Cardinals beat Cubs for team record 15th consecutive victory

The St. Louis Cardinals set a franchise record with their 15th straight win, boosted when catcher Yadier Molina and center fielder Harrison Bader helped pull off a wild double play Saturday in an 8-5 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Bader, Tyler O’Neill and Paul DeJong homered as these Cardinals broke the team record of 14 wins in a row set in 1935, a year after Dizzy Dean and the Gas House Gang won the World Series.

Bader went 4 for 4 and scored three times as the Cardinals held their comfortable lead for the second NL wild-card spot -they began the day five games ahead of Philadelphia and six in front of Cincinnati.

And in a charmed final month, St. Louis preserved a late lead with a crazy play that resulted in a pair of rundowns and two outs.

After Nolan Arenado doubled to spark a threerun rally in the seventh, the Cardinals took a 5-4 lead into the eighth at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs quickly threatened when David Bote led off with a triple and Trayce Thompson walked. One out later, with runners still at the corners, Rafael Ortega hit a grounder to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who threw home to Molina.

After a short rundown, Arenado tagged out Bote. The star third baseman then cut across the diamond to trap Ortega off first. Another rundown ensued, with Molina catching a throw between second and third base before tossing to Bader, who had alertly rushed in join the play and led to Thompson being tagged, too.

The official scoring read like a phone number — 3-2-5-4-2-8-6 — it was the fourth double play of the afternoon for the dialed-in Cards, and kept them ahead by a run.

DeJong hit a two-run drive in the ninth. Ian Happ homered in the bottom half.

Far back in the playoff race heading into September, St. Louis moved closer to clinching a spot by extending its extraordinary streak.

The Cardinals date their history to 1892, when they known as the Browns and joined the National League. They later were called the Perfectos before becoming the Cardinals in the early 20th century.

A Phillies 3, Pirates 0:

Ranger Suarez pitched a four-hit shutout, Bryce Harper homered and host Philadelphia kept up its playoff push, beating Pittsburgh for its fifth straight win. The Phillies began the day 1 1⁄ games behind

2

Atlanta in the NL East. Philadelphia visits the Braves in a three-game series beginning Tuesday.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

A Athletics 2, Astros 1: Starling Marte hit a gameending double with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, host Oakland past

Houston. The A’s started the day four games behind the New York Yankees for the second AL wild card.

ELSEWHERE

A Angels: Los Angeles star Mike Trout is officially shut down for the season. The three-time AL MVP suffered a calf strain on May 17 and hasn’t returned to the lineup since. The original prognosis was six to eight weeks of rehabilitation, but the injury was worse than originally thought. Trout was trying to get back this season, but recently made the decision that he was done this year. Trout hit .333 with eight home runs, 18 RBIs and a 1.090 OPS in 36 games this season.