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(AP) -- David Freese and Yadier Molina both connected for their 20th home run of the season, and Lance Lynn threw 6 1-3 shutout innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals, who have won seven straight against Houston, moved two games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the second wild card spot in the National League. Milwaukee is 2 1-2 games back.

St. Louis has won three in a row for the first time since a four-game streak from Aug. 21-24.

The Cardinals have five players with at least 20 homers for the first time in franchise history. Carlos Beltran (29), Matt Holliday (27) and Allen Craig (21) already hit the milestone.

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