By Joe Lyons St. With the series sweep, the Brewers improved to 92-67 and have assured themselves of at least a spot in the NL wild-card game. The Cardinals 87-72 are off Thursday and return to action this weekend in Chicago with games Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Wrigley Field. They top the 3-million mark for the 15th consecutive year and for the 22nd time overall. The Cardinals rank third, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, in MLB attendance this season and, with 95. The Brewers broke on top Wednesday with a run in the third inning. Christian Yelich walked with one out, took third on a Jesus Aguilar hit and scored when Travis Shaw blooped a single to right. On the play, Jose Martinez made a strong throw to Jedd Gyorko at third, cutting down Aguilar as he tried to go first to third. Matt Carpenter led off with a walk and raced to third an out later on a shot past third from Paul DeJong. After Marcell Ozuna walked to load the bases, Jedd Gyorko tied it with a sacrifice fly to left. On Tuesday night, Gyorko went 0 for 3, leaving the bases loaded twice and stranding eight runners in a 12-4 loss. In the Milwaukee fifth, after starter John Gant retired Lorenzo Cain to open the inning, lefty Chasen Shreve took for Gant and promptly walked MVP candidate Yelich. Right-hander Dakota Hudson entered and got Aguilar on a tapper in front of the mound, but Shaw followed with another run-scoring bloop hit, this one to left, that put the Brewers back on top again at 2-1. The home team threatened in the sixth. With one out, Martinez reached on a dropped fly ball by Ryan Braun in left and DeJong was hit by pitch. With two out in the bottom of the eighth, Carpenter walked and was replaced by pinch-runner Adolis Garcia. Martinez followed with a topper down the third-base line for a hit. The throw from third baseman Mike Moustakas was wild past first, but as Garcia came around third, he fell after losing his balance and was thrown out at the plate on a relay from second baseman Hernan Perex to catcher Erik Kratz. The Brewers, who stranded eight runners, outhit the Cardinals 5-2, getting two hits and two RBIs from Shaw. Chacin 15-8 and four Brewer relievers combined for the two-hitter, striking out nine, walking three and hitting one man. Jeremy Jeffress finished up, picking up his 17th save. DeJong doubled with one out in the fourth and Martinez had a two-out infield hit in the eighth for the Cardinals. Lefty Shreve, who came on in relief of Gant in the fifth, walked the only batter he faced and ended up taking the loss, falling to 3-4. Not that it mattered. The rookie phenom launched the Angels to their 14th victory of the season over the Rangers. He allowed just two earned runs — on solo homers from Adrian Belre and Jurickson Profar — and scattered seven hits in his 30th start of the year. He entered the third inning having thrown 40 pitches because of a three-hit, three-strikeout second frame. But he settled down, needing just 60 pitches to get through his final five innings. Heaney was at 84 pitches after six innings. Manager Mike Scioscia could have elected to bring in reliever Jose Alvarez, who had begun to warm up in the bottom of the sixth inning. But Heaney emerged for the seventh, pitched a perfect frame and handed the ball over for good. The seven innings gave Heaney 180 innings pitched for the season. But what began as a strain of the flexor muscle in his left arm sent that 2016 campaign off the rails after one start. It eventually led Heaney to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery after follow-up MRI exams revealed damage of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. He returned to a major league mound ahead of schedule in August of 2017. Heaney will still be searching for double-digit win totals in 2019, as he ends this season with a 9-10 record and a 4. But logging 180 innings — and throwing at least 100 pitches in an outing for the eighth time this season — will have to be enough for now. And the Phillies, who lost 14-0 on Wednesday to Colorado, seem to be ending their season on the canvas, waiting for the fight to be stopped. The Phillies have lost seven straight games and have been outscored, 34-4, in the first three games at Coors Field. It was the first time since 1958 that they allowed 10 runs in three straight games. A loss Thursday would complete a winless eight-game road trip, which would be tied for the worst mark since the inaugural Phillies dropped all nine games of a trip in August of 1883. The first eight Phillies batters struck out. The ninth — pitcher Nick Pivetta — reached on an error. Carlos Santana would later strike out and the Phillies made their first nine outs by strikeouts. It did not take long to see that the slide was not quite ready to stop. Pivetta allowed six runs before being lifted in the fifth inning. Victor Arano allowed two homers and did not record an out. The Phillies used six pitchers and only one of them — Adam Morgan — did not allow a run. They mustered just four hits, struck out 14 times, and walked twice. The Phillies will have to win three of their final four games to avoid a losing season. The Phillies are running out of time to show some fight. It settled 422 feet away, over the 25-foot-tall wall in center field, for a three-run home run in the fifth inning. Several hundred miles north, the streaking Colorado Rockies had continued their drubbing of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 14-0 victory. The combination left the Dodgers 88-71 a half-game behind the Rockies for first place in the National League West. The Dodgers have three games against the San Francisco Giants remaining in the regular season. The Rockies have four games left — one against the Phillies on Thursday and three against the Washington Nationals this weekend, all at home. After cycling through Pedro Baez and Josh Fields, manager Dave Roberts was resolute in having Alexander procure all three in the fifth. His previous six outings were limited to one batter. Each batter was left-handed. But Alexander was tasked the responsibility Wednesday, and the strategy failed. The Dodgers had their chances to avoid the letdown. Former Dodger Zack Greinke, whose 3. Yasiel Puig then grounded out, leaving two runners on base and the Dodgers scoring one run in the first inning for the third straight night. Los Angeles doubled the lead in the second inning. Yasmani Grandal smacked a leadoff double. Stripling then lined a single to center field. A two-minute, nine-second video review confirmed the called. The margin instantly evaporated in the second inning. It began with Socrates Brito launching a changeup over the right-field wall. Pederson misplayed the carom, giving Pollock time to race around for his ninth triple. Nick Ahmed drove him in with a double to the right-center field gap. Ketel Marte followed Greinke with another single, which prompted a mound visit from pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. Roberts pulled him after getting five outs with 47 pitches. Roberts
