Cardinals 6, Cubs 2
Cardinals 6, Cubs 2: Matt Holliday homered for the second straight game and Adam Wainwright threw 5 1/3 innings of two-hit ball as host St. Louis routed Chicago for the second day in a row.
Wainwright (19-9) struck out five and walked one to join Washington's Jordan Zimmermann as the National League's only 19-game winners. Yadier Molina added a pair of hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who moved one game ahead of Atlanta for the best record in the NL - but the Braves hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Anthony Rizzo broke up the shutout with a home run off Edward Mujica leading off the ninth as the Cubs avoided being blanked for the second straight game. Donnie Murphy added a run-scoring ground-rule double later in the inning and the Cubs had the tying run in the on-deck circle before Seth Maness came on and induced a double-play ball from Darwin Barney to earn his first save.
Holliday's two-run blast in the first inning put his batting average to .300 for the first time all season, and he left the game after drawing a walk his second time up.
Molina doubled home a pair of runs in the third, Pete Kozma added an RBI ground-rule double and Wainwright capped the four-run inning with a run-scoring single. Cubs starter Edwin Jackson (8-18) was tagged for six runs on eight hits in 2 2/3 innings.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cardinals CF Jon Jay extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games. … Maness is the fifth different pitcher to record a save for St. Louis this season. … St. Louis RF Carlos Beltran and 3B David Freese were given a day to rest as the Cardinals prepare for the NL Division Series beginning Thursday.