MILWAUKEE -- Jon Lester notched his 200th career victory, Nolan Arenado hit a two-run home run and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers 5-2 Monday night for their ninth consecutive victory.
The Cardinals have won nine in a row for the first time since 2004 to solidify their grip on the second NL wild card. They remained three games ahead of Cincinnati for the final postseason spot, with San Diego four games back and Philadelphia 4 1/2 games behind.
The longest winning streak in franchise history is 14 games, set in 1935.
Milwaukee's magic number over the Cardinals to clinch the division title remained at three.
Lester (7-6) is the third active pitcher with 200 victories, joining Houston teammates Justin Verlander (226) and Zack Greinke (219). He's the 30th left-hander in major-league history to reach the mark.
"It's a nice round number and it looks better than 199," Lester said. "It's obviously awesome, but I'm kind of lacking words."
Cardinals Manager Mike Shildt had plenty to say about Lester, whom the Cardinals acquired from Washington at the trade deadline.
"What a tremendous addition. He's done a great job," Shildt said. "This guy's got such heart. He's like John Wayne. He's got that true grit. Big, strong silent type. That's a heck of a milestone."
St. Louis got on the board in the first on Arenado's home run, his 33rd of the season, off Freddy Peralta (9-5).
"It's extremely important to get out to a lead especially against these arms and these teams that we're facing that are good," Arenado said. "But at the end of the day, we are just playing solid baseball regardless of whether we are scoring early or not."
Milwaukee clawed right back in the second. Avisail Garcia , who returned to the starting lineup after missing four games with lower back spasms, led off with a home run off Lester. Luis Urias followed two batters later with a solo shot of his own to tie it.
Lester retired 10 in a row until giving up a single to Jackie Bradley Jr. with two outs in the fifth. Lester surrendered 3 runs and 7 hits in 6 innings. He struck out two and didn't walk a batter in an efficient, 77-pitch outing.
Cardinals relievers Kodi Whitley, T.J. McFarland and Luis García held the Brewers scoreless over the final three innings. Garcia got his first save of the season.
MARLINS 8, NATIONALS 7 (10) Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered twice before scoring from third on a wild pitch in the 10th inning and host Miami edged Washington.
REDS 9, PIRATES 5 Joey Votto tied the game with his second home run of the game, Eugenio Suarez followed with a go-ahead shot and Cincinnati rallied from a five-run deficit to beat visiting Pittsburgh.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 4, RANGERS 3 Gary Sanchez homered, four pitchers combined for scoreless relief and host New York Yankees gained ground in the AL wild-card race by beating Texas. New York moved within a half-game of Toronto for the second AL wild card with 11 games left.
RAYS 6, BLUE JAYS 4 Shane Baz pitched two-hit ball for five innings to win his major league debut and AL East-leading Tampa Bay cut visiting Toronto's lead in the wild-card chase.
TIGERS 4, WHITE SOX 3 Carlos Rodon was pulled after three rocky innings and visiting Chicago, closing in on the AL Central title, squandered a three-run lead in a loss to Detroit. Despite the defeat, Chicago's magic number to clinch the division dropped to two when second-place Cleveland was swept by Kansas City in a doubleheader.
ROYALS 7-4, INDIANS 2-2 Salvador Perez hit his 46th home run, breaking Johnny Bench's record for most by a catcher in a season to highlight visiting Kansas City's victory over Cleveland in the first game of a doubleheader sweep. Perez topped Bench's total from 1970 for the highest total by a player who spent at least 75% of his team's games at catcher.
MARINERS 4, ATHLETICS 2 Kyle Seager had a two-run single in the third inning among his three hits and three RBI, Mitch Haniger added two doubles and visiting Seattle beat Oakland.
INTERLEAGUE
ORIOLES 2, PHILLIES 0 Baltimore's John Means struck out six and stymied Philadelphia's 11th-hour playoff push. Means pitched four-hit ball into the seventh and even doubled in the seventh for his first career extra-base hit.