CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs are closing in on the NL Central championship and have their sights set on another deep playoff run.

It sure would help if Kyle Hendricks keeps pitching like this. They’ll take a few more big home runs from Kris Bryant, too.

Hendricks went eight innings in another strong start, Bryant connected and the Cubs moved closer to the division title while dealing another hit to St. Louis’ playoff hopes, beating the Cardinals 8-4 on Friday.

“This is what you look for,” Hendricks said. “These are the games you want to play in, games that have meaning like this. That’s why we play the game. Hopefully, we’ve got a lot of these left.”

The Cubs came into the final weekend of the regular season with a franchise-record fourth straight trip to the postseason assured and their third division title in a row in sight. They began the day with a one-game lead over Milwaukee, with the Brewers playing Detroit on Friday night.

St. Louis matched a season high with its fourth straight loss after being swept by Milwaukee. The Cardinals came in trailing Los Angeles by a game for the second wild card, with the Dodgers visiting San Francisco.

“Clearly the back is completely against the wall,” manager Mike Shildt said.

Hendricks (14-11) gave up two runs and seven hits . The right-hander is 5-1 with a 1.52 ERA in his past seven outings and has thrown a career-high 199 innings.

“He’s pitched with his best stuff since I’ve known him,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “There’s not many strikeouts, not a lot of swing-and-misses. But the velocity on the fastball, he’s back to the weaker contact in general. He looks strong. … I just see a stronger version of Kyle.”

Bryant made it 3-0 with a long solo drive to center against Adam Wainwright in the fourth.

That gave the 2016 NL MVP just two homers in 27 games and 13 total in a season marked by injuries. Bryant missed the previous two games because of a bruised left wrist after getting hit by a pitch and was on the disabled list two times this year because of left shoulder inflammation.

Daniel Murphy had two hits, two runs and an RBI. He singled and scored in a two-run first, doubled and came around in the fifth, and added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Anthony Rizzo had an RBI single and sacrifice fly.

Albert Almora drove in two with a single against Dominic Leone to cap a three-run eighth, making it 8-2, and the Cubs won their third in a row after losing four of six.

“We’ve been here before,” Bryant said, referring to three straight appearances in the NLCS and a World Series championship in 2016 that ended a drought dating to 1908. “We’ve been under pressure situations. I think we know how to handle it.”

Wainwright (2-4) is now 11-3 lifetime at Wrigley Field. He lasted five innings, allowing four runs and five hits, in what could be his final start for the Cardinals. Though he didn’t sound like a player ready to walk away, the three-time All-Star has an expiring contract and was on the disabled list three times this season because of hamstring and elbow injuries.

“If you had asked me that question about two months ago, I would have already checked out on you,” Wainwright said. “But the way I’m feeling right now, if that is my last start, it would be kind of hard to walk away knowing the way I’m feeling right now.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: Manager Joe Maddon said he wasn’t sure if reliever Pedro Strop (strained left hamstring) will pitch this weekend. The right-hander still feels some discomfort on the landing throwing off the mound. Strop has been sidelined since Sept. 13, when he was hurt running to first on a double-play grounder at Washington. … The Cubs activated C Bobby Wilson, who was acquired Aug. 30 from Minnesota on Friday. The Twins placed him on the 10-day disabled list Aug. 24 because of a sprained right ankle.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (17-4, 2.94 ERA) looks to win his fifth straight start, after holding San Francisco to two runs and two hits in seven innings on Sunday.

Cubs: LHP Cole Hamels (4-2, 2.47) tries to shake off back-to-back losses after going 4-0 in his first nine starts for Chicago following a trade from Texas. He homered against Pittsburgh on Monday but got outpitched by Jameson Taillon.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first playoff spot since 2011, ensuring at least a spot in the NL wild-card game when Jhoulys Chacin pitched five shutout innings to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 Wednesday night for a three-game sweep.

The Brewers (92-67) began the night a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central and 3 games ahead of Colorado for the top wild-card slot.

The Cardinals (87-71) are now a game and half behind the Rockies for the final wild-card berth.

Milwaukee now returns to Miller Park to take on the lowly Detroit Tigers in the three-game series starting Friday to end the regular season. The Cardinals travel to the Cubs for the three-game set.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Christian Yelich homered and drove in six runs, and the surging Milwaukee Brewers hurt St. Louis’ playoff chances with a 12-4 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Ryan Braun went deep twice and Jesus Aguilar also connected as Milwaukee won for the fifth time in six games. Manny Pina had two hits and drove in a run, and pitcher Gio Gonzalez contributed an RBI single for just his fourth hit of the season.

The Cardinals (87-71) fell one-half game behind the Colorado Rockies (87-70), who beat Philadelphia 10-3, for the second NL wild card. Milwaukee (91-67) leads Colorado by 3 1/2 games for the top wild card and entered the day 1 1/2 games back of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.

Following Wednesday’s series finale, Milwaukee closes the regular season with a weekend set at home against lowly Detroit. St. Louis also is off Thursday before beginning a three-game series against the slumping Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer off Gonzalez for the Cardinals, who had won six of seven before their 6-4 loss to Milwaukee on Monday night. Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 3 with a walk.

St. Louis left the bases loaded in the fifth and seventh innings when Jedd Gyorko came up empty each time. Third baseman Mike Moustakas turned an inning-ending double play on Gyorko’s chopper near the bag in the fifth, and Gyorko flied to right for the final out of the seventh.

Milwaukee scored each of its first six runs with two outs. Aguilar and Braun hit back-to-back homers in the first off rookie Austin Gomber (6-2), and Gonzalez chased the left-hander with his hit in the fourth.

The Brewers went on to load the bases against Tyson Ross, and Yelich’s liner to right-center rolled all the way to the wall for a triple and a 6-0 lead. He also hit a three-run drive in the ninth.

Yelich is batting .346 with seven homers and 28 RBI in 22 games this month, bolstering his case for NL MVP. He has 33 homers, 104 RBI, 110 runs and 181 hits on the year, all career highs.

Gonzalez lasted four innings. Taylor Williams (1-3), the third of seven Milwaukee pitchers, got three outs for the win. The Brewers used nine pitchers in their series-opening victory.

LONG GONE

Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter and manager Mike Shildt were ejected in the seventh inning. Carpenter became upset with home plate umpire Will Little after he was called out on strikes.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: Manager Craig Counsell said All-Star RHP Jeremy Jeffress (neck spasms) was feeling a lot better after he was unavailable for the series opener. Counsell said Jeffress was going to play catch before they made a decision on his status Tuesday night.

Cardinals: 2B Kolten Wong returned to the starting lineup for the first time since he left Friday’s victory over San Francisco with cramps in both hamstrings. He struck out swinging as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of Monday’s loss. “Obviously at this point of the season no one’s 100 percent,” he said. “For me as long as I know I can run and I can play I’m going to be out there.”

UP NEXT

Brewers right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (14-8, 3.61 ERA) and Cardinals right-hander John Gant (7-6, 3.53 ERA) pitch Wednesday night in the series finale. Chacin is 0-3 with a 4.34 ERA in four September starts. Gant lasted just 2 2/3 innings in his last outing, yielding one run and four hits Friday against the Giants.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas’ outing against the San Francisco Giants was typical, and typical for him is pretty good.

Mikolas won his fourth straight start, Matt Carpenter hit his NL-leading 36th homer and the Cardinals beat the Giants 9-2 to complete a three-game sweep and remain on track for the NL’s second wild card.

St. Louis (87-69) has won three straight games and six of seven. The Cardinals remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Colorado (85-70) and two games behind Milwaukee, the wild card leader. St. Louis hosts the Brewers (89-67) in a three-game series starting Monday night.

“We feel pretty good,” Mikolas said. “We feel strong. We feel like we’re a team that’s real dangerous and a team that’s going to come out and give a lot of people trouble.”

Mikolas (17-4) allowed two runs — one earned — and two hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. John Brebbia and Giovanny Gallegos, who made his Cardinals debut, finished a five-hitter.

“I had some good sink of my fastball so I tried to use that a lot,” said Mikolas, tied with Washington’s Max Scherzer and Chicago’s Jon Lester for the NL lead in wins. “Just pound the zone. They took some swings early so I was able to get some quick outs.”

Mikolas has made 11 starts of at least seven innings and the two hits he gave up were a season low.

“He works ahead in the count so that creates doubt,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “He can pretty much throw any pitch he wants at any time in the count. He throws inner half, which sets up the outer half, which disrupts the balance of the hitter and he can change speed which disrupts the timing of the hitter. That combination is what pitching is.”

Andrew Suarez (7-12) gave up two runs and six hits in five innings as San Francisco gave him three runs or less of run support during his time in the game for the 21st time this season. The Giants finished 31-50 on the road for a two-year record of 57-105 away from home.

San Francisco has lost 10 straight road games against NL Central teams since winning at the Chicago Cubs on May 27.

“It’s a tough lineup,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of the Cardinals. “They’ve got power, speed, good athletes.”

The bottom two in the Cardinals batting order built a 2-0 lead with two-out singles, by Yairo Munoz in the second and Mikolas in the fourth.

Harrison Bader bunted in a run to spark a five-run sixth that includes RBI singles by Munoz and Paul DeJong around Jose Martinez’s two-run double. Carpenter hit a two-run homer off Casey Kelly in the eighth.

“Everybody contributed,” Carpenter said. “Guys finding a way to score even when we’ve got some guys that aren’t getting it done. It’s the making of a good team.”

Brandon Crawford’s two-run homer in the seventh stopped an 0-for-9 skid.

“I’ve faced him a few times back in 2012 but other than that I haven’t seen him for years,” Crawford said of Mikolas. “I was just looking for something up that I can put in play and try and just get the bat on and fortunately saw the curve ball enough to put the barrel on it.”

TRAINING ROOM

Cardinals: 2B Kolten Wong missed his second consecutive start after leaving Friday’s game in the seventh inning with cramps in both hamstrings.

DEBUT

INF Edmundo Sosa was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. Sosa made his debut when he walked as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, and he scored on Carpenter’s home run.

UP NEXT

Giants: LHP Derek Holland (7-8, 3.57 ERA) starts the first of a three-game series at home against San Diego and RHP Bryan Mitchell (1-4, 6.16 ERA) on Monday night. Holland will make his first start since July 18, which was also against the Padres, where he allowed four runs in five innings.

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (8-8, 3.08 ERA) kicks off a three-game home series Monday night against Milwaukee and RHP Chase Anderson (9-8, 3.93 ERA). Flaherty is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in four career starts against the Brewers.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pinch-hitter Matt Adams had a clutch two-run double in the eighth inning, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Friday night.

Harrison Bader sparked the winning rally with a two-out walk against Mark Melancon (0-2). Yairo Munoz then singled before Melancon was replaced by left-hander Tony Watson.

Adams doubled to left on a 2-1 pitch, giving St. Louis a 5-3 lead.

John Brebbia (3-3) struck out the side in the eighth for the win and Carlos Martinez picked up his fourth save in four chances.

St. Louis moved within 4 1/2 games of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, who lost 10-4 to the White Sox. The Cardinals began the day with a 1 1/2-game lead over Colorado for the second NL wild card.

Evan Longoria had three hits for San Francisco, which has dropped 14 of 18. Madison Bumgarner allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings.

St. Louis jumped in front on Marcell Ozuna’s two-out RBI single in the first, ending a scoreless string of 14 2/3 innings by Bumgarner at Busch Stadium dating to 2014.

John Gant lasted just 2 2/3 innings for St. Louis in his shortest outing of the season. He allowed one run and four hits.

The Giants tied it at 3 with two runs in the seventh against Jordan Hicks. Gregor Blanco singled in Austin Slater. With one out and runners on first and third, Longoria drove in Alen Hanson with a grounder to first.

BIRTHDAY PRESENT

It was Martinez’s 27th birthday. He has been a starter for most of his career, so it was the first time he had recorded a save on his birthday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: INF Brandon Belt had surgery in San Francisco to clean up his torn meniscus and cartilage damage in his right knee. Manager Bruce Bochy said Belt is expected to be ready for spring training. Belt hit .253 with 14 homers and 46 RBI this season.

Cardinals: INF Kolten Wong left after seven innings due to cramping. He was replaced by Munoz. … RHP Giovanny Gallegos was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. The 27-year-old Gallegos was acquired along with LHP Chasen Shreve in a July 29 trade with the New York Yankees for INF Luke Voit.

UP NEXT

Giants RHP Dereck Rodriguez (6-4, 2.30 ERA) faces Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (2-3, 3.72 ERA) on Saturday afternoon. Wainwright is 6-7 in his career against San Francisco. Rodriguez is facing the Cardinals for the second time after recording a no-decision in a 3-2 Giants win on July 6.

— Associated Press —

It’s safe to say that quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ season is off to a strong start.

The second-year quarterback was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday morning, making it back-to-back weeks that Mahomes has won the award. The Texas Tech product is the first quarterback to open the season with consecutive Player of the Week awards since Tom Brady in 2011.

The 23-year-old Mahomes, who is embarking on his first season as Kansas City’s starting quarterback, completed 23-of-28 passes for 326 yards and six touchdowns in last Sunday’s victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s the youngest player in NFL history to toss six or more touchdowns in a game and just the second to do so in franchise history, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Len Dawson.

Mahomes leads the NFL in touchdown passes (10) and throws of at least 25 yards (10) while ranking second in passer rating (143.3) and yards per attempt (10.58). His 10 touchdown passes are the most in NFL history through the first two weeks of a season.

And, most importantly, Mahomes’ efforts have led Kansas City to a 2-0 record on the season.

The Chiefs will look to stay in the win column this Sunday as they take on the San Francisco 49ers in the home-opener at Noon inside Arrowhead Stadium.

— Chiefs.com —

ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman spent the previous four seasons playing for an Atlanta team that averaged 90 losses a year.

Now that the Braves are back challenging for a division title, the All-Star first baseman knows his club can’t afford any long losing streaks.

“It’s been four days, so I thought this was a big win for our team,” Freeman said. “I thought we played a quality baseball game today and hopefully we can carry that into this Philly series.”

Freeman hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, Touki Toussaint pitched into the sixth inning and the NL East-leading Braves snapped a four-game skid with a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

It was a critical win for Atlanta, which is 5 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Phillies and opens a four-game home series against them on Thursday. Philadelphia blanked the New York Mets 4-0 on Wednesday night.

The Braves need any combination of six victories or Philadelphia losses to clinch their first division title since 2013.

St. Louis, which had won three straight, began the day leading Colorado by 1 1/2 games for the second wild-card spot.

Closer A.J. Minter, working in a non-save situation in the ninth, walked two to load the bases, but he ended it by striking out Jose Martinez and getting Paul DeJong to pop up.

Freeman’s 23rd homer, an opposite-field shot to left-center, put the Braves up 2-0 in the fourth against Jack Flaherty. Freeman went 3 for 3 and is hitting .405 over his past 11 games.

“He’s getting the ball in the air, and it’s carrying, and that’s always a good thing,” manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s a welcomed sight if we can get him going.”

Toussaint (2-1) allowed five hits, two runs, three walks and struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings. A rookie making his fourth career start, Toussaint was chased after Yadier Molina’s RBI single cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth.

“We survived the first couple of innings with essentially zero fastball command, then suddenly we had some decent command of it and were able to flip the script and challenge guys with some early contacts,” Braves catcher Tyler Flowers said. “If he gets ahead of guys, it’s a tough arsenal to defend.”

Flaherty (8-8) gave up five hits, a season-high five runs and two walks with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Facing the Braves for the first time, Flaherty began the game as the NL rookie leader in strikeouts, winning percentage and opponents’ batting average. He had gone 4-1 with 1.69 ERA in his previous eight starts.

Flowers doubled to begin the three-run fifth and scored on a wild pitch. Freeman chased Flaherty with an RBI single, and the lead swelled to four runs on a double steal by Ender Inciarte and Freeman. The Braves successfully challenged to get the call overturned that Freeman had been tagged out.

“I thought things went well early, then Freeman put a good swing on a ball and then in that one inning things kind of got away,” Flaherty said. “I put a couple of guys on base with walks and then Freeman put another good swing on the ball.”

Atlanta added a run to make it 6-2 in the seventh. Inciarte doubled and scored when second baseman Kolten Wong threw errantly to first on a potential double play grounder.

Jedd Gyorko’s sacrifice fly in the eighth cut the lead to 6-3. Flowers’ eighth homer in the bottom half of the inning made it 7-3.

At least for one game, Atlanta played well at home, where it had dropped 14 of 18 and has won just one of its past seven series.

Freeman, who became the first Braves first baseman with 20 homers and 10 stolen bases in a season since Dale Murphy in 1978, wants his teammates to enjoy the pennant race and not press.

“It’s fun. It really is,” Freeman said. “This is what you work for six, seven months. To be in this situation this year, it’s the greatest feeling there is.”

OUCH

Harrison Bader was hit in the back of the helmet by a pitch in the third, but he convinced St. Louis’ trainers that he wasn’t affected and jogged to first. Going deep against Toussaint for his 12th homer in the fifth, Bader said he felt no measure of revenge. Toussaint wasn’t trying to hit him.

“The two are completely independent of each other, honestly,” Bader said. “I was just trying to make a good swing.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP John Gant (7-6, 3.53 ERA) will start when St. Louis, following a day off, opens a three-game home series against San Francisco. He allowed six hits and six runs in his previous start, a 17-4 loss to the Dodgers.

Braves: RHP Kevin Gausman (10-10, 3.92 ERA) will make his ninth start since being acquired in a trade with Baltimore as Atlanta tries to pad its lead on the Phillies. He is 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA in four starts at SunTrust Park.

— Associated Press —

ATLANTA (AP) — Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer, Yadier Molina added a two-run single in a four-run eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals won their third straight game with an 8-1 victory over the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.

Austin Gomber pitched five effective innings for St. Louis, which holds a slim lead for the second NL wild card. The Cardinals top the National League with 36 victories since All-Star break, and their 43 road wins this season rank second.

Atlanta’s division lead dropped to 5 1/2 games over Philadelphia as the Braves lost their fourth in a row after a season-best six-game winning streak. They are 38-38 at SunTrust Park and have dropped 14 of 18 at home.

The Braves’ magic number remained at seven as they try to clinch a division title for the first time in five years. Philadelphia beat the New York Mets 5-2.

Anibal Sanchez (6-6) allowed four hits and two runs and struck out six in five innings. He faced the minimum through his first three innings and retired his first batter in the fourth before Jose Martinez singled and DeJong hit his 19th homer.

DeJong, who is hitting .500 with four homers and 10 RBI in five career games against Atlanta, added a run-scoring single in the eighth off Dan Winkler. DeJong’s homer was his 14th on the road.

Gomber (6-1) gave up six hits, one run and three walks while striking out five for his fifth victory in his last six decisions, but it wasn’t easy for the rookie.

After Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 26th homer to begin the third, Gomber escaped a bases-loaded jam on Ender Inciarte’s lineout to end the inning. Gomber got Inciarte to fly out to strand a runner at third to end the fifth.

Molina’s single in the eighth off Sam Freeman scored three runs. He was credited with two RBI, and a third run scored because Acuna made an error in left field.

Tyler O’Neill, who entered as a pinch-runner in the eighth, had a run-scoring double and Marcell Ozuna followed with an RBI single to make it 8-1.

STRONG BULLPEN

John Brebbia and Jordan Hicks faced the minimum in the sixth and seventh, Dominic Leone pitched around a walk in the eighth and Mike Mayers faced five batters in the ninth. The Cardinals improved to 69-6 when leading after seven.

STILL STRUGGLING

After walking 39 in their last five games, the Braves didn’t issue a free pass until the eighth, when Jonny Venters, Winkler and Freeman each walked a batter. Of the 35 runs allowed on this homestand, 15 reached with a walk.

WELCOME SOUTH

St. Louis has won eight straight games in Atlanta dating to 2016, the best run since the Cardinals took 11 road games in a row from the Braves from 1967-68.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (8-7, 2.86 ERA) will make his first career appearance against Atlanta. The 22-year-old rookie pitched six innings, allowing four hits and one run, in losing his last start 3-0 to the Dodgers.

Braves: RHP Touki Toussaint (1-1, 4.67 ERA) gets his fourth career start as he faces St. Louis for the first time. The 22-year-old rookie is 1-1 with a 3.31 ERA as a starter.

— Associated Press —

ATLANTA (AP) — Kolten Wong hit the first of four St. Louis homers, Miles Mikolas won his third straight start and the Cardinals beat the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves 11-6 on Monday night to give their playoff push another boost.

St. Louis has 35 victories since the All-Star break, most in the National League, and has won two straight after losing four in a row. The Cardinals, who also got homers from Paul DeJong, Harrison Bader and Yadier Molina, began the night tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second NL wild card.

The Braves took a third consecutive loss after winning a season-best six straight games. They remained 6 1/2 games ahead in the division following Philadelphia’s loss to the Mets, which reduced Atlanta’s magic number to seven as the Braves try to clinch their first NL East title in five years.

Mike Foltynewicz (11-10) walked three of the first five batters he faced — one intentionally — and hit Yadier Molina with a pitch before Wong’s opposite-field, two-run single gave St. Louis a 3-0 lead in the first.

Atlanta pitchers have issued 32 walks over the last four games, all at home, where they are 38-37 and have dropped nine of their last 12.

Mikolas (16-4) allowed four hits, two runs and one walk while striking out six in five innings. The right-hander, who leads the NL in fewest walks per nine innings, improved to 16-0 when getting at least two runs of support, and the Cardinals are 21-3 in those games.

After Freddie Freeman’s 22nd homer made it a one-run game in the third, the Cardinals went up 4-2 in the fourth on Wong’s ninth homer and 6-2 in the fifth on DeJong’s 18th homer and Marcell Ozuna’s RBI double. St. Louis improved to an NL-best 40-19 when hitting a road homer.

Foltynewicz allowed five hits, six runs and four walks with two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Coming off a complete-game victory at San Francisco, Foltynewicz had gone 4-2 with a 1.84 ERA in his last eight starts, but he couldn’t overcome a lack of fastball control.

Nick Markakis drove in a run with his NL-leading 42nd double, coming against Dakota Hudson in the seventh, to pull the Braves to 6-5. But then Jesse Biddle gave up a pair of two-out walks in the eighth, and Bader, a defensive replacement in the seventh, hit a three-run homer to put St. Louis up 9-5.

The Braves had a chance to do more damage in the bottom half of the inning against Carlos Martinez after Ronald Acuna Jr.’s RBI single cut the lead to 9-6, but Martinez struck out Freeman with the bases loaded.

Molina hit his 18th homer, a two-run shot off Arodys Vizcaino, in the ninth.

BAD MOVES

Cardinals CF Yairo Munoz made two errors in the sixth that let Atlanta cut the lead to 6-4. He dropped the ball after picking up Ender Inciarte’s single, allowing Inciarte to advance to second and Johan Camargo to third. Munoz made a throwing error to third on Tyler Flowers’ single, allowing both runners to score.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Manager Mike Shildt said RHP Bud Norris wasn’t available because of irritated skin on his right middle finger. Norris left Sunday night’s win over the Dodgers after walking the only batter he faced.

Braves: Camargo, the team’s everyday third baseman, went 1 for 5 in his return to the lineup after missing the past four games with left groin tightness.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LHP Austin Gomber (5-1, 3.78 ERA) will make his first career start against Atlanta on Tuesday. Gomber allowed seven runs and nine hits in his last start, lasting three innings in a 9-7 loss to the Dodgers.

Braves: RHP Anibal Sanchez (6-5, 3.01 ERA) seeks his first victory since Aug. 3, a span of eight starts in which he’s 1-1 with a 3.02 ERA.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yasiel Puig homered three times and had a career-high seven RBIs, giving him five homers in two games, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed St. Louis 17-4 Saturday to move ahead of the Cardinals into sole possession of the second National League wild card.

Puig hit a solo homer in the fourth off John Gant (7-6) and three-run drives in the fifth against Mike Mayers and in the seventh versus Luke Weaver for his first three-homer game of his major league career.

He raised his season total to 21 homers for the season and became the fourth Dodgers hitter since 2000 with consecutive multihomer games after Cody Bellinger, Adrian Beltre, and Shawn Green.

Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Luke Weaver and had a career-high six RBI. The defending NL champions have won four consecutive games and nine of their last 14.

Rich Hill (9-5) allowed four runs, two hits and four walks in five innings, improving to 3-1 in seven starts against the Cardinals.

St. Louis has lost four straight games for the third time this season. Gant allowed three runs, six hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Manny Machado hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his 11th for Los Angeles and 35th this year overall. The Dodgers have homered in 23 consecutive games, the longest streak in the major leagues this season and one shy of the franchise record set in 1953.

Patrick Wisdom put St. Louis ahead 4-3 in the fourth with his first big league grand slam. Bellinger hit a two-run single off Tyler Webb in the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: RHP John Axford (broken right fibula) allowed one run an one hit in two-thirds of an inning Friday for Class A Rancho Cucamonga, which completed a three-game sweep of Visalia to win the California League title. LHP Tony Cingrani (left shoulder strain) pitched a scoreless inning for the Quakes. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said both will be activated from the DL on Monday.

UP NEXT

RHP Adam Wainwright (1-3, 4.70) starts for St. Louis in the Sunday night finale of the four-game series, and RHP Ross Stripling (8-3, 2.61) opens for the Dodgers.

— Associated Press —