Luke Weaver threw six innings of two-hit ball, Tommy Pham drove in two runs and stole two bases, and the Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-2 on Thursday.
The Cardinals, who are chasing the first-place Cubs in the NL Central and the Rockies in the wild-card standings, have won five of their last six and nine of 12.
Weaver (6-1), a rookie right-hander, allowed one unearned run, struck out six and didn't walk a batter.
Rookie left-hander Amir Garrett (3-8) was charged with four runs in four innings. He struck out seven and walked five.
The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the second when Scott Schebler hit a double and scored with two outs when shortstop Paul DeJong mishandled Phillip Ervin's grounder.
Garrett struck out four consecutive batters before running into trouble with back-to-back, full-count walks with two outs in the third.
After a stolen base by Pham and a double steal by Pham and DeJong, Jose Martinez came through with a full-count, two-run single to left to put St. Louis ahead.
Pham hit a two-run homer in the fifth, his 20th of the season. With 21 stolen bases, he became the first Cardinals player to record a 20/20 season since Reggie Sanders in 2004.
Carlos Martinez (11-10, 3.33) opens a three-game series against the Cubs in Chicago opposite RHP John Lackey (11-11, 4.65). Martinez is 1-1 with a 3.19 ERA in four career starts at Wrigley Field.
