MILWAUKEE (AP) - Matt Carpenter broke Stan Musial's team record for doubles by a left-handed batter in a season, Lance Lynn won for the first time since early August and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 Saturday night to maintain a two-game lead in the NL Central.
Seeking their first division title since 2009, the Cardinals (91-64) have surged ahead of Pittsburgh (89-66) and Cincinnati (88-67), which fell three back with a 4-2 loss in Pittsburgh.
St. Louis lowered its magic number to one for clinching a postseason berth, won for the 12th time in 17 games and improved to 14-4 against the Brewers this year, including 8-1 in Milwaukee.
Carpenter's fifth-inning double was his 54th of the season, one more than Musial's total in 1953.
Lynn (14-10) allowed one run, four hits and four walks in 6 1-3 innings with seven strikeouts. He had been 0-5 with a 5.44 ERA in eight starts since winning at Cincinnati on Aug. 4.
Yovani Gallardo (11-10) gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings and dropped to 1-11 with a 6.46 ERA in 17 career starts against St. Louis.
Matt Adams hit a two-run homer for the second straight night for the Cardinals.
PIRATES 4, REDS 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A.J. Burnett scattered four hits over seven strong innings to help Pittsburgh move a game in front of Cincinnati for the top spot in the NL wild-card race.
Burnett (9-11) struck out a season-high 12 and Jason Grilli worked the ninth for his 31st save, his first since going to the disabled list with a strained right forearm in July.
Russell Martin hit a two-run homer and Jose Tabata added two hits as the Pirates bounced back from a late collapse in a loss on Friday night.
Zach Cozart hit his 12th home run of the season for Cincinnati and Ryan Ludwick added an RBI but Homer Bailey (11-11) ended his winning streak at six straight decisions.
CUBS 3, BRAVES 1
CHICAGO (AP) - Dioner Navarro hit a tiebreaking single in a three-run eighth inning, and Chicago Cubs Atlanta to keep the Braves on the brink of the NL East championship.
Atlanta's magic number remained at one to clinch its first division title since 2005. Second-place Washington was rained out against Miami later Saturday.
Starlin Casto singled off Kris Medlen with one out in the eighth, pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy singled against Scott Downs (2-1) and Anthony Rizzo hit a tying double down the left-field line.
Navarro singled in the go-ahead run against David Carpenter, and Nate Schierholtz added a sacrifice fly. Carlos Villanueva (7-8) got three outs for the win and Pedro Strop had the save.
DODGERS 4, PADRES 0
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Clayton Kershaw struck out 10 in seven dominant innings, Yasiel Puig and A.J. Ellis hit two-run homers and NL West-champion Los Angeles beat San Diego.
Kershaw (15-9) lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.88 and leads the NL with 224 strikeouts. He held San Diego in check on three hits after losing to the Padres in three other starts this year.
The left-hander is trying to become the first pitcher to lead the majors in ERA in three consecutive seasons since Atlanta's Greg Maddux from 1993-95.
Ellis homered in the fourth off rookie Burch Smith (1-2).
Puig then connected on a shot to center field in the seventh that was estimated at 457 feet.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, ROCKIES 2
DENVER (AP) - Matt Davidson homered and drove in three runs, Gerardo Parra had three hits and Arizona beat Colorado.
Chris Owings also had three hits for the Diamondbacks, who won for the first time since being eliminated from the NL West race Thursday.
Arizona starter Trevor Cahill (8-10) lasted into the sixth despite taking a line drive by DJ LeMahieu off his right leg in the bottom of the first.
Charlie Blackmon had three hits for Colorado and Colin McHugh (0-3), still looking for his first career win, allowed six runs and 11 hits in five innings.
METS 5, PHILLIES 4, 6 1/2 INNINGS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - David Wright and Daniel Murphy hit solo home runs and New York beat Philadelphia in a game called in the top of the seventh inning because of rain.
The game was halted and then called after a wait of 1 hour, 28 minutes.
Wright connected for the third consecutive game, and second straight day since returning from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for more than a month. Murphy broke a 1-all tie with a homer in a four-run sixth. His 12th homer of the season tied a career high set in 2009.
Juan Lagares chased Phillies starter Tyler Cloyd (2-6) with a two-run triple in the sixth.
Dillon Gee (12-10) yielded four runs on seven hits with a walk while going the distance.