ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jack Flaherty got an extra day of rest and a chance to pitch against Milwaukee http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-morgan-jersey , and took advantage of both.Kolten Wong and Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs apiece, Flaherty pitched six shutout innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Brewers 5-2 on Friday night.“As the season goes on, whether you are facing a team for the first time or for the third time, there’s adjustments made on both sides,” Flaherty said.“Whoever I’m out there I’m pitching against, I’m pitching against.”The Cardinals won for the ninth time in 10 games and pulled within a half-game of the Brewers for the National League’s second wild-card spot.Milwaukee has dropped three of four.Flaherty (7-6) gave up three hits, walked three and struck out seven. The Brewers had only two runners reach second base against the rookie, who has allowed two earned runs in his past 19 innings pitched.Friday marked his third start against Milwaukee this year and fourth in his young career. In 18 innings this season, he’s allowed two earned runs in 18 innings and struck out 29.“He pitched well,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “He did a nice job.”Bud Norris earned his 24th save in 28 opportunities.Freddy Peralta (5-4) went six innings Reggie Jackson Jersey , giving up three earned runs. He allowed three hits, walked three, and struck out five. It was his third loss in his last four decisions.Wong made a nifty play to start the eighth by charging a hopper that bounded over pitcher Jordan Hick’s head. Wong snagged the ball in his glove and made a hard sidearm throw to get Keon Broxton at first. That turned out to be important because the Brewers scored twice that inning and cut the lead to 3-2.“I always take pride in my defense and when I can make great plays like that for the pitcher, that’s always huge,” Wong said. “To come up clutch was a big day for me.”He capped his night with a two-run double in the eighth to pad the Cardinals’ lead to 5-2.Jedd Gyorko hit his 10th home run of the season to open the fourth. The shot to left field gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.St. Louis took an early lead after Ozuna followed Yadier Molina’s single and a double from Jose Martinez with a hard grounder up the middle.The Brewers threatened a comeback in the eighth. They loaded the bases against Hicks, and Jesus Aguilar hit a two-run single to pull the score to 3-2 with one out. But Travis Shaw fouled out to left field and Jonathan Schoop’s flair to shallow center field was caught by shortstop Paul DeJong.ON BOARDCardinals 1B Matt Carpenter was issued an intentional walk in the seventh and has reached base in 35 consecutive games. It’s the longest such streak in the majors.TRAINING ROOMBrewers: OF Eric Thames was removed from the game before the bottom of the third inning with a sore right knee. The right fielder collided with center fielder Lorenzo Cain while making a catch in the bottom of the first. Manager Craig Counsell said after the game that Thames is day-to-day. … C Manny Pina was held out of Friday’s game as a precaution following a collision with the Cubs’ Javier Baez on Wednesday. Counsell said Pina should be available for the remainder of the weekend series, but wanted to provide another day of rest for his left shoulder that was hurt when he dove back into second against the Cubs.Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (right shoulder strain) continues his rehab assignment and was available to work out of the Double-A Springfield bullpen on Friday. The Cardinals announced earlier in the week that Martinez, typically a starter, would serve as a reliever when he returns to St. Louis. The Cardinals hope to have him back next week . IF Yairo Munoz (right wrist sprain) begins his rehabilitation assignment in Springfield on Saturday. … RHP Michael Wacha (left oblique strain) is headed to Palm Beach, Florida to begin a rehab assignment. He went on the DL on June 21.UP NEXTBraves: LHP Wade Miley (2-1 http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-joyce-jersey , 2.23) looks for his first win since he went seven innings July 21 in a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was his longest outing of the season.Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (12-3, 2.85) has won five consecutive games. He went seven innings in each of his last three starts and the Cardinals have lost just one of the past eight games in which he started. LOS ANGELES (AP) — It is fitting that one of the storylines before a World Series game at Dodger Stadium would revolve around the health of a top-hitting outfielder, and the intrigue about whether he’d be able to play.Only this time, unlike many years ago, it doesn’t involve a Dodgers player.The Boston Red Sox might not know until close to the first pitch whether J.D. Martinez will be able to start Game 3 on Friday night.The slugger rolled his right ankle while rounding second base on a double in the opener. He showed the effects of the injury the next day while trying to run, but still delivered a go-ahead, two-run single that sent the Red Sox to victory and a 2-0 lead over Los Angeles.Martinez said after the win that he expected to play. But manager Alex Cora said on Thursday that it would likely be a gametime decision after Martinez receives more treatment.“It looked bad early in the game but then it seemed like it was moving better towards the end,” Cora said.The similarities between Martinez and former Dodgers slugger Kirk Gibson, whose pinch-hit home run 30 years ago against Oakland in Game 1 at Dodger Stadium is a part of World Series lore, aren’t confined to health.Like Gibson Glenn Hubbard Jersey , Martinez is in his first season on a team that finds itself in the Fall Classic. Like Gibby, he’d been a star in Detroit.For Gibson, that famed home run off Dennis Eckersley in 1988 was the last swing he ever took in a postseason game. Gibson played in the majors through 1995, yet never made it back to the playoffs.At 31, with Martinez coming off a huge season for the 108-win Red Sox, chances are he’ll play in the postseason beyond this year.While some players have struggled after signing big free-agent deals with the Red Sox, Martinez has thrived. In the first season of a five-year, $110 million deal, he led the American League with 130 RBIs and was second in home runs (43) and batting average (.330). That should put him among the favorites for the AL’s MVP award, with many thinking the only player ahead of him is teammate Mookie Betts.Martinez is 3 for 7 in this Series with four RBIs Rickey Henderson Jersey , establishing himself as an early candidate for Series MVP. He is batting .333 (13 for 39) in Boston’s 11 postseason games with two home runs and 13 RBIs.Martinez has certainly provided power to the Red Sox lineup, but his consistency has been more of a benefit. He had three straight games where he reached base three or more times and drove in at least a run. The only other Boston players with a similar streak were Kevin Youkilis (four games) and Manny Ramirez (three games) during the team’s 2007 World Series title run.“We’re not up there trying to hit everything in the air and swinging for the fences. We go up there and the pitch dictates what we’re going to do,” Martinez said. “We’re not up there forcing balls in the air. I feel like it’s the common mistake with hitters these days. And I think it’s something that we all talk about and we have a really good understanding of it, where we kind of think we’re hitters before sluggers in a sense.“And that’s how I think. I take pride in hitting and being — not just a one-dimensional hitter, a complete hitter. And it’s something we all talk about.”Martinez could show off his power at Dodger Stadium as five of his nine hits at the park have been home runs. Last season with Arizona, Martinez became the 18th player to have four home runs in a game when he did it at Chavez Ravine on Sept. 4.Besides Martinez’s health, the bigger question is where will he play? He is primarily Boston’s designated hitter, but he has started 57 games in the outfield this season, splitting time in left and right field.With no DH for games in the National League park, he’d have to spend a lot of time on his feet — and sore ankle — to stay in the lineup.Walker Buehler http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-catfish-hunter-jersey , who will be the Dodgers’ starting pitcher on Friday, hasn’t faced Martinez.“He’s got the power of the left-handed pull hitter from the left side,” Buehler said. “In this day and age when people are trying to launch a ball, he does that in the old-school fashion of starting the ball the other way and pulling the ball.”Martinez was part of a talented lineup in Detroit for three seasons (2014-16) along with Rick Porcello, David Price and Ian Kinsler. With that quartet only two wins from a title, the opportunity has not been lost on Porcello, who takes the hill for the Red Sox on Friday.“Everybody kind of nodded their head and said we’re blessed to have another opportunity to make a run here with the talent we have in this clubhouse and let’s make the most of it. And so far up to this point we are. And two more wins, let’s finish it off,” Porcello said.