ST. LOUIS (AP) — Orlando Arcia is finding his balance.

Domingo Santana and Arcia hit back-to-back homers as the Milwaukee Brewers continued their recent road dominance routing the St. Louis Cardinals 12-5 on Thursday night.

Hernan Perez had four hits and three RBI for the Brewers, who won their season-high fifth straight on the road and have won seven of their last eight games.

“You’re always happy to be in a good streak,” Arcia said through an interpreter. “We try to keep it loose, we try to play games before the game just trying to keep everybody loose and just going out there and having fun.”

The Cardinals fell to 30-38 at home and dropped a half game behind the idle New York Mets for the second wild card spot.

Santana and Arcia connected on consecutive pitches in the second inning. It was the seventh time Milwaukee hit back-to-back homers this season and the second time in four days as Chris Carter and Santana did it on Sunday at Pittsburgh.

“I just went out there looking for a pitch I could hit hard, looking for my pitch,” Arcia said. “I was able to get one and hit it hard and get it out.”

Perez’s four hits matched a career high he set Tuesday against Chicago.

“He’s swinging the bat well,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “He just is getting in spots and tonight we had some runners on base when he was up. He’s making a lot of hard contact, solid contact.”

Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado has been pleasantly surprised by Perez’s production in the clean-up spot.

“He’s earned his playing time this year and is putting up his numbers,” Maldonado said. “He doesn’t try to do too much. He’s older and he’s learning. He’s doing a good job.”

Arcia, who told reporters a couple of weeks ago that his balance was off in the batter’s box, had three hits and raised his average to .367 over his last 15 games.

“Just a lot of hard work,” Arcia said. “Just try to keep my same approach, up the middle and the other way and its starting to click.”

The bottom three hitters in the Brewers lineup reached eight times and scored six runs.

Maldonado’s two-run home run in the sixth was his first since Aug. 13.

Brewers right-hander Junior Guerra (8-3) needed 74 pitches to get through five innings in his second start back from the disabled list. It was his first career win against St. Louis in three tries.

Jaime Garcia (10-12) struggled for the fourth time in his last five starts, losing a career-high fourth straight decision. He gave up five earned runs in 3 2/3 innings — his third shortest outing of the season.

“As he came out in the first I thought it was going to be one of those days where we were going to see some really good balls on the ground,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “It seemed like some elevated balls got him. He had a good sinker. It just ended up being a rough one.”

Garcia entered the game with an 11-5 career record against the Brewers.

“Well there are some guys who hadn’t faced him very often,” Counsell said. “He left some balls up and that’s how you’ve got to get him. You’ve got to get him with some balls up in the strike zone and we did a good job of it.”

Cardinals reliever Mike Mayers retired just three of the nine batters he faced, giving up six runs. He has given up 15 runs in 3 1/3 innings and has a 40.50 ERA.

Kolten Wong’s two-run home run in the fourth was the Cardinal second baseman’s third in his last six games. Jose Martinez’s first major league hit in the eighth scored Jedd Gyorko.

TRAINING ROOM

Cardinals: LHP Michael Wacha (right shoulder inflammation) and RHP Trevor Rosenthal (right shoulder inflammation) both had successful bullpen sessions Wednesday. . OF Matt Holliday (right thumb fracture) grabbed a bat for the first time Thursday. . IF Aledmys Diaz (right thumb fracture) went 0-for-4 in a rehab start at Double-A Springfield on Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Brewers: RHP Jimmy Nelson (7-13, 4.36 ERA) has made 12 quality starts this season. He is 0-6 with a 7.57 ERA in eight career games against St. Louis.

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (13-7, 3.07 ERA) leads all National League pitchers with 30 double plays induced. He is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA in three starts this season against Milwaukee.

— Associated Press —

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jung Ho Kang led off the eighth inning with a home run, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Kang hit a drive deep into the bullpens in left-center off rookie Alex Reyes (1-1) for his 17th homer and third in two games. It helped snap the Pirates’ longest skid since dropping 10 straight in 2011.

The Cardinals are percentage points ahead of the New York Mets for the second NL wild card, and the Pirates drew within 4 1/2 games of St. Louis.

Trevor Williams (1-0) allowed one unearned run in three innings for the win in his major league debut.

Reyes gave up one run in 3 2/3 innings and also singled off Williams in the seventh for his first major league hit.

Tony Watson worked a perfect ninth inning for his 11th save after blowing his previous two opportunities, including Tuesday night when he allowed three home runs in the ninth inning of a 9-7 loss.

The Cardinals ended a streak of 25 consecutive games with a home run, a club record.

Pirates starter Jameson Taillon pitched five innings. The rookie gave up two runs, six hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Mike Leake went 4 1/3 innings in his first start for the Cardinals since Aug. 21 after being sidelined by the shingles virus. He gave up three runs, nine hits and a walk while striking out three.

The Cardinals’ Yadier Molina scored in the sixth to make it 3-3. Molina reached second base when right fielder Adam Frazier dropped his fly ball, then scored on a single by Randal Grichuk.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: LF Matt Holliday (broken left thumb) was cleared to resume baseball activities and is hopeful of returning before the end of the regular season. He has been on the disabled list since Aug. 12.

Pirates: LF Starling Marte sat out a second straight game because of back spasms. … RHP Neftali Feliz, who was removed from Saturday’s game with arm discomfort, is still unable to play catch and likely won’t return until next week. … C Elias Diaz, who was expected to be recalled Tuesday from Triple-A Indianapolis, has instead been shut down for the season after undergoing surgery for a bacterial infection in his left leg.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (10-11, 4.41 ERA), who has lost his last three starts, faces Milwaukee RHP Junior Guerra (7-3, 2.85) on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game home series.

Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova is 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA in six starts since being acquired from the New York Yankees in a trade Aug. 1. He starts against Cincinnati RHP Dan Straily (11-7, 3.83) to open a four-game home series Thursday.

— Associated Press —

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Down to his final strike and his team trailing by a run with two outs in the ninth, St. Louis pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter told himself to just find a pitch he could handle.

When the fastball from closer Tony Watson ended up right down the middle and not up and away as Watson hoped, Carpenter pounced. His solo homer — a major league record 15th by a St. Louis pinch-hitter this season — tied it and sent a jolt through the Cardinals. A home run each from Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta followed, and St. Louis rallied for a stunning 9-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

“We’ve got a team that I think the best way to describe it is a dangerous team,” Carpenter said. “We’ve got a team that I don’t think anybody wants to match up with, especially in a postseason scenario. It’s a fun team to play on. We never quit, and tonight was a good example of it.”

St. Louis blew an early five-run lead and the Pirates were a pitch away from ending a seven-game losing streak when Watson’s 0-2 fastball turned into Carpenter’s 18th home run. An All-Star two years ago as a setup man who moved into the closer role when Mark Melancon was traded to Washington at the deadline, Watson gave up as many homers in the ninth as he did during the entire 2015 season.

“We’re not playing good ball and to go out there and (have) guys fight back and be a strike away and serve up four more runs, it’s tough to swallow,” Watson (2-4) said after his third blown save since replacing Melancon.

Yadier Molina went 4 for 5, including a first-inning grand slam for St. Louis. Mike Mayers (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for the win, and Seung-Hwan Oh worked around a solo homer to Jung Ho Kang in the ninth for his 16th save.

The Cardinals finished with five home runs in all, including Matt Adams’ 436-foot drive over the seats in right field that plopped into the Allegheny River on the bounce. The comeback allowed St. Louis to remain a game in front of the New York Mets for the second wild card in the National League.

“I’m speechless,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “Just, I love how this team competes, right down to the last out. Having a guy like (Carpenter), who hadn’t felt quite right, to be able to come into that situation, and then right after that … I’m at a loss.”

Jung Ho Kang had two homers for Pittsburgh and Jordy Mercer hit a two-run double in the fifth as the Pirates took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Cardinals to overcome an early five-run deficit. Watson’s implosion, however, sent Pittsburgh to its eighth straight defeat.

The Pirates came in reeling during their longest skid in two years, one that dropped them to the fringe of playoff contention. Opponents have outscored them 47-22 during the slide, including a 12-6 setback on Monday night in which the Cardinals simply overpowered Pittsburgh’s struggling pitching staff.

It looked like more of the same early on Tuesday. The Cardinals loaded the bases against Ryan Vogelsong and Molina cleared them with his first grand slam since 2012, the 25th straight game the Cardinals have homered, a club record.

MARTINEZ FINALLY ARRIVES

St. Louis rookie outfielder Jose Martinez made his long-awaited major league debut when he entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. The 28-year-old son of former major leaguer Carlos “Cafe” Martinez grounded out to third in his first plate appearance after more than a decade in the minors.

“It was good to see him get that chance,” Matheny said. “This is a good day for him. Long time coming.”

TRAINING ROOM

Cardinals: RF Stephen Piscotty was initially held out of the lineup to give his aching left wrist a breather. Piscotty took a pitch off the wrist on Monday. Postgame X-rays were negative and Piscotty doubled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.

Pirates: Pittsburgh held C Francisco Cervelli out of the lineup a day after he experienced discomfort in his left hand trying to block a pitch.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Mike Leake returns to the rotation after a stay on the disabled list while battling a case of the shingles. Leake is 9-5 with a 3.28 ERA in his career against Pittsburgh but is 1-2 with a 5.71 ERA this season.

Pirates: Rookie Jameson Taillon will face the Cardinals for the first time in the series finale. The 24-year-old has a 2.80 ERA over his last 10 starts and pitched six innings of one-run ball last week against Milwaukee.

— Associated Press —

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Adam Wainwright is still in search of his best stuff. His bat made sure his best wasn’t necessary.

The St. Louis ace drove in three runs and survived five occasionally bumpy innings to pick up his first victory since mid-July as the Cardinals drummed the staggering Pittsburgh Pirates 12-6 on Monday.

Wainwright hit an RBI-double off Chad Kuhl (3-3) in the second and added a two-run single in the fourth as the Cardinals held on to the second wild card spot in the National League by sending the Pirates to their seventh straight loss.

“We needed that win,” Wainwright said. “We need every win that we can get coming down the stretch. Any part that I can play in that is a treat for me, a privilege.”

Wainwright (10-8) allowed four runs and struck out five as his ERA rose to 4.61 while picking up his first victory since July 16. He hardly needed to be sharp as the Cardinals battered Pittsburgh’s beleaguered pitching staff. Jedd Gyorko and Matt Adams homered for St. Louis to extend the team’s streak of games with at least one home run to a club-record 24.

Andrew McCutchen and Adam Frazier hit home runs for the Pirates, who have been outscored 47-22 during their current slide. A week ago Pittsburgh was well within striking distance of the Cardinals for a playoff spot but have fallen 4 1/2 games behind St. Louis and dropped below .500 (67-68) for the first time since July 2.

“We’re trying to figure ourselves out and get out of this and get back to playing baseball the way we want to play,” shortstop Jordy Mercer said. “We just have to keep going.”

St. Louis pounded out 14 hits — eight for extra bases — against five pitchers and wasted little time getting to Kuhl, who has been steady if not spectacular since joining the rotation full-time a month ago.

Wainwright’s double to the wall in center field put the Cardinals in front and Stephen Piscotty’s two-run double later in the inning gave Wainwright an early cushion, one he flirted with giving away. Pittsburgh touched him for two runs in the bottom of the inning but Wainwright avoided major damage.

“I hate giving up runs after we score,” Wainwright said. “That’s driving me crazy. But what we did do well there is we held them to two. We could have let that inning get away from us, and we didn’t.”

Jeff Locke came on relief of Kuhl in the third and the Cardinals quickly went to work. Kolten Wong’s RBI single against him made it 4-2 and Gyorko opened the fourth with a long home run down the left-field line for his 26th of the year.

Wainwright’s bloop to left later in the inning pushed St. Louis’ lead to six runs and allowed Wainwright to leave after five innings in which he needed 93 pitches to get 15 outs.

“He was at 93 pitches, and we’re in September,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “The first two (innings) were stressful. To me, we’ve got a lead that we think our bullpen can hold. I guess your greatest argument (for leaving him in) is you want to see him hit again.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Piscotty left in the fifth inning after being hit in the wrist with a pitch though Matheny said X-rays were negative. … RHP Mike Leake will return after a bout with the shingles when he starts on Wednesday. … C Brayan Pena is finally healthy after battling injuries much of the season but the team will not use him to catch a full game.

Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli was taken out of the game after the fourth inning with discomfort in his left thumb. … C Elias Diaz is being evaluated for cellulitis in his left leg and will be re-evaluated on Thursday.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Rookie Luke Weaver makes his fourth major league start on Tuesday. Weaver is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA and gave up three runs over six innings in his last start against Milwaukee.

Pirates: Veteran Ryan Vogelsong (3-4, 3.56 ERA) will make his ninth start of the season and seventh since returning from the DL on Aug. 4 after missing more than two months while recovering from facial fractures sustained when he was hit by a pitch on May 23. Vogelsong is 3-7 with a 5.75 ERA in 22 appearances against the Cardinals.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Carlos Martinez kept getting himself into trouble and his defense kept bailing him out.

Randal Grichuk and Kolten Wong homered, and Martinez carried a shutout into the seventh inning with the help of some timely double plays as the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

“Every time a runner gets on base, I just increase my focus,” Martinez said. “I was a little bit fatigued, but I never lost focus.”

Yadier Molina had two of the five hits for the Cardinals, who avoided being swept in Cincinnati for the first time since July 2012.

St. Louis began the day with a one-game lead over the Mets for the final NL playoff spot. New York was set to host Washington later.

Martinez (13-7) allowed three hits and all of his season-high five walks over six scoreless innings before the Reds reached him for three hits and two runs to knock him out of the game three batters into the seventh. He struck out six while improving to 8-1 in 13 road starts this season.

Cincinnati went on to load the bases with one out against reliever Zack Duke before Scott Schebler flied out. Left fielder Brandon Moss, who went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, threw out Tyler Holt at the plate — the third of four Cardinals double plays, tying their season high.

“That was a big play,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “When a guy is struggling to put together at-bats, it’s important to come up big in big situations. That was a nice tag by (Molina), too.”

Reds manager Bryan Price had no problem with the speedy Holt trying to score.

“Offensively, we’re down by three runs and you think you’re going to be conservative, but you still have to score runs,” Price said. “Moss makes a nice play. We had to take a chance with two outs.”

Seung Hwan Oh allowed a leadoff single in the ninth before getting three outs for his 15th save.

Tim Adleman (2-3) gave up both Cardinals home runs while matching his career high with six strikeouts in his first career appearance against St. Louis. He allowed four hits and three runs with a walk in five innings.

“Outside of a few pitches, I did a pretty good job of minimizing damage,” Adleman said. “It was better today. I wasn’t in a lot of jams today. The first (home run) in the second inning, the pitch got too much of the plate. Maybe in another park, it doesn’t go out. I don’t know. The second one to Wong was a curve over the plate. You have to tip your hat. He did what he was supposed to with it.”

Grichuk followed Stephen Piscotty’s double with his 21st homer this season and second of the series, giving St. Louis a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Grichuk also homered on Friday.

Wong made it 3-0 by leading off the fifth with his fourth homer this season and second on the road trip. He also connected Monday in Milwaukee.

First baseman Joey Votto’s error and pitcher Jumbo Diaz’s error and wild pitch helped St. Louis add two unearned runs in the sixth for a 5-0 lead.

CLOCKWORK

Fireworks were set off every hour on the hour outside the ballpark as crowds gathered for the city’s annual pre-Labor Day “Riverfest” fireworks show. The 40-year-old event has been known to draw crowds of up to 500,000 people on the banks of the Ohio River. World War II-era warplanes also buzzed the ballpark before and during the game.

AND COUNTING

Grichuk’s drive extended to 23 the Cardinals’ club-record streak of consecutive games with at least one home run.

TOP DOWN

Reds pitching limited the Cardinals’ first four batters — Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko, Moss and Piscotty — to a combined 5 for 43 with one RBI and six walks in the series.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Ex-Reds catcher Brayan Pena, limited to four games this season by left knee inflammation, was activated from the 60-day disabled list before the game.

Reds: CF Billy Hamilton, leading the majors in stolen bases, exited in the third inning after straining his left oblique while taking a strike.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (9-8) tries to snap his four-game losing streak at Pittsburgh in the opener of a three-game series Monday.

Reds: Mets RF Jay Bruce, traded by the Reds to New York on Aug. 1, returns to Cincinnati for the first time in the opener of a three-game series Monday. RHP Robert Stephenson (2-0) attempts to become the first Reds pitcher since Wayne Simpson in 1970 to win his first three career starts.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Billy Hamilton was very matter-of-fact about his latest impressive play, one that turned the game when it was still close.

Hamilton robbed the Cardinals of a potential two-run hit in the fourth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds pulled away to a 9-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

Zack Cozart hit a pair of doubles during run-scoring innings that included St. Louis misplays, and Hamilton’s catch-and-throw wiped out a Cardinals rally in the early going.

“It’s my job to catch the ball,” Hamilton said. “If a great catch happens, it happens. I don’t go out there to make great catches.”

With runners on first and second, Hamilton caught up with Alberto Rosario’s fly to the warning track, smacked into the wall after making the catch, and threw back to the infield to double up a surprised Greg Garcia at first base to end the fourth.

“Garcia made a good, aggressive move,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “If the ball comes off the wall at all, he’s going to score. He (Hamilton) closed a lot of space in a hurry and made a great play.”

Pinch hitter Ramon Cabrera’s two-run single in the seventh inning put the Reds ahead 4-1. Cincinnati used four walks by Jerome Williams to score five times in the eighth, capped by Tucker Barnhart’s bases-loaded double.

Dan Straily (11-7) gave up three hits, including Jedd Gyorko’s homer, and a career-high seven walks in only 5 2/3 innings. Gyorko hit his career-high 25th home run, 18 since the All-Star break.

“I didn’t know I had (walked) that many until I came in here,” Straily said. “It’s baseball. It’s one of those bizarre lines you see every once in a while.”

The Cardinals have homered in a club-record 22 straight games, hitting a total of 43 in that span. Only San Diego (25 games) has a longer streak this season. The 2002 Rangers set the major league record of 27.

The Cardinals have lost seven of 11. They’re still in position to get the NL’s second wild-card spot, staying ahead of the Mets, Pirates and Marlins.

Cincinnati used a couple of Cardinals miscues to squeeze out two runs against Jaime Garcia (10-11). The lefty had allowed at least five runs in each of his last three starts.

Right fielder Stephen Piscotty lost track of Tyler Holt’s fly ball in the third, letting it fall for a double. Holt scored on Cozart’s two-out double.

Another double by Cozart helped the Reds load the bases in the fifth, and Rosario’s passed ball let in a run for a 2-1 lead.

OOPS

Hamilton ran into umpire Angel Hernandez as he rounded first base and thought about trying for second on an errant throw in the seven the seventh inning. Hamilton went down and had to stay at first for a while. He took second on his 58th steal of the season.

GOLDEN TICKET

Joey Votto used a song from “Willy Wonka” as his walk-up music for his first at-bat. Gene Wilder, who played the part of Wonka, died on Monday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RH Mike Leake will fly into Cincinnati on Sunday morning and threw in the bullpen before the final game of the series. Leake has been sidelined since Aug. 22 with the shingles.

Reds: 2B Brandon Phillips was scratched from the lineup with a sore left foot that took a foul ball on Friday.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (12-7) is 4-1 career against the Reds with a 2.72 ERA, including four starts and 11 relief appearances. The Cardinals are 13-2 when he’s pitched against Cincinnati.

Reds: Tim Adleman (2-2) faces the Cardinals for the first time. He’s 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in three starts since his promotion on Aug. 16.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Eugenio Suarez had never ended a game with a hit. When his grounder made it through the infield, he raised both arms in celebration.

Suarez singled up the middle with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night, rallying the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals were hoping to start a final-month surge toward the playoffs — they’re in position to get the NL’s second wild-card berth behind San Francisco. Instead, the Reds snapped a four-game losing streak.

Seung Hwan Oh (4-3) walked Zack Cozart on four pitches to open the ninth, and Brandon Phillips followed with a single. After Scott Schebler singled one out later to load the bases, Suarez got his first career game-ending hit.

“I knew this opportunity would come,” Suarez said. “I tried to make it game over. I was just trying to hit a ball up the middle. I got the opportunity and didn’t try to do too much. I hit it good.”

The Reds had loaded the bases in the seventh and eighth and failed to score. Raisel Iglesias (1-1) gave up a walk in the ninth.

“We kept getting in trouble,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “When you’re going to load the bases in the seventh, eighth and ninth of a tie game, it’s hard to get out of that.”

Yadier Molina and Randal Grichuk connected for an early lead off Anthony DeSclafani, who has been tough against St. Louis during his career. The right-hander is 3-1 in six starts against the Cardinals with a 2.25 ERA.

“I don’t think I threw the ball that good,” DeSclafani said. “I got away with a lot early. A lot of balls were hit at guys. It could’ve gotten ugly early.”

Molina led the Cardinals with a .347 batting average in August and had 32 hits, his most in any month since May 2015. He connected in the second inning for his sixth homer.

Grichuk led off the fifth inning with his 20th homer, extending his big week. He had a game-tying homer and a game-winning single earlier in the week.

The Reds tied it in the sixth against Alex Reyes, who made his second major league start. Cozart singled, ending his 0-for-17 skid. Phillips followed with a double that ricocheted off third base. Adam Duvall’s sacrifice fly and Schebler’s single made it 2-2.

DIFFERENT LOOK

The Reds wore their special camouflage jerseys as part of a night honoring the military.

ADAMS BACK

Matt Adams was activated off the disabled list. He’d been sidelined since Aug. 10 with inflammation in his right shoulder, missing 19 games. Adams pinch hit and grounded out in the seventh.

TAKE THREE

Billy Hamilton stole three bases — the first two off Reyes’ move to the plate — leaving him 23 for 25 career in steal attempts against Molina. It’s the most steals by any runner against the eight-time Gold Glove catcher. Hamilton leads the majors with 57 steals.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RH Mike Leake is expected to rejoin the team in Cincinnati and throw a bullpen session on Sunday. He’s been on the disabled list since Aug. 22 with the shingles.

Reds: Joey Votto was out of the lineup with a stiff neck. Ivan De Jesus Jr. started at first base.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LH Jaime Garcia (10-10) has allowed at least five runs in three straight starts for the first time in his career.

Reds: RH Dan Straily (10-7) had a career-high six-game winning streak snapped Monday in a 9-2 loss at the Angels. He tied his career high by allowing seven runs and four homers.

— Associated Press —

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kirk Nieuwenhuis homered and Matt Garza pitched into the eighth inning, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night, ending a six-game losing streak.

Nieuwenhuis belted a three-run homer off Luke Weaver (1-2) in the third inning.

Garza (5-6) turned in his longest outing of the season, giving up one run and three hits in seven-plus innings while walking two and striking out eight.

Garza allowed the first two batters in the eighth to reach base before being replaced by Carlos Torres, who pitched out of the jam but not before loading the bases with two outs.

Yadier Molina hit a solo home run in the fourth for the Cardinals giving them a homer in a franchise-record 20 consecutive games.

Weaver, making his fourth major league start, gave up three runs and four hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out 10, including four straight at one point.

The Brewers loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but failed to score off Weaver, who struck out Keon Broxton looking to end the inning.

Tyler Thornburg notched his sixth save in 10 chances.

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

The Brewers traded OF Eric Young Jr., who has spent the entire season at Triple-A Colorado Springs, to the New York Yankees, for cash considerations.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams, on the DL with left shoulder inflammation, could soon return to the lineup. Adams is “getting healthy and getting close,” manager Mike Matheny said.

Brewers: Manager Craig Counsell said OF Domingo Santana is healthy despite being out of the starting lineup for the third consecutive game. Santana missed games in May with a sore shoulder. An ailing right elbow kept him out of the lineup from the first week of June until earlier this month.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Alex Reyes (1-0, 0.64 ERA) will make his second major league start when St. Louis starts a three-game series at Cincinnati on Friday. He had a no-decision in his first start on Saturday against Oakland, allowing one run and two hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Brewers: Junior Guerra (7-3, 2.93) will return to the rotation when Milwaukee opens a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Friday. Guerra had been on the DL with right elbow inflammation. He is 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA in three career games (two starts) against the Pirates.

— Associated Press —

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Zach Duke stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout in the 10th inning after Randal Grichuk hit an RBI single in the top half of the inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals over the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Seung Hwan Oh (4-2) pitched out of a jam in the ninth to get the win. Duke got his first save with the Cardinals by entering to strike out pinch-hitter Manny Pina after Matt Bowman walked three batters.

The Cardinals’ Jhonny Peralta led off the 10th with a single off Corey Knebel (0-2) and moved to third on Yadier Molina’s ground-rule double. Jeremy Hazelbaker, who pinch ran for Peralta, scored the winning run on Grichuk’s flare to right.

St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright and Milwaukee’s Wily Peralta dueled for seven innings, leaving a 1-1 game for the bullpens.

Neither team had a hit until the fourth and neither scored until the sixth.

St. Louis’ Jedd Gyorko broke the scoreless tie with a two-out home run in the sixth. The Cardinals have homered in 19 consecutive games, tying a franchise record set in July 2006.

Martin Maldonado’s run-scoring double tied it in the bottom of the inning.

Wainwright retired the first nine batters until Jonathan Villar singled leading off the fourth. Wainwright gave up three hits and one run in seven innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.

Peralta retired the first nine batters before surrendering a single to Matt Carpenter, who led off the fourth.

Peralta has pitched well since being recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Aug. 8 after struggling earlier in the year. He gave up three hits and one run in seven innings, walking one and striking out a season-high 10. It marked the second time in his career that he reached double digits in strikeouts.

Peralta had not gone more than six innings in a game this season.

The Brewers put two runners on in the ninth, but Oh struck out Chris Carter to end the threat. Milwaukee has lost six straight, all at home.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: SS Aledmys Diaz has been sent to the team’s facility in Jupiter, Florida, as he recovers from a hairline fracture in his right thumb that occurred in July. Diaz could serve as a designated hitter in a minor league rehab assignment sometime this week but still must go through more tests before he begins throwing.

Brewers: INF Will Middlebrooks (lower leg strain) was activated from the disabled list and outrighted to Triple-A. Middlebrooks can refuse the assignment and become a free agent. “It didn’t look like there was going to be playing time for him in September,” manager Craig Counsell said.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Luke Weaver (1-1, 3.60 ERA) will make his fourth major league start and first against the Brewers. He earned his first win in his last start against Oakland on Friday.

Brewers: Matt Garza (4-6, 4.89) is 4-5 with a 4.25 ERA in 13 career starts against St. Louis. He surrendered seven runs in 5 2/3 innings in a loss at St. Louis on July 1.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — First Stephen Vogt delivered the lineup card to the umpires. Then he connected for a three-run home run that helped the Oakland Athletics beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 Sunday.

Khris Davis also homered, his 34th, in support of rookie Andrew Triggs’ first win. Triggs (1-1) allowed three runs on four hits, walked none and struck out eight in six innings.

The Athletics have won four of their past five games and before each of the wins, Vogt has handled the duties of taking out the lineup card.

“Whatever works,” said Vogt, who went to the pregame meeting in his catcher’s gear. “You’ve got to keep it rolling.”

Triggs, who was called up from Triple-A Nashville for the eighth time earlier this month, said about 15 family and friends made the trip from his hometown in Nashville to watch the game played with the temperature 92 degrees at first pitch.

“Once you get through those first couple of innings with that heat, you’re maxed out in sweat so there’s not much more you can do,” Triggs said. “A win’s a win but it’s sweeter because I had a pretty big crew here.”

“He’s getting rewarded with a beer shower,” Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. “To pitch as well as he has and work himself into the rotation, it’s very rewarding to get him a win.”

Jaime Garcia (10-10) gave up a three-run homer to Vogt with in the third and a two-run shot to Davis, his 34th, with in the first. Garcia has allowed seven homers in his past three starts after giving up six in his first 13 starts. Both homers against the Athletics came with two out.

“We’ve seen it a few times where he gets some quick outs and something happens and it rolls out of control for a little while,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

“You make mistakes and stuff happens fast,” Garcia said. “I need to do a better job than that.”

The Athletics led 5-1 after Vogt’s homer — his 11th of the season and first off a left-hander — but the Cardinals closed to 5-4 in the seventh behind Matt Carpenter, who doubled twice, homered and scored his team’s first three runs. His homer in the third extended the Cardinals’ streak to 17 games with a homer, matching their season best.

Oakland went up 7-4 in the eighth when reliever Jonathan Broxton was charged with two runs while getting only one out. Vogt drove in his fourth run on an infield grounder.

Ryon Healy doubled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active streak in the majors.

St. Louis brought the tying run to the plate with one out against Ryan Madson but Randall Grichuk lined out to third and Greg Garcia flied to center for the final out. It was the closer’s 27th save in 33 chances.

The Cardinals, who completed their home stand 2-4, finished interleague play 1-8 at home and 8-12 overall. Oakland finished 7-13.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: INF Billy Butler (concussion) is expected to be cleared to return Monday.

Cardinals: SS Aledmys Diaz (right thumb) will see a hand specialist Monday to determine when he could return. Diaz has not played since July 31.

UP NEXT

Athletics: Rookie LHP Sean Manaea (5-8, 4.53) starts the opener of a three-game series at Houston seeking his first road win. He worked seven scoreless innings against the Astros in a 2-1 loss July 10.

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (12-7, 3.13) will make his third start at Milwaukee as St. Louis opens a nine-game, three-city trip. Martinez won his first two starts against the Brewers, allowing one run in 13 innings.

— Associated Press —