Rookie Dylan Carlson homered twice, once from each side of the plate, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 on Thursday.
Carlson’s homers made a winner out of J.A. Happ, who entered the game 0-3 in his last five starts against the Brewers. Happ (10-8) gave up 3 runs on 9 hits and struck out 7 in 6 1/3 innings, his longest outing since St. Louis acquired him from the Minnesota Twins on July 30.
Luís Garcia earned his second save as the Cardinals won the rubber game of the series after having their franchise record 17-game winning streak snapped the night before.
RHP Dakota Hudson (1-0, 4.91 ERA) will make his first start in over a year against the visiting Chicago Cubs in the first of three on Friday night at 7:15
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt named Adam Wainwright the starter of the wild-card game on Wednesday.