ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals clinched a playoff spot on Sunday, and then lost 7-2 to Jay Bruce and the Cincinnati Reds. St. Louis secured its fourth consecutive post-season appearance when Milwaukee lost to Pittsburgh earlier in the day. But the Cardinals lead in the NL Central was sliced to 2 1/2 games over the Pirates. Bruce hit two of Cincinnatis four homers as the Reds snapped a six-game losing streak. Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco also went deep. Reds right-hander Alfredo Simon (15-10) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. He was working on a 17-inning scoreless string before St. Louis scored in the fifth. Bruce hit a solo shot in the fourth and another in the eighth. He also had an RBI single in the sixth that gave Cincinnati a 3-1 lead. Yadier Molina and Randal Grichuk hit consecutive RBI doubles in the St. Louis sixth, but the Reds responded with four runs in the eighth. Mesoraco had the big blow, a three-run drive against Sam Tuivailala that made it 6-2. The Reds hit four homers in a game for the third time this season. Lance Lynn (15-10) gave up three runs and four hits in six innings for St. Louis. He also struck out nine to run his season total to 181, making him the first St. Louis pitcher to fan 175 or more in three successive years since Bob Gibson (1970-1972). The Cardinals have won seven of nine and close the regular season on the road with three-game sets in Chicago and Arizona. TRAINERS ROOM Reds: Mesoraco returned the lineup after leaving Saturdays game in the fifth inning with the flu. Cardinals: 3B Matt Carpenter and 1B Matt Adams did not play for the second successive night due to stomach illnesses. Both are day to day. UP NEXT Reds: Cincinnati will close out the season with a six-game homestand beginning Tuesday against Milwaukee. RHP Johnny Cueto (18-9, 2.33 ERA) will face RHP Mike Fiers (6-3, 1.78 ERA) in the opener. Cueto, who will also start on Sunday, is looking to become the first Cincinnati pitcher to win 20 games since Danny Jackson went 23-8 in 1988. Cardinals: St. Louis will face the Cubs in the first game of a three-game set on Tuesday in Chicago. RHP Adam Wainwright (19-9, 2.45 ERA) will take on LHP Travis Wood (8-12, 4.86 ERA). Wainwright has thrown two complete games in winning his last four starts. THEY KEEP COMING A crowd of 45,747 gave the Cardinals their 52nd sellout of the season. They averaged 43,712 during the regular season and totalled 3,540,649, the second-highest total in franchise history behind the 2007 campaign. Vladimir Guerrero Jersey . Wawrinka, who is seeded fourth, is in the top half of the draw with Serbian Novak Djokovic. The Swiss star outlasted Djokovic in a five-set quarterfinal thriller last year and stunned Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final to capture his first-ever Grand Slam title. Lee May Jersey . -- LeBron James warned the Orlando Magic to stop double-teaming him and ignoring James Jones. https://www.cheaporioles.com/1148i-harol...oles.html."; Also, defencemen "were found to be at a higher risk of suffering a concussion than other players, perhaps due to turning their back to retrieve pucks along the boards, which leaves them vulnerable. Terry Crowley Jersey . DeGrom outpitched Jake Peavy in a tantalizing hitless duel that carried into the seventh inning Saturday night before the New York Mets broke loose and beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2. Adam Jones Jersey . -- The Orlando Magic finally are showing the patience in critical moments that coach Jacque Vaughn has been waiting for all season.The Montreal Impact are heading into hostile territory for their upcoming CONCACAF Champions League matchup. The Impact will need to contend with the Central American heat along with a raucous crowd in El Salvador when the Major League Soccer squad takes on C.D. FAS on Wednesday. Due to strict CONCACAF stadium requirements, FAS is unable to compete on its usual turf in Santa Ana. Instead, the match will be held in the substantially larger Estadio Cuscatlan, a 53,400-seater in the nations capital. Knowing just how loud and disruptive the FAS faithful can be, Impact midfielder Maxim Tissot is preparing for an intense atmosphere. "I heard about them, and its intimidating," Tissot said in a recent interview. "Itll be tough there, with both the opposing team and the referees. We have to be ready." In the clubs prior Champions League appearances in 2008 and 2013, Montreal travelled to Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guatemala. The Impact are 2-1-1 all-time in the Champions League in Central America. This will be the clubs first visit to El Salvador — Central Americas smallest nation — where the fans are known for their passion and sometimes unruly behaviour. In addition, Impact manager Frank Klopas will have to watch the match from the press box. Two weeks ago, when 10-man Montreal beat FAS 1-0 at Saputo Stadium to take a three-point lead at the top of their group, Klopas was ejected for leaving his technical area late in the game. The ejection came shortly after defender Hassoun Camara was shown a straight red card for a studs-up slide tackle on FAS midfielder Raul Renderos. Camara will also miss Wednesdays match due to suspension. After the ejections, FAS pressed for the equalizer, but could not capitalize with the man advantage. Striker Marco Di Vaio had the games lone goal. "Were going with confidence to El Salvador because we know that its going to be an important game for us," Di Vaio said. "We have to go there to try to win. We arrive there with more confidence for sure because we came out of a bad time and we know that everything now is simpler." Montreals meagre victory at home against the groups weakest team could be its undoing. The Impacts offensive woes proved costly lastt year when goal differential was a factor in their group stage elimination.dddddddddddd This fall, Montreal (1-0-0) will finish group play with a home-and-away series against the New York Red Bulls, the third and final team in Group 3. New York has yet to play a Champions League match this year. Only the winner of the group will advance to the eight-team knockout stage. FAS (0-1-0) is one of the most popular soccer teams in El Salvador. With 17 national titles, it is the countrys most decorated club. FAS is currently sixth in the Salvadoran Premier League with four points from three games. In 1979, the club won the CONCACAF Champions Cup in what later became the Champions League. Since the tournament changed name and format in 2008, FAS has never made it past the group stage in three occasions. On Wednesday, FAS will look for another standout performance from goakeeper Luis Contreras, who made six saves against the Impact two weeks ago. If not for Contreras, Montreal would likely have run away with the game early on. FAS will also benefit from a full team, which wasnt the case at Saputo Stadium. Due to visa issues, the team from Santa Ana travelled to Canada with just 14 players and without its head coach. The Impact, meanwhile, will have a slightly different look for the road game. Montreal finally added Argentine midfielder Ignacio Piatti to its roster after a lengthy courting process. Piatti made his first start for the club on Saturday before being substituted shortly after halftime. His arrival may not help the struggling team in MLS play, but the 29-year-old could help Montreal make a push in the Champions League. The Champions League is an annual club tournament that involves 24 teams from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Montreal is representing Canada in the competition after winning the Amway Canadian Championship in June. Notes: The Impact trained in Miami on Monday before leaving for El Salvador on Tuesday. … The distance between Montreal and San Salvador is 3,825 kilometres. … In 2008-09, when still in the North American Soccer League, the Impact reached the Champions League quarter-finals. … Montreal ended a seven-game losing streak in MLS with a 1-0 victory over Chicago on Saturday. ' ' '