Right-hander Mikolas keep alive Cardinals past Cubs, 2-1

Right-hander Miles Mikolas remained unbeaten in September with eight strong innings Saturday afternoon, keeping the St. Louis Cardinals alive in the National League wild-card hunt with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Right-hander Miles Mikolas remained unbeaten in September with eight strong innings Saturday afternoon, keeping the St. Louis Cardinals alive in the National League wild-card hunt with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Matt Carpenter broke a 1-1 fifth-inning tie with an RBI single as the Cardinals (88-73), seeking a return to the postseason after a two-year absence, temporarily moved within 1 1/2 games of the Los Angeles Dodgers (89-71) for the NL's second wild card.

The Dodgers played later in the day at San Francisco.

The Cubs (94-67) lost a half-game to Milwaukee (93-67) in the duel for the NL Central title, with the Brewers scheduled for a home night game against Detroit.

The Cubs are seeking their third straight division crown.

Mikolas (18-4) overcame an unearned run in the first inning to shut out the Cubs over the next seven frames, handing the ball over to closer Carlos Martinez with a 2-1 lead in the ninth.

In running his September record to 5-0, Mikolas tied Jon Lester and Max Scherzer for the NL lead in wins. He limited Chicago to just the one unearned run and five hits in eight innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.

He outdueled Cubs lefty Cole Hamels (9-12), who also was the victim of an unearned run. He went seven innings, allowing two runs (one unearned) and three hits. He walked two and struck out eight.

The loss was Hamels' third in seven decisions as a Cub and kept him winless (0-3) in his last seven starts.

Carpenter's hit in the fifth produced the only earned run of the game. It scored Harrison Bader, who was hit by a Hamels pitch to open the inning and took second when Yairo Munoz walked.

The RBI was Carpenter's 81st of the season.

The Cubs got on the board first on a two-out error by the second baseman Munoz in the bottom of the first, scoring Ben Zobrist, who had singled with one out.

The Cardinals got even in the fourth when Carpenter drew a catcher's interference on Victor Caratini, took second when Jose Martinez walked and scored on a single by Paul DeJong.

Carlos Martinez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.

The Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak despite getting just three hits, none for extra bases, off three Cubs pitchers. They clinched the season series over the Cubs with the 10th win in 18 games.

Daniel Murphy was the only player in the game with multiple hits, collecting two singles for the Cubs, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

The Cubs out-hit the Cardinals 5-3 in a battle of singles.