ST. LOUIS (AP) – Adam Wainwright pitched two-hit ball over six innings for his first win in five months, Marcell Ozuna homered and the St. Louis Cardinals salvaged the finale of a four-game series with a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night.
The Cardinals snapped a season-high four-game losing streak and moved into a tie for the second National League wild card with the Dodgers, who slipped a half-game behind Colorado for the NL West lead.
The Rockies visit Dodger Stadium for a three-game series beginning Monday night, the last regular-season meeting between the teams.
Wainwright (2-3), making his second start since missing almost four months with right elbow inflammation, struck out a season-high nine while earning his first victory since April 16. His 101 pitches were his most since July 22, 2017.
Cardinals reliever Bud Norris left the game with a blister on his middle finger after walking the only batter he faced in the seventh. Jordan Hicks, pitching for the first time in a week, finished the inning and also worked the eighth. Carlos Martinez completed the four-hit shutout – one night after the Dodgers piled up 17 runs.
Ozuna homered to right-center to make it 1-0 in the second.
Yairo Munoz sparked a two-run fourth, reaching first on a wild pitch after swinging and missing at strike three. Jedd Gyorko and Yadier Molina followed with RBI singles, chasing Dodgers starter Ross Stripling and giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
Ozuna singled and scored on third baseman Justin Turner’s fielding error in the sixth. Ozuna has a team-high 44 multihit games.
Molina had a pair of singles and drove in another run in the eighth.
Stripling (8-4) retired nine of his first 10 batters before running into trouble in the fourth. He went 3 1/3 innings, matching his shortest start of the season last Wednesday at Cincinnati.