The St. Louis Cardinals added distance to their lead in the National League Wild Card race and handed the Houston Astros their 100th loss of the season in the process, winning 4-1 at home on Tuesday night.
St. Louis grabbed the early lead thanks to second baseman Daniel Descalso's RBI single in the second inning off of Houston starter Fernando Abad, scoring catcher Yadier Molina.
In the fifth, the Cardinals would chase Abad from the game following St. Louis starting pitcher Kyle Lohse's RBI double and center fielder Jon Jay doubling home Lohse. Abad (L, 0-5) surrendered six hits and three runs in five innings.
Jay added to the St. Louis lead in the seventh, scoring Descalso with a single to right field. Along with the fifth-inning RBI, Lohse (W, 15-3) delivered a quality start on the mound, keeping the Astros at bay by tossing seven scoreless innings and giving up only four hits and two walks while striking out five on 102 pitches.
Jason Motte earned his 36th save of the season, pitching a scoreless ninth.
With the win and postponement of Tuesday night's Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals tilt, the Cardinals increased their separation in the NL Wild Card picture to 1½ games over Los Angeles and 2½ over the Milwaukee Brewers.
For more coverage of the Cardinals, head over to Viva El Birdos while Crawfish Boxes has all the latest on the Astros.