Miles Mikolas allowed two runs in five innings and the visiting St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday to avoid a sweep in the three-game series.

Milwaukee (91-59), which clinched a playoff berth Saturday and owns the best overall record in the majors, saw its NL Central lead trimmed to 5 1/2 games over the Cubs after their win over Tampa Bay.

St Louis (73-77), which snapped a five-game losing streak, entered Sunday four games back in the chase for the final wild card spot.

Mikolas (8-10) allowed two runs on a pair of solo homers, scattering five hits with five strikeouts and no walks. John King, Jorge Alcala and JoJo Romero combined for three scoreless innings. Riley O'Brien fanned two in the ninth to claim his fourth save in seven opportunit

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