Pittsburgh: Matt Carpenter raced home to break a scoreless tie in the ninth inning when two Pittsburgh outfielders mishandled Jon Jay’s single, and Mark Reynolds followed with a two-run homer to lift the St Louis Cardinals to a 3-0 win over the Pirates in Major League Baseball on Monday.

The Cardinals can clinch their third straight NL Central title with a victory at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty was carted off the field following a violent collision with teammate Peter Bourjos. The team said Piscotty was taken to the hospital with contusion and he would be held overnight for observation.

The Pirates remained three games ahead of the Chicago Cubs for the first National League wild-card position.

The Cubs beat the Kansas City Royals 1-0 after pinch-hitter Chris Denorfia led off the 11th inning with a home run.

The race for the final American League wild card got tighter, meanwhile, with Houston, the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota all winning. The slumping AL West-leading Texas Rangers, meanwhile, lost their third straight game, a 7-4 defeat to Detroit.

Texas have a one-game lead over Houston for the AL West division title, while the Astros lead the Angels by a half-game for the second wild-card spot. Minnesota are a game behind the Angels.

In Seattle, Chris Carter drove in the go-ahead run with Houston’s third solo homer and rookie Lance McCullers pitched effectively into the seventh inning as the Astros beat the Mariners 3-2.

Carter broke a 2-all tie in the seventh with his 23rd home run. McCullers (6-7) allowed two runs and four hits in six-plus innings.

The Angels got their sixth straight win when pinch-hitter David Murphy drove a bases-loaded single into left field to beat Oakland 5-4.

Albert Pujols tied it with his 558th career homer in the sixth inning for the Angels, who have won nine of 11 during their MLB-best 17-8 performance in September.

Minnesota’s emergency starter Tommy Milone replaced an ill Phil Hughes and pitched the Twins to a 4-2 win over Cleveland.

Hughes, one of several Twins players hit with a virus that has spread throughout the team, was scratched about four hours before the game. Milone (9-5), removed from the rotation two weeks ago, stepped in and allowed two runs in 5 2-3 innings.

Texas, meanwhile, matched their longest losing streak since mid-August.

Justin Verlander allowed one run in six innings and Tyler Collins’ three-run home run sparked a five-run fifth inning to lead the Tigers to victory.