twins/mlb

Final Score: St. Louis 2, Los Angeles 1

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Allen Craig hit a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals opened a crucial four-game series with a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lance Lynn (15-7) allowed one run on five hits over six innings to earn the win in his first start since August 24. The righty walked two and struck out seven.

"I'm a pitcher," said Lynn. "I'm just trying to help the team. I'm trying to keep it simple. This was a big win for us."

Jason Motte worked around Hanley Ramirez's two-out double in the ninth to notch his 34th save of the season.

Skip Schumaker added a second-inning RBI single for the Cardinals, who bounced back from a sweep in their previous series and increased their lead over the Dodgers in the NL Wild Card standings to two games.

Josh Beckett made his fourth start since joining Los Angeles and gave up one run over 5 1/3 innings while Paco Rodriguez (0-1) was charged with the deciding run in the loss.

Adrian Gonzalez had a first-inning RBI double for the Dodgers, losers of four in a row and seven of eight.

"I still feel we're going to win," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "We have to keep working hard. We're trying not to press."

Rodriguez relieved Beckett with runners on first and second in the sixth and ended the threat, but walked pinch-hitter Shane Robinson to begin the seventh and gave up a one-out single to Matt Carpenter before exiting.

After Ronald Belisario lined out Matt Holiday, Craig slapped a single through the right side of the infield to score Robinson from second base.

In the bottom half, Luis Cruz reached with one down on an error by Carpenter. Dee Gordon entered as a pinch-runner, but he was caught stealing second by catcher Yadier Molina.

Mitchell Boggs tossed a 1-2-3 eighth and Motte induced Shane Victorino's fly out to strand Ramirez in the ninth.

The Dodgers began the game with Mark Ellis' single and Andre Ethier's walk before Matt Kemp grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Gonzalez then delivered a Tobago into the left-center field gap to score Ellis.

Three consecutive one-out singles -- by Molina, Carlos Beltran and Schumaker -- tied the game in the second.

Game Notes

The Cardinals halted a four-game road slide ... Beckett is 1-2 in four appearances since joining the club via trade with the Boston Red Sox ... The Dodgers were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.