ST. LOUIS -- Jose Rondon, Nolan Arenado, Dylan Carlson and Nolan Arenado all homered to support Adam Wainwright. The St. Louis Cardinals extended a 17-game winning streak and clinched an NL wildcard berth on Tuesday night with a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
St. Louis will be playing in the NL wild card game on Oct. 6, at either the Los Angeles Dodgers, or San Francisco. The winner of the NL West will not be the Cardinals. This will be the Cardinals' third consecutive postseason trip. Milwaukee was already guaranteed the NL Central title.
"To be able go to the playoffs, that's what it's all for. Arenado stated, "I'm just grateful to be a part this team." "This team is amazing, we've supported each other. It's a joy to be part of it. This is why I am here.
St. Louis was at 71-69 on Sept. 11, before the winning streak. This is the longest win streak in team history, and also the longest in major leagues. Cleveland won 22 consecutive games in 2017. Since the 1935 Chicago Cubs won 21 consecutive games, the Cardinals have had the longest winning streak since Sept. 1.
Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals star, said that Seventeen consecutive wins is impossible to plan for. "But we knew going into this month that we had to win series. We could gain ground if we were able to win series. 17... it's impossible to explain."
Wainwright (17-7), who allowed two runs and seven hit in six innings and threw 102 pitches, stranded seven runners and gave up seven runs, was a complete relief pitcher. Wainwright won six consecutive Cardinals victories, and he has also won 10 of his 11 previous 11. He is now 4-0 and has improved to 2-1 in his four starts against Milwaukee this season.
Tyler O'Neill and Goldschmidt each had two hits in an eleven-hit attack.
Arenado stated, "I have never been part of a group like that." It's amazing, we just keep fighting. It's a group effort.
The score was 2-2 in the fifth. Goldschmidt walked Jandel Gustave (1-1), and O'Neill singled. O'Neill's single to the right followed by a single that gave him 22 RBIs over the 20 previous games. Avisail Garcia made a two-base error and the ball was caught by O'Neill. Nolan Arenado sacrificed fly it making it 4-2.
Goldschmidt stated that they just tried to do the best we could. "We knew that the teams would not matter if they did what we needed."
Rondon hit a home run with two outs in sixth. Arenado's 34th homer, a two out drive in the seventh, was tied with Scott Rolen (2004), Fernando Tatis (1999), for the most Cardinals third basemen in a single season.
Luis Urias scored a run in the fourth. Carlson scored in the bottom half. Wainwright brought home Harrison Bader.
"A lot of credit goes out to the coaching staff. Goldschmidt stated that no matter what happened this year, they always came in the same every day. They encouraged us even when we lost many games and made many mistakes.
Brandon Woodruff of Milwaukee allowed seven hits and two runs in just four innings.
St. Louis got a bit of bad news when Yadier Molina, the catcher, was removed from the game. ESPN Stats & Information research shows that this was only the second time in the season that Molina has not started a game with Wainwright at the plate. Molina also started 12 Cardinals games during the win streak.
This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
