lose 3-1 at struggling Crystal Palace in the Premie

CHICAGO -- With the game on the line and a right-handed batter at the plate, there are few St. Louis Cardinals pitchers that manager Mike Matheny would rather have on the mound than Pat Neshek. Matheny issued an intentional walk to set up that precise matchup Tuesday night in the 10th inning, but this time the percentages didnt pay off. Welington Castillo homered and drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning single off Neshek, giving the Chicago Cubs a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals that tightened the NL Central race. "It was amazing to get the homer and the walk-off base hit," Castillo said. "I cannot ask more than that." St. Louis lead was reduced to 1 1/2 games over second-place Pittsburgh, which clinched a playoff berth by beating Atlanta. With four games to play, the Cardinals, who secured a post-season spot last weekend, still have a magic number of four to wrap up their second consecutive division crown. Castillo finished 2 for 5 with three RBIs, and Matt Szczur also homered for the Cubs. Zac Rosscup (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for his first major league win. Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer for St. Louis. Right-handed hitters were just 24 of 140 against Neshek (7-2) before Tuesday for a batting average of .171. "Hes done such a great job for us all season," Matheny said. With the score tied at 3, Anthony Rizzo hit a one-out double off the base of the wall in right-centre and advanced to third on a groundout by rookie Jorge Soler. Luis Valbuena was intentionally walked to get to Castillo, who drove the ball into the right-centre gap to easily score Rizzo. "Rizzo got a hold of one pretty well and we had an opportunity to get around a left-handed batter and put a righty in front of him, but Castillo just ended up putting together a good at-bat," Matheny said. Neshek is so effective against right-handed hitters in part because his unusual motion often gets them off balance. Castillo, however, hung in like few others have. "I was aggressive, looking for something over home plate that I can drive," he said. "He threw me a slider over home plate. I was on top of that. I was lucky to hit it." Both starters had pitched well of late, but neither was able to get through the sixth inning this time. St. Louis right-hander Shelby Miller entered 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in four September starts, but lasted just 4 1-3 innings, allowing three runs and five hits. Miller left trailing 3-0 and Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks appeared in control through five innings, but he managed to retire just one batter in the sixth and left with the score tied. Hendricks allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings. The Cubs grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second when Valbuena led off with a walk and Castillo followed with a two-run drive deep into the left-field bleachers. The lead grew to 3-0 in the fifth when Szczur led off with a solo homer that just made the first row of bleachers in left-centre. The Cardinals got on the board in the sixth with an RBI groundout by Jon Jay to make it 3-1. Hendricks still seemed in control, but he left a 2-2 pitch out over the plate to the next batter, and Holliday deposited it into the left-field bleachers to tie the score. The Cardinals wasted opportunities to take the lead after that. Theyll try to regroup and move closer to that division title. "Pittsburghs playing good right now," Miller said. "They have a great team over there and theyve won two games against Atlanta. No doubt, that teams not going to give up, and neither are we." TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: Matheny said RHP Michael Wacha is expected to make his next start Friday in Arizona. Wacha, who missed three months earlier in the season with a stress reaction in his right shoulder, was down just briefly two weeks ago before making a start against the Reds on Saturday. Cubs: SS Starlin Castro will likely miss the remainder of the season, manager Rick Renteria said. Castro injured his left ankle against Milwaukee on Sept. 2. UP NEXT The finale of the three-game series is Wednesday night. Cardinals RHP John Lackey (14-9, 3.86 ERA) faces Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (9-5, 2.65), who pitched a one-hitter in his last start against Cincinnati. Curt Schilling Jersey .com) - The New York Rangers hope to punch their ticket to the second round when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a Game 6 battle at Wells Fargo Center. Randy Johnson Jersey .Stanton suffered fractures in his face and other injuries when he was hit by a pitch Sept. 11. 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The 33-year-old right-hander was 1-2 with a 7.LONDON - Liverpools season went from bad to worse on Sunday, when it surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at struggling Crystal Palace in the Premier League.After just 12 games, last years runner-up is failing to hit the heights that saw the side push Manchester City to the final day of the title race.As Palace rose to 15th, Liverpool is only two points better off in 12th. Liverpool, struggling without striker Luis Suarez this season, has lost its last four matches in all competitions.Rickie Lambert netted his first goal for Liverpool two minutes into his second league start, picking up Adam Lallanas cross and slotting the ball past diving goalkeeper Julian Speroni.Palace struckk back 15 minutes later when Dwight Gayle tapped the ball home with a close-range finish after an effort by Yannick Bolasie rebounded off the left upright and fell at his feet.ddddddddddddPalace took the lead in the 78th minute when Bolasie placed a perfect cross into the box and Joe Ledley made no mistake, sending the ball into the back of the net.Captain Mile Jedinak then curled a free kick over the wall and past Simon Mignolet three minutes later to secure Palaces first win since September.We knew it was going to be a difficult game, Jedinak said. We didnt help ourselves by conceding so early on but I think the reaction from the boys after that was first class. ' ' '