The Cardinals beat the Pirates 4-1 Saturday, regaining their 6.5-game lead in the NL Central and further increasing the chances that the Pirates will play the Cubs in the NL Wild Card game.
Jaime Garcia pitched seven scoreless innings, using his slider and his excellent two-seam fastball to rack up one strikeout after another. Meanwhile, a messy second inning was a blot in what was otherwise a pretty good start for Charlie Morton. The Cardinals loaded the bases without a hit, as Morton walked Kolten Wong, hit Jon Jay and, after Garcia's sacrifice bunt, walked Matt Carpenter. Then Stephen Piscotty hit a chopper up the middle.