CHICAGO (AP) — Welington Castillo homered and drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning single, giving the Chicago Cubs a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals that tightened the NL Central race Tuesday night.

St. Louis’ lead was reduced to 1 1/2 games over second-place Pittsburgh, which clinched a playoff berth by beating Atlanta. With four games to play, the Cardinals, who secured a postseason spot last weekend, still have a magic number of four to wrap up their second consecutive division crown.

Castillo finished 2 for 5 with three RBIs. Zac Rosscup (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for his first major league win.

Pat Neshek (7-2) took the loss.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Mike Matheny looked at Adam Wainwright’s run over the past five years and summed it up with one word.

“Wow,” he said.

Wainwright joined Clayton Kershaw as the majors’ only 20-game winners, pitching three-hit ball over seven innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-0 on Monday night.

“I hope he realizes how special that is,” Matheny said. “He’s in a very elite group.”

Wainwright hit the 20-win mark for the second time while matching his career-high for victories, and the Cardinals moved a step closer toward their second straight division title.

They remained 2 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central with five to play with the Pirates beating Atlanta 1-0. St. Louis clinched its fourth straight playoff appearance on Sunday.

Wainwright’s run the past five years has been nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Twice during that span he has won 20. Two more times he finished with 19 victories, and he hasn’t won fewer than 14 in that stretch.

“It’s a tremendous honor, obviously,” Wainwright said about winning 20. “But more important, it’s a big win for our team.”

Wainwright (20-9) won his fifth straight start and made it look easy, striking out eight and walking one.

He gave up a double to Anthony Rizzo with two out in the first and did not allow another hit until back-to-back singles by Luis Valbuena and Welington Castillo with two out in the seventh.

Just like Kershaw did for the Dodgers on Friday, Wainwright picked up his 20th win at Wrigley Field. And when he did it in 2010, victory No. 20 that year also came at the famed old ballpark.

He got plenty of support in this one, with the Cardinals pounding Travis Wood (8-13) for seven runs and eight hits over five innings.

The Cardinals scored four in the fourth and three in the fifth on the way to their eighth win in 10 games.

Matt Holliday had two hits and scored two runs. He also drove in one.

Matt Adams chipped in with two hits and two RBIs. Jon Jay added two hits and drove in three, capping a four-run fourth with a two-run single to make it 4-0.

Holliday also had a run-scoring double to left and Yadier Molina singled in a run in that inning, and the Cardinals broke it open in the fifth.

Matt Carpenter led off that inning with a walk and was ruled safe at second tagging on Randal Grichuk’s fly to center following a replay review. He scored on Holliday’s bloop single to right, and Adams capped the rally with a two-run single to make it 7-0.

Wood felt sharp overall but still couldn’t avoid the big innings. That’s something he will try to fix in the offseason.

“Wasn’t a good year for me overall,” said Wood, owner of a 5.03 ERA after making the NL All-Star team last season. “With that being said, it showed me a lot of the stuff that I need to take into the offseason to work on because you learn a lot more about yourself as a pitcher when things aren’t going good as opposed to when things are.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Adams and Carpenter returned to the lineup after missing two games because of a stomach virus that’s been battering the team. Nearly half the Cardinals’ players and coaches have been affected by it in recent days. Assistant batting coach David Bell and pitcher Marco Gonzales were not with the team Monday because of the virus. “There’s still some aftermath (of the virus) going around,” Adams said. “But it’s getting a lot better.”

Cubs: RF Jorge Soler was back in the Cubs’ lineup after leaving Saturday’s game against the Dodgers as a precaution due to wet conditions. He had a scheduled day off on Sunday.

UP NEXT

RHP Shelby Miller (10-9, 3.68 ERA) looks to stay on a roll for St. Louis, as the Cardinals continue their three-game series against the Cubs. He is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in four starts in September. RHP Kyle Hendricks (7-2, 2.28) starts for Chicago.

UNFRIENDLY CONFINES

The Cardinals are 14-31 in night games at Wrigley Field.

LOPSIDED MARGIN

The Cubs have been outscored 45-22 while dropping four of five.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals are trying to secure the NL Central title while battling a flu bug that has spread throughout the roster. At least they know they are headed back to the postseason.

The Cardinals clinched a playoff spot on Sunday, and then lost 7-2 to Jay Bruce and the Cincinnati Reds. But the biggest concern for manager Mike Matheny was an alarming group of sick players.

Regulars Matt Adams and Matt Carpenter did not play for the second straight game, and Matheny said there are “north of 10 players” bothered by flu-like symptoms.

“There are a lot of guys that are unavailable,” he added. “Almost as many unavailable as available.”

Infielder Daniel Descalso is one of the players who has not been affected by the bug.

“I’m just trying to avoid anybody that’s sick,” he said. “I try to wash my hands and use Vitamin-C. There’s nothing you can really do about it. Just try to contain it and get guys back as soon as we can.”

Matheny indicated that several players might be held off the late Sunday flight to Chicago, where the Cardinals begin a three-game set against the Cubs on Monday. He said some may end up rejoining the team closer to game-time for the series opener at Wrigley Field.

“We might delay a couple guys, we don’t know how many,” Matheny said.

St. Louis secured its fourth consecutive postseason appearance when Milwaukee lost to Pittsburgh earlier in the day. But the Cardinals’ lead in the Central was sliced to 2 1/2 games over the Pirates.

Bruce hit two of Cincinnati’s four homers as the Reds snapped a six-game losing streak. Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco also went deep.

“It was great, every time one of the guys came to the dugout I said, `That’s good timing,” Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said. “These were impactful homers.”

Reds right-hander Alfredo Simon (15-10) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. He was working on a 17-inning scoreless string before St. Louis scored in the fifth.

“My two-seam fastball was working and they were hitting it to the ground,” Simon said. “That felt good.”

Bruce hit a solo shot in the fourth and another in the eighth. He also had an RBI single in the sixth that gave Cincinnati a 3-1 lead.

“To end the final road trip on a good note is something we can take a positive out of,” Bruce said. “They got a group of guys over there that are hard to score runs against. To continue to keep our foot on the gas and score some runs is nice.”

Yadier Molina and Randal Grichuk hit consecutive RBI doubles in the St. Louis sixth, but the Reds responded with four runs in the eighth. Mesoraco had the big blow, a three-run drive against Sam Tuivailala that made it 6-2.

Lance Lynn (15-10) gave up three runs and four hits in six innings for St. Louis. He also struck out nine to run his season total to 181, making him the first St. Louis pitcher to fan 175 or more in three successive years since Bob Gibson (1970-1972).

“I made two pitches in the zone for homers,” Lynn said. “They made good swings on them. Other than that, I threw the ball well.”

The Cardinals have won seven of nine and close the regular season on the road with three-game sets in Chicago and Arizona.

Descalso said the team was happy to nail down the playoff berth.

“We acknowledged it a little bit,” he said. “But there is other work to be done. Obviously, we’d like to go ahead and clinch the division and take care of that.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: Mesoraco returned the lineup after leaving Saturday’s game in the fifth inning with the flu.

UP NEXT

Reds: Cincinnati will close out the season with a six-game homestand beginning Tuesday against Milwaukee. RHP Johnny Cueto (18-9, 2.33 ERA) will face RHP Mike Fiers (6-3, 1.78 ERA) in the opener. Cueto, who will also start on Sunday, is looking to become the first Cincinnati pitcher to win 20 games since Danny Jackson went 23-8 in 1988.

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (19-9, 2.45 ERA) will take on Cubs LHP Travis Wood (8-12, 4.86 ERA) in the series opener in Chicago. Wainwright has thrown two complete games in winning his last four starts.

THEY KEEP COMING

A crowd of 45,747 gave the Cardinals their 52nd sellout of the season. They averaged 43,712 during the regular season and totaled 3,540,649, the second-highest total in franchise history behind the 2007 campaign.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — It didn’t take Tony Cruz long to consider all of his home runs and rank his latest.

He’s only had three in his 100-game career and the first two came on the road.

Cruz hit a three-run homer and the St. Louis Cardinals connected three times, beating the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 on Saturday night and moving closer to their fourth straight playoff berth.

“It was a really good feeling,” said Cruz, who also had the first curtain call of his career. “The first one of the year is always a really good feeling and my first one at home. You know you hear the crowd. It’s amazing.”

Milwaukee beat second-place Pittsburgh 1-0 on Saturday to give the St. Louis a 3½-game lead in the NL Central. The Cardinals cut their magic number to one for clinching a postseason berth, and five for their second NL Central title in a row.

Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk also homered as St. Louis won for the seventh time in eight games.

The Cardinals have hit five homers in the past two games, but have just 104 for the season — among the lowest total in the majors. Their lack of power has provided an ongoing issue manager Mike Matheny has had to address.

“I like the home runs,” Matheny said in his postgame interview. “You guys always accuse me of not liking them, but especially those three-runners that Tony did. We know we have the kind of team that can do that and it’s nice to see them.”

Cincinnati’s four runs were as many as it scored in the previous five games. The Reds have lost six in row and has been outscored 30-8 in that stretch.

They are 20-40 since the All-Star break.

“You’re seeing us having to go out there and really struggle so mightily to try to find a way to win a ball game,” manager Bryan Price said. “Certainly nobody’s enjoying this current portion of our schedule. The way we’ve played for the last 60 games has been miserable.”

Jason Motte (1-0) needed just three pitches and one out to earn the win. He came in relief of starter Michael Wacha and got Todd Frazier to foul out to right.

Wacha didn’t qualify for the win because he lasted just 4 2/3 innings. He was seeking his first win since June 17 before going on the disabled list with a shoulder injury.

Wacha gave up two runs and six hits on 78 pitches, the most since returning at the start of the month.

“I felt a lot better, today,” he said. “More secondary stuff was working for me. My command was a little bit better. I felt it was a step in the right direction.”

Mike Leake (11-13) allowed six runs in five innings. He also walked two and hit a batter, all of whom scored. He gave up two homers and has surrendered 22 this season.

Cruz hit his first homer in more than a year, connecting in the second. His last home run was Aug. 4, 2013, at Cincinnati.

Wong hit his 12th, a two-run shot in the third. Grichuck added a pinch-hit homer in the sixth — it was his third of the season and his second in two nights.

Grichuck later added an RBI bloop double.

Zack Cozart homered for the Reds and Kris Negron doubled twice.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams and 3B Matt Carpenter both were out of the starting lineup with a stomach virus. Matheny said they were “quarantined,” though it wasn’t clear if they were at Busch Stadium and available or sent home. … Star C Yadier Molina got his first start of the season at first base.

Reds: C Devin Mesoraco was pulled in the sixth inning because of a stomach bug. Price said Mesoraco could have continued but the manager didn’t think it was worth it.

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Alfredo Simon (14-10, 3.35) has given up five hits in seven innings during each of his past two starts, including in a 4-2 win against St. Louis on Sept. 10. The Cardinals have batted .228 in 101 at-bats against Simon over 22 2/3 innings.

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (15-9, 2.68) has given up two runs over his past 15 innings and went 0-1 in those games, including a 1-0 loss at Cincinnati on Sept. 11. He has a 2.00 ERA this month over four starts and goes after his fourth win against the Reds. He is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA in four games against them division rivals this season.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — John Lackey still isn’t happy about getting pushed back in the rotation.

After powering back into the St. Louis postseason pitching picture with 7 2/3 dominant innings in a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, the veteran right-hander grudgingly admitted extra rest might have been a good thing.

“Yeah, I guess it helped,” Lackey said after a pause. “We’ll go with that.”

Asked whether he had his best stuff, Lackey fired back a fastball.

“Since when? Since ever? No, not even close,” Lackey said. “I definitely felt better than I have in a couple weeks, for sure.”

Randal Grichuk and Matt Holliday hit consecutive homers in the first for the NL Central leaders, who had only five hits but maintained a 2 1-2-game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates with eight games remaining.

The Cardinals’ magic number is seven for clinching a second straight division title and two over third-place Milwaukee for securing a fourth straight postseason berth.

St. Louis is 6-1 on its final nine-game homestand.

Lackey (14-9) was passed over in the just-completed three-game series against Milwaukee after complaining of a dead arm.

The 35-year-old right-hander arrived at the trade deadline with a big-game reputation and noted after beating Cincinnati, “I think that’s why I’m here.”

But he was 2-2 with a 5.05 ERA in his first eight starts.

Lackey was especially well-rested for the sagging Reds, considering he was ejected in the third inning of his previous outing Sept. 10 at Cincinnati.

The Cardinals jumped on rookie lefty Mike Holmberg (1-2) early. With one out in the first, Grichuk lined an 0-2 pitch into the visitors bullpen in left. Three pitches later, Holliday lined his 19th over the center field wall.

Center fielder Jon Jay helped keep the Reds down, twice robbing Ryan Ludwick of extra bases with leaping catches at the wall. The first catch came one at-bat before Zack Cozart’s RBI single in the second.

“This ballpark plays bigger now, the colder it gets,” Jay said. “I knew on both of those balls I was going to have a chance.”

Cozart was thrown out at second, and the call was confirmed by replay after the Reds appealed.

Holmberg allowed three hits the rest of his six innings in his fourth start of the year and second appearance this month against St. Louis. He worked 5 2/3 innings against the Cardinals on Sept. 8 after replacing injured Dylan Axelrod after one batter.

The Cardinals have 101 homers, second-fewest in the majors ahead of only the cross-state Royals. They have gone back-to-back just twice, the other on July 5 when Allen Craig and Jhonny Peralta connected against Miami.

Lackey was the eighth straight starter to allow no more than one earned run, but lately the margin has been thin. The Cardinals have totaled nine runs while winning three of the last four, two of those games lasting a combined seven extra innings.

After Trevor Rosenthal was pulled with two on and one out in the ninth, Randy Choate struck out Jay Bruce and Seth Maness, and retired Ryan Ludwick for his third save in three chances.

The Reds, who have lost five in a row, fell to 22-38 in one-run decisions. They lead the majors in one-run losses.

“It’s a broken record,” manager Bryan Price said. “To be honest with you, it’s at the point where you’re tired talking about the same game, losing 2-1, 3-2.

“At some point in time we’ve got to do something to win some of these games.”

The Cardinals are 47-24 against the Reds at 9-year-old Busch Stadium.

UP NEXT:

Reds: Mike Leake (11-12, 3.65) needs one strikeout for 600. He has been victimized by a team-high five blown saves. He is 2-1 in four starts this year against St. Louis.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.14) makes his first start since Sept. 9 and likely will be on a limited pitch count. He is 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA in three starts against the Reds this year.

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Reds: Joey Votto (left knee) is on the trip but is running out of time to play. He has missed 91 games during two stints on the DL.

Cardinals: Shelby Miller took a one-hop liner off his right ankle in the sixth inning and was taken out as a precaution. Though sporting a nasty bruise, tests showed nothing serious.

STREAK ENDS:

Reds 2B Brandon Phillips’ 107-game errorless streak, a franchise record for his position, ended when he threw wide to first on Jon Jay’s grounder in the second.

— Associated Press —