ST. LOUIS_A regular season that began on March 28 with the St. Louis Cardinals playing the Brewers in Milwaukee comes down to one day for both the Cardinals and Brewers six months and one day later. Maybe.
All we know is that the Cardinals and Brewers will play their final games on the regular-season schedule on Sunday, with first place still up for grabs in the National League Central Division. The Cardinals, after falling behind 6-0 when Adam Wainwright surrendered a career-high four homers, staged a couple of spirited rallies before succumbing to the Chicago Cubs for the second night in succession, 8-6, at Busch Stadium.
While the Cardinals, who led by 3{ games on Monday, were dropping their fourth in a row, the Brewers were taken into extra innings in Colorado. Both teams already were in the playoffs but the Cardinals had won one more game than the Brewers, depending on the outcome of Milwaukee's game.
If the teams would be tied in the standings after Sunday's games, a one-game playoff game will be played here on Monday afternoon because the Cardinals beat the Brewers in the season series.
The winner of the division will go to Atlanta on Thursday for the start of a division series. The runner-up will go to Washington on Tuesday for the wild-card game, with the winner of that to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the other division series.
The Cardinals trailed by a six-pack in the fifth inning and got as close at 6-5 in the seventh. Tommy Edman knocked in three runs. But Wainwright, who allowed 12 of the Cubs' 16 hits, had his winning streak snapped at five as he allowed four homers for the first time in his 316 starts.
After the Cardinals nearly had erased a six-run Chicago lead, the Cubs moved the needle back to 8-5 in the eighth inning against Cardinals relievers John Brebbia and Andrew Miller Saturday night at Busch Stadium. But Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong launched his 30th homer off Pedro Strop to bring the Cardinals back to 8-6 in the Cardinals' eighth.
With the Cardinals trailing only 6-5 after being behind 6-0 in the fifth, Brebbia allowed an infield single to Addison Russell, who had three hits, and pinch hitter David Bote walked.
Pinch hitter Albert Almora Jr. popped to Brebbia trying to bunt. But lefthanded-hitting Tony Kemp scooted a grounder past diving second baseman Tommy Edman, scoring Russell and sending Bote to third.
Nico Hoerner lined to left, scoring Bote.
Inching ever closer, the Cardinals scored two runs in the seventh inning Saturday night to cut a once imposing Chicago Cubs lead to 6-5.
Chicago reliever Brad Wieck hit a batter and walked two more to load the bases for Edman, who ran his streak of multiple-hit games to seven by singling to left. One run scored on that play and another on a double-play grounder by Paul Goldschmidt.
But, with two on and two out, former Cardinals reliever Steve Cishek retired Yadier Molina on a fly to center.
The Cardinals, after falling behind 6-0 in the fifth inning, rallied for three runs in the home fifth off the Chicago Cubs' bullpen to make a game of it at 6-3 Saturday night at Busch Stadium.
The key hit was not a surprise. Edman, hitting safely for the 10th games in succession, tripled in Tyler O'Neill and Dexter Fowler, who had walked. The first run of the inning off lefthander Kyle Ryan was Harrison Bader's 12th homer.
The only downside of the inning was that Edman was left at third. Paul Goldschmidt struck out and Marcell Ozuna was robbed of an extra-base hit when fast retreating right fielder Tony Kemp jumped to make the catch before ramming into the right-center-field wall.
