Cards win but must hit road

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals' 97th win looked a lot like many of the others -- strong pitching by a veteran starter, good work from the bullpen, and a clutch hit by Edgar Renteria.

Renteria's one-out double in the eighth inning Sunday drove in the first two runs of a game the Cardinals won 4-0.

"If we all voted in this clubhouse, he'd get a lot of votes for our MVP," manager Tony La Russa said.

Despite the victory, the Cardinals did not get home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs. They will take on Arizona, starting Tuesday night at Phoenix.

The Diamondbacks beat Colorado 11-8 to get the home field. If they had lost, Arizona and St. Louis would've finished with the same record -- and the Cardinals would have held the tiebreaker.

Renteria led NL shortstops with 82 RBIs (he also had one as a pinch-hitter) and batted .372 with runners in scoring position. Overall, he hit .305.

The Cardinals' 97 victories were their most since winning 101 in 1985, when the lost the World Series 4-3 to Kansas City.

St. Louis received a scare when starter Andy Benes was forced to leave. It originally was announced that Benes had discomfort in his arthritic right knee. But Benes said he felt a twinge in his back during the third inning, and another as he was batting in the fifth. He said he would be fine for the playoffs, though manager Tony La Russa hasn't decided if Benes will get a start.

Benes pitched five shutout innings, fanning Ryan Christenson to end the fifth for his 2,000th career strikeout. Benes received a long standing ovation as the milestone was acknowledged on the scoreboard when he led off the bottom of the fifth.

But on a 1-0 count, Benes took what appeared to be an awkward swing. La Russa and a trainer came out and, after a long discussion, Benes walked to the dugout.

The troublesome knee had Benes briefly flirting with retirement early this season. In May, he was winless with a 10.80 ERA when it appeared he would call it a career.

Days later, he decided to give it another chance and went on the disabled list.

Since his return on July 16, Benes has been among the National League's best pitchers, going 5-2 with a 1.86 ERA. His overall ERA dropped to 2.78. He didn't give up a run in his last 17 innings.

Since his midseason return, Benes has developed an improved slider and learned a split-fingered fastball from Chuck Finley, who came to St. Louis in a July 20 deal with Cleveland.

"Before, if I got behind on the count they could sit on one pitch," Benes said. "Now, they have to watch for the splitter, the slider or the fastball."

La Russa has said that Matt Morris will pitch Game 1 against Arizona, with Finley pitching Game 2. With Woody Williams mending from a ribcage injury, La Russa said Williams will pitch Game 3 if he's able.

"If he's not there, give the ball to Andy," La Russa said.

After Benes left, relievers Dave Veres, Mike Crudale and Rick White shut out Milwaukee on one hit. Crudale (3-0) pitched the eighth and got the win.

Wayne Franklin shut out the Cardinals on one hit and six walks through seven innings. His no-hit bid ended with Scott Rolen's sixth-inning leadoff single.

"You have to give our guy credit," Brewers manager Jerry Royster said. "To throw a no-hitter when they needed to win to get home-field advantage says a lot about Franklin."

But reliever Luis Vizcaino (5-3) gave up a one-out double to Rolen and an intentional walk to Albert Pujols before Renteria lined a two-run double.

"I hope they do that every time," said Pujols, whose 127 RBIs were second in the league to Lance Berkman's 128. "That's the wrong guy to pitch to in that situation."

The Cardinals added two runs later in the inning on Jim Edmonds' pinch-hit single and Mike Matheny's sacrifice fly.