ST. LOUIS, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Rafael Furcal homered in the eighth inning Sunday and St. Louis crept closer to the National League wild-card lead with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Fucal's solo blast broke a 2-2 tie and Jason Motte made the lead hold up with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, collecting his ninth save for the Cards.
Octavio Dotel (3-2) earned the victory after retiring the final two batters in the eighth for the Cardinals, who now are just one game behind the Atlanta Braves in the race for the NL wild card playoff berth.
Atlanta lost 3-0 loss to Washington Sunday.
St. Louis closes out the regular season with three games in Houston while the Braves host the Phillies for their final series.
Chicago's Randy Wells (7-6) hurled a complete-game loss, surrendering three runs on six hits over eight frames.
