though the pitches were over 30. To see that fight, he had good stuff today. The command was a little off, but he made pitches at crunch time throughout the game. His competitive fire was burning.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: 1B Jose Martinez is dealing with a sprained left thumb and a timetable for his return is uncertain. Martinez had an MRI in St. Louis on Saturday that revealed no serious damage. Martinez flew to St. Louis after leaving Friday night’s win against the Pirates in the sixth inning due to pain in the thumb.

Pirates: SS Jordy Mercer was held out of the lineup after exiting Saturday night’s victory with soreness in his left knee.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (7-1, 2.05 ERA) starts Monday against the Cubs and LHP Jon Lester (11-8, 4.56). St. Louis is 4-11 against Chicago this season.

Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (6-9, 4.18) starts Tuesday versus Baltimore and RHP Kevin Gausman (11-10, 4.61).

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Dexter Fowler delivered again, hitting two doubles and a single as the St. Louis Cardinals overcame Scott Schebler’s two home runs to beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-5 Thursday night for a three-game sweep.

The Cardinals began the day 2 1/2 games behind Colorado for the second NL wild-card spot and five games behind the Central-leading Chicago Cubs.

Fowler drove in two runs. He went 7 for 13 with two home runs and six RBI in the series.

Yadier Molina drove in two runs as the Cardinals completed their first sweep in Cincinnati since 2010.

Carlos Martinez (12-11) lasted 6 1/3 innings on a muggy night with a gametime temperature of 85 degrees, allowing four runs and nine hits.

Martinez improved to 3-1 in his last four starts. He gave up Phillip Ervin’s two-run homer in the fourth and a drive by Schebler in the seventh.

Schebler led off the ninth with a homer, his 29th of the season.

Homer Bailey (5-9) became the third consecutive Reds starter to be lifted without getting through five innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks in four innings.

Fowler doubled and scored on Jose Martinez’s single in the first, then hit a two-run double over Ervin’s head in center in the third and later scored on Molina’s sacrifice fly.

Molina added an RBI double in the seventh.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: 1B Jose Martinez returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game while nursing a sore left thumb.

Reds: Hopes that C Devin Mesoraco might be able to squeeze in some pinch-hit at-bats before the end of the season were dashed as his fractured left foot hasn’t healed quickly enough.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (12-8) allowed five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts over eight innings in his last start against Pittsburgh, a 7-0 win on Sept. 10. He starts when St. Louis visits the Pirates on Friday night.

Reds: RHP Sal Romano (5-6) allowed five hits with no walks and six strikeouts over eight shutout innings in his last start, a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on last Saturday. He’ll pitch against the visiting Red Sox on Friday night.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Dexter Fowler homered for the third straight game while Matt Carpenter and Paul DeJong also homered as the St. Louis Cardinals gained ground in their National League playoff push with a 9-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night.

Tommy Pham finished with two doubles, a single and two RBI and Yadier Molina added a two-run double as the third-place Cardinals (79-72) gained a game on Colorado in the wild-card race to move within 2 1/2 games. St. Louis sits five games behind the Cubs in the NL Central chase.

Rookie right-hander Luke Weaver retired 10 straight batters in one stretch on the way to his seventh straight winning start, the major leagues’ longest active streak and the longest by a Cardinals pitcher this season. The 24-year-old allowed five hits and two runs with seven strikeouts in five innings.

Weaver (7-1) has fanned seven or more batters in each of his last seven starts. Relievers Zach Duke, Seung Hwan Oh, Sandy Alcantara and Sam Tuivailala teamed up to retire 12 of the final 13 Reds batters.

Carpenter led off the game with his 21st homer. Fowler followed Pham’s RBI double in the third with a two-run shot into the right field seats. It was his career-high 18th homer of the season. DeJong added his team-high 24th, the Cardinals’ second set of back-to-back homers in two nights.

The Reds broke up Weaver’s shutout bid with a two-run fifth. Patrick Kivlehan’s drove in Jose Peraza from first with a double and scored on Jesse Winker’s single.

Rookie Davis (1-3) gave up all three homers and five runs on five hits with three strikeouts in three innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Carpenter returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday after not starting Tuesday because of bursitis in his right shoulder that has plagued him for much of the season.

Reds: CF Billy Hamilton was activated from the 10-day disabled list (fractured left thumb), but he most likely will be limited to pinch-running and defense for at least a couple of days until he proves he can handle a bat without aggravating the injury.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez, who turns 26 on Thursday, is 0-2 with a 7.15 ERA in two starts against the Reds this season, including a 4-2 loss in Cincinnati on June 5 when he allowed four hits and four runs with two walks and eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

Reds: RHP Homer Bailey (5-8) set a single-game career high by allowing 10 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings of his last start against the Cardinals, a 13-4 loss at St. Louis in August.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Dexter Fowler hit a tying homer in the eighth inning and a go-ahead double in the 10th, helping the St. Louis Cardinals knock off the Cincinnati Reds 8-7 on Tuesday night.

Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong also connected for St. Louis, which was swept by NL Central-leading Chicago over the weekend and had dropped four of five overall. Juan Nicasio (4-5) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and Tyler Lyons got two outs for his third save.

The third-place Cardinals (78-72) remained six games back of the Cubs in the division. St. Louis also is in the mix for a wild card after missing the playoffs last season.

— Associated Press —