CINCINNATI-Having already rescued the Cardinals with a homer earlier in the game, Dexter Fowler delivered a win later with a double and a run scored in extra innings.
Fowler drove home the tie-breaking run in the 10th and then scored the needed insurance run on Paul DeJong's single. Those two runs buttressed the Cardinals against an answer from the Reds and meant an 8-7 victory Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.
The Cardinals' elimination number from the division race slipped to seven with the Cubs' win.
Fowler's work made a winner of Juan Nicasio, who struck out Joey Votto in the ninth inning to force extra innings and give Fowler another swing at deciding the game.
For the second time in as many games, Fowler gave the Cardinals the hit that brought them back from the brink.
On Sunday, the Cardinals had a three-run deficit at Wrigley Field erased when Fowler clubbed a three-run homer to tie the game, 3-3. The Cardinals would miss on that chance and lose 4-3 to put them six games back in the division race and effectively out of the running. Fast-forward to Tuesday, and Fowler answered in the eighth inning.
His 17th homer of the season skipped off the wall and into the crowd to tie the game at 6. The homer was a career high-tying one for Fowler. He had 17 homers for the Cubs in 2015.
Scooter Gennett hit a solo home run in the 10th inning off Nicasio to cut the Cardinals' lead to 8-7.
Cubs 2, Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Mike Montgomery took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, Kyle Schwarber hit his 28th home run and the Chicago Cubs extended their winning streak to a season-high seven by beating the the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 Tuesday night in manager Joe Maddon's return to Tropicana Field.
Maddon managed the Rays from 2006-14, then left to manage Chicago and last year led the Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908. Chicago entered with a 3-game lead over second-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
A crowd of 25,046, the largest at the Trop since opening day, gave Maddon a standing ovation in the middle of the first inning.
"I thought it was a quick nine years," he said of his time with the Rays. "I try to stay in the present tense, but that was a fast nine years and I have nothing but warm and fuzzies about it."
Montgomery (7-8) allowed one hit in six innings, a one-out homer in the sixth by Brad Miller. Montgomery struck out six, walked one and hit his first batter, Kevin Kiermaier.
Pedro Strop, Carl Edwards Jr. amd Wade Davis each followed with an inning of perfect relief to complete the one-hitter. Davis struck out the side and remained perfect in 32 save chances.
Brewers 1, Pirates 0
PITTSBURGH - Chase Anderson had eight strikeouts in six innings, Domingo Santana homered and the Milwaukee Brewers shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates for the second straight day, 1-0 on Tuesday night.
The Brewers won for the ninth time in 11 games, keeping pace in the NL Central and wild-card races. They won for the fourth time in the past seven days against reeling Pittsburgh, which has lost a season-high seven consecutive games and 12 of 13.
It was the 12th shutout of the season for the Brewers, tied for the second-most in the NL.
Anderson (11-3) allowed five singles. Anthony Swarzak retired six of the seven batters he faced, and Corey Knebel earned a save with a perfect ninth. Seven of his 39 saves this season have come against the Pirates.
Blue Jays 5, Royals 2
TORONTO- Marcus Stroman pitched seven innings to win for the first time in six starts, Darwin Barney hit a two-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Kansas City outfielder Alex Gordon's solo home run off Ryan Tepera in the eighth was the 5,694th of this major league season, breaking the record set in 2000 at the height of the Steroids Era. The record was broken with just less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.
There were 5,610 homers last year, an average of 2.31 per game, and this year's average of 2.53 entering Tuesday projects to 6,139. That would be up 47 percent from 4,186 in 2014.
Barney went 2 for 3 with three RBIs as the Blue Jays opened their final homestand on a winning note.
Stroman (12-8) allowed one run and four hits for his first victory since Aug. 16 against Tampa Bay.
Tepera pitched the eighth and Roberto Osuna finished for his 37th save in 47 chances.
Barney reached second base on a one-out throwing error by third baseman Mike Moustakas in the third but appeared to forget how many outs there were and was doubled off on Teoscar Hernadez's liner to center.
Red Sox 1, Orioles 0, 11 innings
BALTIMORE - Jackie Bradley Jr. scored the game's lone run on a wild pitch by Brad Brach in the 11th inning, and the Boston Red Sox used six pitchers to silence the Baltimore Orioles' bats in a 1-0 victory Tuesday night.
Boston has won 10 of 13 to move a season-high 23 games over .500 (87-64) and draw closer to clinching a postseason berth. The Red Sox started the day with a three-game lead over the second-place New York Yankees in the AL East.
It was the second straight tight, lengthy game between these AL East rivals. Boston won in 11 innings on Monday night and is 15-3 in extra-inning games.
With a runner on second and two outs in the 11th, Brach (4-5) walked Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts to load the bases for Mitch Moreland, who sidestepped a bouncing pitch from Brach that enabled Bradley to score without a throw.
Joe Kelly (4-1) worked the 10th and Matt Barnes got three outs for his first save. Five Red Sox relievers did not allow a hit over 4 2/3 innings.
The finish came after starting pitchers Drew Pomeranz and Kevin Gausman locked up in a scoreless duel that was essentially the exact opposite of Monday night's 10-8 slugfest.
Pomeranz allowed five hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings for Boston. Although he didn't get his 17th win, the left-hander lowered his ERA to 3.15 and set a career high by pitching at least six innings for the 17th time (in 30 starts).
Gausman was even sharper, giving up just three hits over eight innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Marlins 5, Mets 4, 10 innings
MIAMI - J.T. Realmuto homered in the 10th inning and the Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets 5-4 on Tuesday night after rallying for three runs in the ninth against former teammate A.J. Ramos.
With one out, Realmuto hit a 1-1 pitch from Paul Sewald (0-6) into the Mets' bullpen for his 17th homer.
Miami trailed 4-1 in the ninth before coming back against Ramos, who faced the Marlins for the first time since they traded him to New York on July 28.
Justin Bour led off with his 22nd homer, and first since a six-week stint on the disabled list. Ramos then gave up four singles, including two-out RBI hits by pinch-hitter A.J. Ellis and Ichiro Suzuki.
Nationals 4, Braves 2
ATLANTA - Max Scherzer allowed five hits in seven innings, and the Washington Nationals tuned up for the playoffs with a 4-2 victory over Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.
Scherzer (15-6) bounced back from his worst start of the season, also against the Braves last week, when he walked six and was roughed up for seven runs in an 8-2 loss.
This time, Scherzer struck out seven and walked only one while throwing 83 of 112 pitches for strikes.
Ryan Madson pitched around trouble in the eighth and Sean Doolittle finished with a perfect for his 22nd save, his 19th in as many chances since the Nationals acquired him from Oakland on July 16.
Ryan Zimmerman had three hits and drove in a pair of runs for the NL East champion Nationals.
Rookie left-hander Luiz Gohara (1-2) surrendered four runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Washington took a 2-0 lead in the third, sparked by Matt Wieters' leadoff double. Trea Turner and Zimmerman had run-scoring singles..
Scherzer retired the first 11 Atlanta hitters before Freddie Freeman reached on a bloop single to right in the fourth. Kurt Suzuki dumped a 3-2 pitch in front of left fielder Howie Kendrick to bring home Atlanta's first run.
Zimmerman added another RBI single in the fifth and Washington finished Gohara in the seventh. Rendon ripped a double just inside the third-base bag to drive in Turner.
Dansby Swanson's fifth-inning double provided Atlanta's other run.