Cards quieted, fall back in NL Wild Card race

ST. LOUIS — Jon Lester, with eight dominant innings on Wednesday, pitched the Cubs to within one win of their first division crown in eight years. A 7-0 victory that also featured a pair of home runs by Anthony Rizzo sealed a series win for the Cubs, who now head back to Wrigley Field with a chance to clinch the National League Central title in front of their home fans on Thursday.

The Cardinals fell one game behind the Mets and 1 1/2 games behind the Giants in the NL Wild Card standings with their 41st loss of the season at Busch Stadium. They’re now attempting to become the first club since the 2001 Braves to nab a postseason berth despite a losing home record.

Lester hardly labored en route to joining teammate Jake Arrieta as co-league leaders with 17 wins. The Cards mustered three singles off the left-hander, who improved to 7-0 with a 1.02 ERA over his last nine starts. St. Louis became the seventh opponent this season to be held scoreless by Lester, who now tops all Major League pitchers with 24 quality starts. He finished Wednesday with eight strikeouts and never allowed a runner to advance into scoring position.

It looked like Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez might match that dominance early, but the bottom part of the Cubs’ order gave him fits as the afternoon went along. It started with Lester’s second-inning single, which plated Javier Baez to give Chicago a 1-0 advantage. Oddly, three of Lester’s eight career hits have now come off Martinez.

The bottom four spots in the Cubs’ order went 5-for-12 against Martinez, who struck out nine, but allowed four runs over six innings. He entered the game having allowed seven runs in his past five starts combined.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDBattery powered: Lester isn’t known for his bat, but the pitcher delivered in the third. Baez doubled to lead off the frame, and he scored one out later on Lester’s single to center. Cubs catcher David …

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