Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado each hit one of St. Louis' four homers, and the Cardinals flashed some fantastic outfield defense in beating the New York Mets 11-4 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.

Harrison Bader homered, drove in three runs and made a timely grab at the center-field fence in his New York homecoming to help Jon Lester improve to 9-1 against the Mets. Edmundo Sosa also went deep and Goldschmidt had three hits for the Cardinals, who totaled 25 runs in a three-game sweep.

St. Louis, which jumped into playoff position Tuesday night for the first time since May 30, has won seven of eight to move a game ahead of San Diego for the second NL wild card heading into a pivotal series against the Padres this weekend.

Pete Alonso and Kevin Pillar homered for the fading Mets, who appear finished in the pennant race with 15 games to go. They went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position and dropped five games behind St. Louis, with three teams in between.

Tyler O'Neill laced a two-run double in a five-run first inning against rookie Tylor Megill (3-5), who was coming off an outstanding start against the Yankees.

Running on an 0-2 pitch, Sosa scored all the way from first base when Bader blooped a two-run single to center.

New York had a couple of chances to get back in it, but Bader and substitute right fielder Lars Nootbaar came through with clutch catches.

The speedy Bader sprinted to the wall near the 408-foot sign and left his feet to snag Javier Baez's long drive with two on to end the fifth.

Nootbaar, moments after entering on defense in a double switch, got pumped up when he robbed Alonso of a three-run homer to keep it 8-4 in the seventh.

Lester (6-6) allowed three runs - two earned - and six hits in six innings. The 37-year-old lefty struck out seven and walked none, boosting his record to 3-1 in nine outings for St. Louis since his July 30 trade from Washington.

The Cardinals are off on Thursday before opening a three-game home set Friday night versus San Diego. Miles Mikolas (0-2, 5.47 ERA) starts against his former team, seeking his first major league victory in two years. St. Louis also will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its 2011 World Series championship this weekend.