Cardinals beat Dodgers 2-1; extend Wild Card race lead

In a game that included everything that a deep-heated battle for the fifth and final spot in National League that it could have included--tonight's 2-to-1 Cardinals win over the Dodgers had it all.

In a low-scoring affair between the two ball-clubs, following an early 1-to-0 lead from the trailing Dodgers of  Los Angeles, the defending champions did what they have done the best over the past year around--and that is find once again yet another way to win when it matters the most.

The Dodgers got an RBI single in the bottom of the first from Adrian Gonzalez in which was a double to deep left-field that drove in the likes of Mark Ellis to give the fighting-Dodgers a quick 1-to-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning.

Quickly following that, the defending-champion Cardinals got on the scoreboard themselves in the top half of the second-inning following an RBI single to left from Skip Schumaker that scored Yadier Molina and advanced Carlos Beltran to second base--but the threat ended then.

From the bottom of the second up until the top of the seven-inning; both pitching staffs held there own ground as the game stayed at 0-0 all the way up until the seventh inning. 

Lance Lynn, who pitched six-innings strong on the night, gave up just one run on five hits--as well as striking out seven batters and allowing just two walks--recieved the victory on the game--following a scoreless bullpen outing as the likes of Mujica, Boggs, and Motte combined for no runs allowed in three innings-pitched with allowing just one hit and zero runs. The win for Lynn improved his record to 15-7 and improved the Cardinals overall to 76-68.

As for the Dodgers, Josh Beckett lasted 5 1/3 innings in the games--giving up just one run on seven hits--as well as striking out six batters on the night along with just two walks himself. Steven Rodriguez recieved the loss on the night as he allowed the go-ahead and ultimately the game winning run in the seven on the RBI single from Allen Craig that drove in Matt Carpenter--which was proven to be the game-winner.

The Cardinals out-hit the Dodgers 10-to-6 total--and with the win--improved to a two-game lead over the Dodgers in the NL Wild Card's final spot with still three more head-to-head meetings in Los Angeles over the next three days (Friday through Sunday). 

Cardinals' closer Jason Motte improved his save total to 34 overall--which is good enough to be tied with three other closes in the National League to be tied for second--and just one save behind the NL leader in Arodolis Chapman--who currently holds 35 saves on the season.

The Cardinals and Dodgers will now duke it out for the second game of this four gamer tomorrow night starting at 9:10 pm Central Time as the game will be televised on FOX Sports Midwest. The pitching matchup will feature the likes of the Cardinals' Joe Kelly and the Dodgers' Chris Capuano.