The St. Louis Cardinals are guaranteed at least a tie for the second NL Wild Card after a 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night. A loss by the Los Angeles Dodgers or another St. Louis win would guarantee the Cards a trip to Atlanta to face the Braves for entrance into the playoffs.

Jamie Garcia picks up the win for St. Louis, improving to 7-7. He threw 6-2/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits while striking out six. Edward Mujica, Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte combined for 2-1/3 innings of hitless relief.

In addition to his strong pitching performance, Jamie Garcia got the Cardinals' offense started with a solo home run in the third. Allen Craig and Yadier Molina both added another run in the third, giving St. Louis a lead they never released. Daniel Descalso added an insurance run with a triple in the sixth.

Game 2 of the series is 7:15 p.m. CT on Tuesday.