The St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, 3-1, and will have to wait on the result of the night's contest between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants to see if they can officially clinch the second National League Wild Card spot.
If the Dodgers win on Tuesday, the Cardinals' magic number will remain at one going into the regular season's final day on Wednesday. If Los Angeles were to lose, however, St. Louis will clinch a spot in the NL Wild Card showdown against the Atlanta Braves.
After grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first inning after a sacrifice fly from left fielder Matt Holliday, the Cardinals offense went silent while the Reds scored all of their runs off St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter (L, 0-2). Carpenter went six innings, giving up seven hits and Cincinnati's three earned runs.
Third baseman Scott Rolen blasted a solo homer in the fourth to tie the game, then RBI singles from Jay Bruce and Dioner Navarro in the sixth inning gave the Reds the deciding advantage.
Cincinnati closer Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect ninth to tally his 38th save of the season.