Cardinals 4, Rockies 3: Adam Wainwright pitched 7 2/3 solid innings and went 3-for-3 with two RBIs to lead visiting St. Louis past Colorado.

Wainwright (17-9) allowed three runs and 10 hits before exiting to help the Cardinals win for the ninth time in 12 games. St. Louis has a two-game lead over second-place Pittsburgh in the National League Central with 10 games remaining.

Trevor Rosenthal entered with two on and two outs in the eighth and retired Charlie Blackmon on a grounder. Colorado loaded the bases in the ninth but came up empty when Edward Mujica struck out Todd Helton for his 37th save in 40 opportunities.

Troy Tulowitzki delivered a two-run single in the first to give Colorado the early lead before Wainwright hit an RBI double in the third and scored on Matt Carpenter’s base hit. Wainwright’s RBI single to left in the fourth gave St. Louis a 3-2 edge.

Yadier Molina’s RBI single in the fifth made it 4-2 before Blackmon’s run-scoring double in the sixth pulled Colorado back within one. Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood (7-5) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer (bruised forearm) departed after six innings. He went 1-for-3 and leads the NL with a .331 average. … Cardinals 1B Matt Adams left with elbow soreness in the seventh. … Helton went 1-for-5 and smacked his 587th career double.