ST. Bernardo Silva Jersey . LOUIS - It didnt take Tony Cruz long to consider all of his home runs and rank his latest. Hes only had three in his 100-game career and the first two came on the road. Cruz hit a three-run homer and the St. Louis Cardinals connected three times, beating the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 on Saturday night and moving closer to their fourth straight playoff berth. "It was a really good feeling," said Cruz, who also had the first curtain call of his career. "The first one of the year is always a really good feeling and my first one at home. You know you hear the crowd. Its amazing." Milwaukee beat second-place Pittsburgh 1-0 on Saturday to give the St. Louis a 3 1/2-game lead in the NL Central. The Cardinals cut their magic number to one for clinching a post-season berth, and five for their second NL Central title in a row. Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk also homered as St. Louis won for the seventh time in eight games. The Cardinals have hit five homers in the past two games, but have just 104 for the season — among the lowest total in the majors. Their lack of power has provided an ongoing issue manager Mike Matheny has had to address. "I like the home runs," Matheny said in his postgame interview. "You guys always accuse me of not liking them, but especially those three-runners that Tony did. We know we have the kind of team that can do that and its nice to see them." Cincinnatis four runs were as many as it scored in the previous five games. The Reds have lost six in row and has been outscored 30-8 in that stretch. They are 20-40 since the All-Star break. "Youre seeing us having to go out there and really struggle so mightily to try to find a way to win a ball game," manager Bryan Price said. "Certainly nobodys enjoying this current portion of our schedule. The way weve played for the last 60 games has been miserable." Jason Motte (1-0) needed just three pitches and one out to earn the win. He came in relief of starter Michael Wacha and got Todd Frazier to foul out to right. Wacha didnt qualify for the win because he lasted just 4 2-3 innings. He was seeking his first win since June 17 before going on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Wacha gave up two runs and six hits on 78 pitches, the most since returning at the start of the month. "I felt a lot better, today," he said. "More secondary stuff was working for me. My command was a little bit better. I felt it was a step in the right direction." Mike Leake (11-13) allowed six runs in five innings. He also walked two and hit a batter, all of whom scored. He gave up two homers and has surrendered 22 this season. Cruz hit his first homer in more than a year, connecting in the second. His last home run was Aug. 4, 2013, at Cincinnati. Wong hit his 12th, a two-run shot in the third. Grichuck added a pinch-hit homer in the sixth — it was his third of the season and his second in two nights. Grichuck later added an RBI bloop double. Zack Cozart homered for the Reds and Kris Negron doubled twice. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams and 3B Matt Carpenter both were out of the starting lineup with a stomach virus. Matheny said they were "quarantined," though it wasnt clear if they were at Busch Stadium and available or sent home. ... Star C Yadier Molina got his first start of the season. Reds: C Devin Mesoraco was pulled in the sixth inning because of a stomach bug. Price said Mesoraco could have continued but the manager didnt think it was worth it. UP NEXT Reds: RHP Alfredo Simon (14-10, 3.35) has given up five hits in seven innings during each of his past two starts, including in a 4-2 win against St. Louis on Sept. 10. The Cardinals have batted .228 in 101 at-bats against Simon over 22 2-3 innings. Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (15-9, 2.68) has given up two runs over his past 15 innings and went 0-1 in those games, including a 1-0 loss at Cincinnati on Sept. 11. He has a 2.00 ERA this month over four starts and goes after his fourth win against the Reds. He is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA in four games against them division rivals this season. Fabian Delph Jersey . -- David Freese is starting to pick up his run production, which is something the Los Angeles Angels have been waiting half a season to see. Angus Gunn Jersey . Toronto ended an 0-4-0 skid with Sundays shootout win over visiting New Jersey, but the club could have a difficult time making it two victories in a row tonight. The Maple Leafs have dropped three straight and 11 of the last 12 regular- season meetings against Boston overall and the Bruins have claimed six straight in Beantown. http://www.tmancitysoccershop.com/c-41-oleksandr-zinchenko-manchester-city-fc-jersey.aspx . Philippe Desrosiers stopped 42 shots through overtime and three more in the shootout to pick up his third shutout of the season for Rimouski (31-15-7). Zachary Fucale made 28 saves for Halifax (34-17-3) in the loss.LOS ANGELES -- Dee Gordon had four hits, including a triple that was misplayed into four bases by left fielder Charlie Blackmon, and Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched six strong innings to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Colorado 6-1 on Monday night and snap the Rockies season-best five-game winning streak. Ryu (8-3) allowed a run and three hits in six innings and struck out six in his 13th start. In his first 13 starts last season -- his first in the major leagues -- the left-hander was 8-5 with a 2.85 ERA. This was the ninth time this year that Ryu has allowed fewer than three earned runs, and he is 7-0 in those games. Matt Kemp drove in two runs for Los Angeles, while Hanley Ramirez, A.J. Ellis and Yasiel Puig had RBI singles. Ryu and four relievers retired 16 of the final 17 Colorado batters after Wilin Rosarios two-out homer in the fourth. Tyler Matzek (1-1) allowed three runs and 10 hits through five innings in his second big league start and did not strike out a batter, five days after giving up two runs over seven innings and fanning seven in an 8-2 victory over Atlanta at Coors Field. The Dodgers opened the scoring in the third, as Gordon circled the bases on a ball that Blackmon had trouble picking up twice in the corner. First, he stumbled while bending down for it against the lower fence in foul ground and had to chase it back into fair territory -- where he missed on his second attempt to grab it. By the time Blackmon relayed it back to the infield, it was way too late to get Gordon, who was credited with his major league-leading seventh triple. Kemp singled home a run later that inning and doubled home a run on the sixth. He started in the cleanup spot for the fifth time this season, and the Dodgers have won every time. Regular cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez got the nightt off while Scott Van Slyke played first base. Nicolas Otamendi Jersey. Gordon, who leads the majors with 36 stolen bases, was thrown out for the sixth time -- by Rosario in the first inning. The Rockies 22-year-old catcher trimmed the Dodgers lead to 2-1 in the fourth with his seventh homer, driving an 0-2 pitch into the pavilion in left field with two outs. But Ellis got that run back in the fifth with just his second RBI of an injury-plagued season in which the Dodgers No.1 catcher missed 34 games because of knee surgery and sat out another 18 with a sprained right ankle. Ellis two singles raised his average from .196 to .222. NOTES: A moment of silence was observed for Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who died Monday at age 54. Gwynns brother Chris and son Tony both played for the Dodgers. "He was just a genius with the bat," Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully said. ... Perhaps the biggest of Gwynns 140 career hits at Dodger Stadium came on Sept. 28, 1996, when his tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning off Mark Guthrie helped clinched a post-season berth for the Padres. The following day, brother Chris hit a two-run double in the 11th as a pinch-hitter to help the Padres win 2-0 and wrap up the NL West title. ... Forget about RHP Chad Billingsley rejoining the Dodgers roster before the end of the season. He has a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow, which will require surgery next Tuesday. Billingsley hasnt pitched in a major league game since April 15, 2013, nine days before he underwent Tommy John surgery. ... The Rockies optioned struggling RHP Juan Nicasio to Triple-A Colorado Springs and promoted OF-1B Kyle Parker from the Sky Sox. Parker, selected in the first round of the 2010 draft, made his big league debut in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter and struck out. 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