Wainwright leads Cards to 17th straight win, wild card berth

Dylan Carlson, Nolan Arenado and Jose Rondon homered to back Adam Wainwright, and the St. Louis Cardinals extended their winning streak to 17 games and clinched an NL wild card berth with a 6-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. St. Louis will play in the NL wild-card game on Oct. 6 at the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco, whichever does not win the NL West. St. Louis was 71-69 on Sept. 11 before the winning streak, the longest in team history and the longest in the major leagues since Cleveland took 22 in a row in 2017. Wainwright (17-7) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings, throwing 102 pitches and stranding seven runners. With the score 2-2 in the fifth, Paul Goldschmidt doubled off Jandel Gustave (1-1) and Tyler O’Neill followed with a single to right. The ball went under the glove of Avisail Garcia for a two-base error, and Nolan Arenado’s sacrifice fly made it 4-2. BRAVES 2, PHILLIES 1 ATLANTA (AP) – Charlie Morton threw seven scoreless innings, Jorge Soler hit a two-run single and Atlanta escaped a ninth-inning jam to beat Philadelphia and move closer to its fourth consecutive NL East title. Atlanta reduced its magic number to three games in the division race and extended its lead to 3 1/2 games over the second-place Phillies, who no longer control their fate with five games left. The loss eliminated Philadelphia from contention for an NL wild card. Will Smith survived a wild ninth inning, allowing an unearned run, for his 36th save in 42 chances. Morton (14-6) gave up singles to his first two batters and gave up only one more hit. He struck out 10 and walked two. Zack Wheeler (14-10) was almost as impressive, allowing two runs and four hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings. YANKEES 7, BLUE JAYS 2 TORONTO (AP) – Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run home run, Aaron Judge homered and New York beat Toronto to extend its lead atop the AL wild-card standings. Gio Urshela added a solo homer and Anthony Rizzo had a pair of hits and drove in a run as New York (90-67) won its seventh straight and moved two games in front of Boston in the wild card race with five games left. Toronto dropped three games behind the Yankees but remains a game behind Boston for the second wild card. Judge’s solo homer off left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu (13-10) in the third gave the Yankees at least one home run in 19 consecutive games, extending their season-high streak. Judge’s homer was his 37th. Michael King (1-4) relieved injured starter Jameson Taillon and gave up one run in 2 2/3 innings for the second victory of his three-year big league career. ORIOLES 4, RED SOX 2 BALTIMORE (AP) – Rookie Ryan Mountcastle hit his 32nd home run to help Baltimore rally past Chris Sale and stall Boston’s bid to enhance its playoff position. Boston lost its fourth straight but remained a game ahead of Toronto for the second AL wild card. The Yankees lead the wild-card race. Sale (5-1) coasted through five innings, but in the sixth Kelvin Gutiérrez beat out an infield hit and Mountcastle went deep to tie it. Austin Hays followed with a single to end Sale’s night before Severino delivered his go-ahead hit off Hansel Robles. Marcos Diplán (2-0) pitched two innings, Joey Krehbel retired all six batters he faced and Cole Sulser worked the ninth for his eighth save. ASTROS 4, RAYS 3 HOUSTON (AP) – Tampa Bay’s JT Chargois walked two batters with the bases loaded in the ninth inning as Houston snapped a four-game skid and moved closer to securing a postseason berth. Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve homered for the Astros. The Rays took a 3-2 lead when Randy Arozarena hit a solo homer off Phil Maton (5-0) with one out in the ninth.