ST. LOUIS (AP) — 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. The postseason trip will be the third in a row for the Cardinals.
Milwaukee already was assured of the NL Central title.
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. The Cardinals are on the longest winning streak from Sept. 1 on since the 1935 Chicago Cubs won 21 in a row.
Wainwright (17-7) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings, throwing 102 pitches and stranding seven runners. Wainwright has won six consecutive decisions for the Cardinals and 10 of his last 11. He is 4-0 in September and improved to 2-1 in four starts against the Brewers this season.
Paul Goldschmidt and Tyler O’Neill each had two hits in an 11-hit attack.
With the score 2-2 in the fifth, Goldschmidt doubled off Jandel Gustave (1-1) and O’Neill singled followed with a single to right that gave him 22 RBIs in the last 20 games. The ball went under the glove of Avisail Garcia for a two-base error, and allowing Nolan Arenado’s sacrifice fly made it 4-2.
Rondon homered with two outs in the sixth — all three of his home runs this year. Arenado’s 34th home run, a two-out drive in the seventh, tied Scott Rolen (2004) and Fernando Tatis (1999) for most among Cardinals third baseman in a season.
Luis Urias hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Carlson homered leading off the bottom half, and Wainwright bunted home Harrison Bader.
Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff allowed two runs and seven hits in four innings.
ROSTER MOVE
Milwaukee RHP Hunter Strickland was placed on the paternity list as he and his wife prepare for the couple’s third child. LHP Hoby Milner was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take his spot.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: SS Willy Adames (left quadriceps discomfort) was scratched from the starting lineup as a precaution. … 1B Rowdy Tellez (patella strain) will play Wednesday and Thursday for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds and then rejoin the Brewers on Friday in Los Angeles.
Cardinals: C Yadier Molina (right shoulder stiffness) was scratched from a start and is considered day-to-day. … SS Edmundo Sosa (right hand/wrist bruise) played catch Tuesday and may return. … RHP Jordan Hicks (right elbow inflammation) will pitch in the Arizona Fall League. Hicks has not pitched in a major league game since May 1 and missed most of 2019 and all of 2020 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Adrian Houser (9-6, 3.34 ERA) is 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA in three starts against the Cardinals this season.
Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (2-2, 4.15 ERA)is 5-1 in his career against the Brewers.He logged a season-high seven innings pitched last Wednesday at Milwaukee.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports