St. Louis 4, Cincinnati 2

Cardinals 4, Reds 2: Jaime Garcia homered and pitched 6 2/3 strong innings as host St. Louis defeated Cincinnati to move closer to clinching a National League wild card spot.

Allen Craig had a run-scoring double and Daniel Descalso delivered an RBI triple as the Cardinals reduced their magic number to one over the Los Angeles Dodgers for clinching the NL’s second wild card. Los Angeles stayed alive with a 3-2 victory over San Francisco later Monday.

Garcia (7-7) struck out six and allowed two runs, six hits and one walk. Three relievers combined for 2 1/3 hitless innings, with Jason Motte working a flawless ninth for his 41st save in 48 opportunities.

Brandon Phillips had a two-out single in the third to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Garcia homered inside the right-field foul pole off Bronson Arroyo (12-10) in the bottom of the inning and Craig put St. Louis ahead to stay with his double down the left-field line. Yadier Molina hit a sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals a 3-1 edge.

Molina singled and scored on Descalso’s triple into the left-center field gap in the sixth. Cincinnati got a seventh-inning run on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Hanigan.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Reds manager Dusty Baker was back in the dugout after missing 11 games because of a minor stroke and irregular heartbeat. … Garcia’s homer was the second of his career. He hit one last season against the Milwaukee Brewers. … Arroyo allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.

• St. Louis will play their next game at home against Cincinnati. The Cardinals have a W/L % of .547 after a win and .541 after a loss.
• Cincinnati will play their next game on the road against St. Louis. The Reds have a W/L % of .567 after a win and .651 after a loss.