St. Louis Cardinals bounced by Chicago Cubs, from wild-card chase

ST. LOUIS -- Taylor Davis recorded an RBI double with two outs in the 11th inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 victory over St. Louis on Thursday night, eliminating the Cardinals from the National League wild-card race.

It was only the second career hit for Davis, making his second career start since being called up from Triple- A Iowa, and his first career RBI.

With one out in the 11th, Kyle Schwarber reached first on a swinging bunt and advanced to second when pitcher Matt Bowman (3-6) made a wild throw to first. After Victor Caratini grounded out, Davis lined the ball past third base and into the left-field corner.

The Cardinals fell four games behind the Colorado Rockies with three to play.

Jen-Ho Tseng (1-0) picked up his first major league victory with three scoreless innings of relief.

Kyle Hendricks, in his final tuneup before the Cubs play the Washington Nationals in the NL Division Series, worked five scoreless innings, allowing four hits while striking out nine.

He lost his chance for the victory when the Cardinals tied the game in the sixth against Justin Grimm. Tommy Pham singled, stole his second base of the game, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Dexter Fowler.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a home run by Ian Happ off Lance Lynn, likely making his final start for the Cardinals. The free agent-to-be was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning.

The Cubs finished the season series against the Cardinals 14-5, their most wins since going 15-3 in 1978.

Facing a lineup filled mostly with youngsters and backups one night after the Cubs clinched the division title, Lynn fell behind 1-0 on Happ's 23rd home run of the season.

The Cardinals missed a chance to tie the game in the third. Lynn singled with one out, only his fourth hit of the year, and went to third on a two-out single by Pham. Pham stole second before Fowler walked to load the bases. But Hendricks ended the inning by striking out Jose Martinez.

Lynn, who was knocked out in the first inning in his last start in Pittsburgh when he allowed eight runs, walked four and struck out five in five innings.

NOTES: Cubs RHP John Lackey would not talk about it, but teammate Jon Lester said during the team's postgame celebration after clinching the NL Central that Lackey likely will retire at the end of this season. ... On the day after winning the division for the second year in a row, the Cubs rested all of their regulars Thursday. The only two position players with more than 22 starts this season in the lineup were OFs Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina is still going through concussion protocol tests to see if he will be cleared to play again this season. ... The Cardinals will finish spring training next season with two games against the Blue Jays in Montreal, the team announced. ... The Cubs return home to play the Reds for the final three games of the regular season while the Cardinals host the Brewers over the weekend.