ST. LOUIS -- The Chicago Cubs had their chances, but just couldnt get the big hit.The Cubs stranded 10 runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the second and fourth innings, as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a 4-2 win Tuesday night, ensuring that the runaway Cubs wont clinch the NL Central at Busch Stadium.Chicagos magic number is three, and the series in St. Louis wraps up Wednesday.We put together some really good at bats tonight, Chicago shortstop Addison Russell said. Its just youve got to give credit to their pitchers, too. They kept us off balance it seemed like, and made the plays.St. Louis remained a half-game behind the New York Mets for the second NL wild-card spot.Cardinals reliever Alex Reyes lack of control led to most of the Cubs chances. Reyes (2-1), who pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief after Jaime Garcia failed to get out of the second, walked six and allowed a hit but still managed to keep the Cubs off the board.The fastball command wasnt there, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. We were out of the zone. We had every opportunity had we been a little more patient.Cubs starter Jason Hammel (14-9) struck out a season-high nine, but gave up two-run homers to Brandon Moss in the sixth and Aledmys Diaz in the second.The pitch to Diaz was a fastball that came back over the plate, Hammel said. The pitch to Moss I went back and looked at it and I felt I made my pitch and it just left the yard. Ive got to figure out how to keep it on the ground.Dexter Fowler led off the game with a home run against Garcia. It was his seventh leadoff homer of the season.Im seeing the ball well, Fowler said. Control what you can control and other than that youve got to keep pushing.Garcia lasted just 1 2/3 innings in the shortest outing in his 146-start career. He gave up two runs on three hits, including an RBI double by Russell in the second.I let my team down, Garcia said. Ive been through tough times before. All I can say is Im going to continue to do whats in my control to continue to fight.Moss entered the game mired in a 1-for-41 skid. He singled in the second and scored on Diazs 15th homer of the season.It was a bad rut, but he pulled himself through, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.Diaz started for the first time since July 31, when the All-Star shortstop broke his thumb.Kevin Siegrist got his second save.The loss means the earliest the Cubs can clinch their first National League Central Division championship since 2008 would be Thursday against Milwaukee at Wrigley Field.Its going to happen, Fowler said. Its just a matter of when.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: INF Matt Carpenter was in the starting lineup after leaving Mondays game with back tightness. ... RHP Trevor Rosenthal threw batting practice. He has missed 46 games with shoulder inflammation. ... RHP Michael Wacha is expected to be activated off the disabled list tomorrow and could be headed to the bullpen. He has been out since Aug. 9 with shoulder inflammation.UP NEXTCubs LHP Jon Lester (16-4, 2.51) takes on RHP Carlos Martinez (14-7, 3.05) in the final game of the three-game set. Lester has allowed one run or less in each of his last five starts. He is 6-0 with a 1.17 ERA in his previous eight starts. Martinez is 6-3 in 11 day starts this season. He has induced an NL-leading 32 double plays.Anthony Munoz Womens Jersey . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Joe Mixon Jersey . 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He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday.MONTREAL -- Max Pacioretty had four goals, Brian Flynn scored twice during a six-goal first period and the Montreal Canadiens routed the Colorado Avalanche 10-1 on Saturday night.Flynn, Pacioretty and Artturi Lehkonen each scored against Calvin Pickard in the opening 7:12, and then Pacioretty, Paul Byron and Flynn each had a goal among the first four shots on Semyon Varlamov.Pacioretty completed his hat trick in the second period and added another in the third to give the captain seven goals in his last four games.Alexander Radulov and Jeff Petry also scored for Montreal, which has shown no drop-off without injured scoring leader and first-line center Alex Galchenyuk. Montreal outshot the Avs 36-16.Montreals six-goal first period was its first since Dec. 17, 1992 against the Quebec Nordiques in an 8-3 win.FLYERS 4, STARS 2PHILADELPHIA -- Brayden Schenn scored three power-play goals to lead Philadelphia to its eighth straight victory.Jakub Voracek added an empty-netter and also had three assists for the Flyers, who matched Montreal for the longest winning streak in the NHL this season.Philadelphia last won eight straight games from Jan. 6-19, 2002.Devin Shore had both goals for the Stars.Steve Mason made 21 saves for his seventh straight win.Kari Lehtonen made 18 saves for the Stars, falling to 1-11-3 against Philadelphia.BLUE JACKETS 6, ISLANDERS 2COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jack Johnson, Cam Atkinson and Seth Jones each had a goal and an assist and Columbus beat New York for its sixth straight win.Josh Anderson, Brandon Saad and Lukas Sedlak also scored for Columbus and Sergei Bobrovsky had 25 saves.Josh Bailey and John Tavares scored for New York, which had earned a point in a season-high five straight games (4-0-1). Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves until he was pulled after the Blue Jackets scored four consecutive goals in the third period.PENGUINS 4, LIGHTNING 3TAMPA, Fla. -- Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby both scored their second goals on third-period power plays, helping Pittsburgh rally to beat Tampa Bay.It was the first meeting between the teams since the Stanley Cup champion Penguins beat Tampa Bay in a seven-game Eastern Conference final last season.Pittsburgh, which won its fifth straight game, got three assists each from Phil Kessel and Kris Letang. The Penguins are 6-6-1 when trailing after two periods.Tampa Bays Jonathan Drouin had the first of his two goals shortly after getting cut by a high-stick. Valtteri Filppula also scored for the Lightning, who are 1--6-1 over their last eight games.ddddddddddddKINGS 4, SENATORS 1LOS ANGELES -- Trevor Lewis had a goal and an assist, and Jeff Carter and Alec Martinez scored on the same power play early in the first period of Los Angeles victory over Ottawa.Peter Budaj made 19 saves and earned an assist, and Marian Gaborik scored his first goal since Feb. 12 to cap the Kings final home game before a three-week, nine-game stint on the road until New Years Eve.Mike Condon stopped 15 shots, and Zack Smith scored for Ottawa, which has lost four of six. The Senators struggled to beat Budaj, the longtime Montreal goalie, in the second stop of their swing through California.Veteran forward Chris Neil played his 1,000th game for Ottawa, joining Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips as the only Senators to reach the mark.MAPLE LEAFS 4, BRUINS 1BOSTON -- Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman scored in the second period, Frederik Andersen made 32 saves and Toronto beat Boston.James van Riemsdyk scored in the third for Toronto, which was 0-2-1 in its last three games. Connor Brown added an empty-netter and Andersen improved to 6-0-0 in his career against Boston.Brad Marchand had the Bruins goal, and Tuukka Rask stopped 16 shots.Former Bruins defenseman Matt Hunwick had two assists.PANTHERS 4, CANUCKS 2SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aaron Ekblad gave Florida a three-goal lead early in the third period and it held on against Vancouver.The Panthers got their first home win under interim coach Tom Rowe.Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist, and Vincent Trocheck and Derek MacKenzie also scored for Florida. Roberto Luongo made 37 saves, and Jaromir Jagr recorded an assist and now has 1,883 points, four behind Mark Messier for second on the NHL career list.Daniel Sedin and Jack Skille scored in the third period for the Canucks. Jacob Markstrom stopped 38 shots.COYOTES 4, PREDATORS 1GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Alex Goligoski and Lauren Dauphin scored 1:57 apart in the first period and Arizona beat Nashville.Brendan Perlini added his first career goal, Martin Hanzal also scored and Mike Smith made 42 saves for the Coyotes, who were 0-3-3 since their last win against at Edmonton on Nov. 27.Arizona scored four goals for the first time since Nov. 8 after totaling four in its previous four games.Roman Josi scored and Pekka Rinne made 30 saves for the Predators, who have lost four of five (1-3-1). his first career goal, Martin Hanzal also sc[/url] ' ' '