ST. LOUIS (AP) - Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer in the eighth and had three RBI and Paul DeJong had a solo shot Saturday night to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-4.
St. Louis has won three of four and gained a game on Cincinnati in the N.L. wild-card race. The Reds, who have lost four of six, started the day percentage points behind San Diego for the second spot.
"I'm here to drive runs in and I'm here to help the team win," Arenado said. "I had an opportunity there against a good pitcher and I was fortunate enough to hit a pitch up and hit it out of the ballpark. I said it yesterday and I feel like I haven't done a great job of that but it felt good today to do it."
Alex Reyes, who had been closing games for most of the season, pitched the eighth to earn the victory. Reyes (7-8) struck out one and walked one. Giovanny Gallegos picked up his seventh save.
Arenado hit his 30th homer, connecting on a 1-0 pitch from Lucas Sims (5-3) to drive home Paul Goldschmidt. Sims allowed three hits and struck out two in one inning.
The Cardinals scored twice with two outs in the sixth to tie it at 4. Tyler O'Neill, called safe after a review, scored on Arenado's triple. Dylan Carson then dropped a short fly just out of the reach of center fielder Tyler Naquin and shortstop José Barrero for a double to chase home Arenado.
"We haven't done a great job of coming back in games this year and for us to fight that against a good pitcher and a really good team that was huge," Arenado said.
The two Reds players collided going after the hit and laid on the field for a few minutes before getting to their feet. Naquin came out of the game with bruised ribs, while Barrero stayed in.
Reds starter Luis Castillo went seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. He also struck out five and walked one.
"I felt really good today," Castillo said. "I felt really healthy. Lot of confidence on the mound today. They were able to get some runs off me today, but overall, I felt really good."
India and Nick Castellanos both homered off starter St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas to account for the Reds' four runs. India's 20th home run came with two outs in the third. He hit a 3-1 pitch to dead center to drive in Tucker Barnhart who reached on a single. Max Schrock followed India with a base hit and Castellanos hit his 28th homer.
"Every single game we play from here on out, we need to win," Castellanos said.
St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas lasted five innings, giving up four runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out one.
DeJong led off the third with his 17th homer to left field. Harrison Bader followed with a double and later scored on a Tommy Edman single.
Notes: Reds RHP Sonny Gray (7-6, 3.88) faces St. Louis for the second time in two weeks and for the third time this season this afternoon. He got the win in his last outing against the Cardinals, going five innings and giving up two hits - both home runs. For the year, he's 1-2 with a 11.25 ERA against St. Louis. Cardinals LHP J.A. Happ (8-8, 6.24) has dropped his last two decisions.