The Milwaukee Brewers assured themselves of leaving St. Louis ahead of the Cardinals, coming away with a 6-4 victory Monday night before 36,508 in the series-opener at Busch Stadium.
The win, coupled with Pittsburgh's 5-1 victory over the NL Central-leading Cubs, helped the Brewers move to within 1 ½ games of the Cubs in the division and to a three-game lead over the Cardinals in the wild-card race.
The Cardinals hold the second wild-card spot but are just 1/2-game ahead of the Colorado Rockies, who blasted the visiting Phillies 10-1.
After deciding to bump righthander Chase Anderson from Monday's start, Brewers manager Craig Counsell went with veteran lefthander Dan Jennings.