N.L. Wild Card Standings: St. Louis Holds 2.5 Game Edge

Sunday's 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs was an important one for the St. Louis Cardinals. Not only did the victory clinch a winning season, it kept their lead in the National League Wild Card race at 2.5 games as the season winds to a close.

St. Louis likely will not catch Atlanta, they team they edged last season for the wild card on their way to a World Series title. The Braves are six games ahead of St. Louis for the first wild card with nine games to play. The Cardinals have a 2.5 game lead over Milwaukee and 3.5 game lead over Los Angeles heading into the final full week.

The schedule is very favorable for St. Louis too, as they have three games at last place Houston before hosting Cincinnati and Washington. Both the Reds and Nationals may have their best playoff position locked up and could rest players as well.

For all your Cardinals news, visit Viva El Birdos and SB Nation St. Louis.

Cardinals Vs. Cubs Final Score: St. Louis Wins, 6-3, To Maintain Wild Card Lead

Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig went 3 for 4 with a two-RBI double to lead St. Louis to a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sunday. With the win, the Cardinals maintained a 2½-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for the final National League wild card spot.

Craig opened the scoring with his double in the top of the third, driving in Jon Jay and Matt Holliday. Shortstop Pete Kozma was 2 for 3 with his first-career home run and two RBIs. Kyle Lohse allowed three runs on five hits in six innings to pick up his 16th win. Lohse struck out five. Jason Motte gave up a hit in one inning to earn his 40th save.

Justin Germano took the loss for the Cubs, falling to 2-9 on the season. Germano allowed four runs on 10 hits. Left fielder Alfonso Soriano was 3 for 4 with a solo home run to lead the Chicago offense.

For all your Cardinals news, visit Viva El Birdos and SB Nation St. Louis. For the Cubs, check out Bleed Cubbie Blue and SB Nation Chicago.

Cardinals Vs. Cubs: St. Louis Looks to Maintain Wild Card Lead in Chicago Finale

The St. Louis Cardinals will be attempting to win their final series of the season with the rival Chicago Cubs and maintain their edge in the National League Wild Card race when they take the field Sunday. St. Louis has won five of their last six games and hold a 2½-game lead over Milwaukee for the second NL wild card spot. The Cardinals may be without the services of all-star catcher Yadier Molina, who left Saturday's game in the ninth inning with back spasms and was to be further examined Sunday morning.

The Cardinals send Kyle Lohse to the mound Sunday. The veteran right-hander is 15-3 on the season and holds the highest winning percentage of any starter in baseball. Lohse last faced the Cubs on July 20, scattering six hits over seven innings and allowing just one earned run in a Cardinals victory.

The Cubs counter with Justin Germano, who is 2-8 with a 6.17 ERA in 11 appearances since coming over from the Boston Red Sox in July. Germano is making his first start of the season against the Cardinals, though he did give up one earned run in a three-inning relief appearance against St. Louis on July 21.

First pitch is set for 1:20 CT. Fox Sports Midwest and KMOX 1120 AM will handle the broadcast.

For more on the Cardinals, be sure to visit Viva El Birdos. Additional coverage on the Cubs can be found at Bleed Cubbie Blue, while Baseball Nation is the place to go for news and analysis from around the league.

Cardinals Vs. Cubs Final Score: St. Louis Defeats Chicago In Extra Innings

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs, 5-4, in ten innings on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Jon Jay had the game winning hit, as he doubled down the right field line off of Cubs reliver Jaye Chapman to score Matt Carpenter.

Cubs closer Carlos Marmol blew his first save since April 24, as he allowed a game-tying solo homer in the top of the ninth inning to Carlos Beltran to extend the game. Then, in the tenth, Jay took advantage of a couple of two-out walks by Chapman by jumping on a 1-1 changeup and smacking it past Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

The Cards had initially taken a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, but David DeJesus hit a leadoff homer off of Adam Wainwright, and the inning went downhill from there. After Wainwright retired Darwin Barney, he allowed a line-drive single to Anthony Rizzo and a ground-rule double to Alfonso Soriano. Wellington Castillo came through with a game-tying sacrifice fly after Starlin Castro was intentionally walked, and the Cubs took the lead on an RBI single from Dave Sappelt.

Wainwright allowed three runs on four hits and a walk in that fateful inning, but was otherwise very good. He struck out five and walked two in seven innings, while allowing four runs on six hits.

The win came at a price for St. Louis, as catcher Yadier Molina left the game in the top of the ninth inning with an apparent back injury. He appeared to be hurt while trying to get out of the way of an errant fastball from Marmol.

Beltran, Allen Craig and Daniel Descalso had two hits apiece for the Cards, while Matt Holliday had an RBI double.

St. Louis, who improved to 81-71, now holds a two and a half-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers for the second wildcard spot in the NL. The Dodgers have a chance to trim a half-game off of that deficit, as they play in Cincinnati against the Reds on Saturday afternoon.

For more on the Cardinals, be sure to visit Viva El Birdos. Additional coverage on the Cubs can be found at Bleed Cubbie Blue, while Baseball Nation is the place to go for news and analysis from around the league.

Yadier Molina Injury: Apparent Good News As Cardinals Cite Back Spasms, Not A Strained Oblique

A Yadier Molina injury is almost unequivocally the worst thing that could happen to the St. Louis Cardinals as this Wild Card race shambles toward the end of September, and in their Saturday afternoon game vs. the Chicago Cubs it briefly looked like Molina had strained his oblique dodging an inside pitch from Carlos Marmol. The Cardinals are still being cagey about the injury's seriousness, but it's been labeled immediately as "back spasms," a potentially minor issue compared to the O-word Twitter was nervously bandying about.

Yadier Molina left with lower back spasms, per the #Cardinals trainers and officials.

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) September 22, 2012

Molina appeared to grab at his side before frustratedly leaving the game in mid-at-bat. Tony Cruz filled in immediately, hitting a long but ultimately harmless drive to center field on zero notice. Without Molina, the Cardinals would be heavily reliant on Cruz, Bryan Anderson, and Steven Hill, which is not quite the same as having the best all-around player in the National League in front of the umpire four games out of five.

Stay tuned to this storystream for more updates on Molina; as soon as we have them, we'll relay them right here. And then, hopefully, exhale for the first time in about a half-an-hour.

A Yadier Molina Injury Would Leave St. Louis Cardinals With Limited Catcher Options

Yadier Molina Injury: Cardinals Catcher Leaves Game In 9th After Appearing To Tweak Oblique

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina left Saturday's game against the Chicago Cubs with an apparent oblique injury. Molina was hurt trying to get out of the way of a Carlos Marmol fastball with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, with the game tied at 4.

It first appeared that Molina would stay in the game, as he stood near the batters box with his bat still in hand for several minutes. However, manager Mike Matheny and the team trainer walked off the field with Molina, who had already driven in a run in the ballgame.

Molina was 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the game, but is hitting .319 with 20 home runs and 69 runs batted in on the season.

Tony Cruz pinch-hit for Molina with the count at one ball and no strikes, and proceeded to flyout to deep centerfield to end the inning.

For more on the Cardinals, be sure to visit Viva El Birdos. Additional coverage on the Cubs can be found at Bleed Cubbie Blue, while Baseball Nation is the place to go for news and analysis from around the league.

Cardinals Vs. Cubs: St. Louis Looks To Build On Wild Card Lead

Visits to Chicago's north side in late September are always big games for the St. Louis Cardinals. But Saturday's game against the Chicago Cubs has the added weight of a playoff push for the reigning World Series champions.

Adam Wainwright takes the hill Saturday afternoon as St. Louis looks to build on their lead for the second Wild Card spot in the National League. Wainwright is looking to bounce back from what's been a disappointing stretch for him. The Cardinals ace is 13-13 on the season and 1-3 in his last five starts. He faces Travis Wood, who is 6-12 on the season.

The Cardinals enter Saturday's game holding off three teams that are all within three games of the second Wild Card. The Milwaukee Brewers are only one and half games out after Friday night's win in Pittsburgh, while the Los Angeles Dodgers are two games back and the surging Philadelphia Phillies sit three games out after spending most of the season near the bottom of the NL East.

First pitch for Saturday's game is set for 12:05 p.m CT at Wrigley Field. It can be seen on FOX Sports Missouri and WGN.

For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, join the discussion at Viva El Birdos. For more on the Chicago Cubs, be sure to check out Bleed Cubbie Blue. For all of your MLB needs, keep an eye on Baseball Nation.

Cardinals Vs. Cubs Game Recap: Carpenter Solid In His Return To The Rotation, But The Cards Lose 5-4

St. Louis Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter hadn't pitched since he won Game 7 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers last October, but the right-hander looked solid in his return to the mound on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, the Cardinals' bullpen faltered in the bottom of the 11th inning in a 5-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Carpenter threw five innings of two-run, five-hit ball against the Cubs (59-92) in his first start since undergoing surgery in July for thoracic outlet syndrome (a rare condition that involves pain in the neck and shoulder, numbness and tingling of the fingers, and a weak grip). He was activated from the 60-day DL last Friday.

St. Louis (80-71) struck first, when Yadier Molina singled off of Cubs starter Chris Volstad to score center fielder Jon Jay. They added another run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Allen Craig that drove in Carlos Beltran.

Chicago struck back in the bottom of the third, when center fielder David DeJesus led off the inning with a triple and scored on a single by Darwin Barney. Alfonso Soriano later drove in Barney with a double to left field to knot the game at 2-2.

The Cardinals responded immediately in the top of the fourth inning, when shortstop Peter Kozma tripled to lead off the inning and stole home, and added an insurance run in the top of the eighth when Daniel Descalso doubled home third baseman Matt Carpenter to give them a 4-2 lead.

But when right-hander Fernando Salas tried to close the door in the ninth inning in place of Cards closer Jason Motte -- who had the night off because he'd pitched in three straight games -- the Cardinals faltered. Salas surrendered a two-run homer on a two-out, two-strike count to Barney that tied the game at 4-4.

Cubs catcher Welington Castillo led off the bottom on the 11th with a single off of Cardinals starter-turned-reliever Joe Kelly. Right fielder Dave Sappelt bunted pinch-runner Brett Jackson to second, and pinch hitter Steve Clevenger hit a sacrifice fly to right to move Jackson to third. With two out, David DeJesus plated Jackson with a base hit to right field to give the Cubs the walkoff.

The Cardinals saw their lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card standings drop to two games after the loss on Friday.

The second game of the three-game set is scheduled for 12:05 p.m CT at Wrigley Field and will pit Adam Wainwright (13-13) against Cubs left-hander Travis Wood (6-12).

For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, join the discussion at Viva El Birdos. For more on the Chicago Cubs, be sure to check out Bleed Cubbie Blue. For all of your MLB needs, keep an eye on Baseball Nation.

Cardinals Vs. Cubs Game Preview: Chris Carpenter Makes His Triumphant Return

Chris Carpenter returns to the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals Friday against Chicago.