PHOENIX — Adam Wainwright walked out of the icy silence in St. Louis’ clubhouse and turned his head just before he reached the door.
"Get some sleep boys," he said. "Biggest game of the year tomorrow."
The Cardinals will send their 20-game winner to the mound Sunday looking to clinch the NL Central title on the last day of the regular season. They had a chance to wrap it up Saturday night, but Mark Trumbo homered twice to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-2 victory.
St. Louis secured at least a tie for the division crown when Pittsburgh lost to Cincinnati earlier Saturday, but they need to win or have the Pirates lose on Sunday to finish alone in first place.
If the Cardinals and Pirates tie, they would meet in a one-game playoff in St. Louis.
"We’ve got Game 162," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "I think that’s how the schedule makers draw it up. It’s supposed to mean something and it does for us."
Despite Saturday night’s disappointment, the Cardinals like their chances with Wainwright.
"We’re up one with one to go with our ace on the mound," starter Lance Lynn said, "so we’re in a good spot."
Trumbo’s three-run shot off Seth Maness (6-4) broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning. He also had a solo drive in the first in his second multihomer game in six days.
David Peralta also had a solo homer in the first for Arizona.
Maness said Trumbo simply hit a good pitch.
"It’s part of the game," Maness said. "He beat my best pitch. A sinker in and he got it. He did a good job."
Trumbo said he knew Maness had a good sinker.
"I was just trying to stay inside the ball," Trumbo said. "My thoughts were actually right-centre but I think because of that I was able to get under the ball a little bit. Fortunately I got a pitch that I could work with a little bit."
Randal Delgado (4-4) pitched three scoreless innings of relief to get the win. Addison Reed worked a perfect ninth for his 32nd save in 38 tries.
The Cardinals, losers of four of six, scored on a sacrifice fly and wild pitch.
A.J. Pollock reached on an infield hit and Peralta singled for his third hit of the game ahead of Trumbo’s sixth home run in 11 games. Trumbo missed 11 weeks of the season because of a stress fracture in his left foot.
"I think history shows that I can be a tad streaky," he said. "Sometimes the good times are pretty good and vice versa. Recently it has been going ok."
Peralta homered on the first pitch he saw from Lynn in the first inning. Trumbo followed two pitches later with a shot into the left-field seats. Lynn blanked the Diamondbacks for the next five innings.
"Two pitches I’d like back in the first. They both ran back to the middle," Lynn said. "They put good swings on, and then I was able to get through six."
The Cardinals tied it in the third against Wade Miley.
Jhonny Peralta had a bases-loaded sacrifice fly. With two outs, Matt Adams struck out on a wild pitch that bounced to the backstop. Adams easily made it to first while Randal Grichuk raced home from second.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: LF Matt Holliday left in the sixth inning with flu-like symptoms. Matheny said Holliday had been ill for a few days but it got so bad Saturday he couldn’t play anymore.
Diamondbacks: INF Aaron Hill sat out because of a fractured pinky finger. … INF Chris Owings missed his second straight game with a sore left shoulder. … 1B Paul Goldschmidt (fractured hand) took batting practice with the team.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Wainwright (20-9, 2.38 ERA) tries to become St. Louis’ first 21-game winner since Chris Carpenter in 2005.
Diamondbacks: RHP Josh Collmenter (11-8, 3.57 ERA) wraps up a solid season, especially considering Arizona’s awful record. In three games against the Cardinals, Collmenter is 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA.
BAD COMPANY
The Cardinals’ struggles down the stretch have come against two of the NL’s worst teams.
They lost two of three to the Chicago Cubs, the last-place team in the NL Central, and then came to Arizona, where they were beaten Saturday night by the team with the worst record in baseball.
MILEY’S MILESTONE
Miley reached 200 innings for the second consecutive season, the second Arizona left-hander to do so. Randy Johnson did it for four straight years from 1999 to 2002.
