The Cardinals add more space between them and the Milwaukee Brewers for the second NL Wild Card after the Cardinals beat Houston 6-1 and Milwaukee lost to Washington 12-2, opening a 3.5 game lead over the Brewers and Dodgers.
One day after hitting his first major league homer, Pete Kozma went deep again, with a two run homer in the second. Yadier Molina homered as well to back Lance Lynn, who struck out nine and allowed one run in seven innings.
Lynn is 4-0 with a 0.89 ERA in his last four starts. Molina was back in the lineup after dealing with back issues. Matt Holliday went 1 for 5, after leaving the game on Sunday with back problems. David Freese rolled his ankle taking batting practice and did not play.
Since Rafael Furcal’s injury, Kozma has hit .298 with two doubles, three triples and two homers in 18 games. He’s also been reliable in the field, with just one error in 49 chances at short.