an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Sat

ST. LOUIS -- Jaime Garcias recent woes continued and so did the St. Louis Cardinals season-long struggles at home.Garcia gave up a three-run homer to Stephen Vogt in the third, a two-run shot to Khris Davis in the first and the Cardinals lost 7-4 to the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.St. Louis dropped two of three to the Athletics and the Mets on the homestand and has won only one of its past five series at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals own the majors best road record (38-34) but fell to 30-37 at home.Every game we dont win, there is a level of frustration, doesnt matter home or road, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.Garcia, who worked four scoreless innings after the Athletics took a 5-1 lead, has allowed 16 runs in 16 innings over his past three starts. He has served up seven homers in those outings after giving up six in his first 13. Both homers against the Athletics came with two out.Weve seen it a few times where he gets some quick outs and something happens and it rolls out of control for a little while, Matheny said.You make mistakes and stuff happens fast, Garcia said. I need to do a better job.Rookie Andrew Triggs (1-1) earned his first win in his fifth start, allowing three runs on four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in six innings. Ryan Madson pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 33 chances.Triggs, who was called up from Triple A Nashville for the eighth time earlier this month, said about 15 family and friends made the trip from his hometown in Nashville to watch the game played with the temperature 92 degrees at first pitch.Once you get through those first couple of innings with that heat, youre maxed out in sweat so theres not much more you can do, Triggs said.Matt Carpenter doubled twice, homered and scored his teams first three runs to help the Cardinals close to 5-4 after seven innings. His homer in the third extended the Cardinals streak to 17 games with a homer, matching their season best.The Cardinals were hurt by reliever Zach Dukes error in the eighth. Duke failed to cleanly field Vogts grounder with a runner on third that led to a second run for Oakland in the inning. The typically strong defensive Cardinals rank among the worst fielding teams in the National League.Theres going to be some kind of narrative every year and this year thats the narrative and were going to find a way to prove that wrong, Carpenter said. September is a fun month, especially in St Louis. The weather starts to cool and typically we start to play really well and ride that into October. Hopefully that will be no different this year.Oaklands Ryon Healy doubled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active streak in the majors.St. Louis brought the tying run to the plate with one out against Madson but Randall Grichuk lined out to third and Greg Garcia flied to center for the final out.The Cardinals finished interleague play 1-8 at home and 8-12 overall. Oakland finished 7-13.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: INF Billy Butler (concussion) is expected to be cleared to return Monday.Cardinals: SS Aledmys Diaz (right thumb) will see a hand specialist Monday to determine when he could return. Diaz has not played since July 31.UP NEXTAthletics: Rookie LHP Sean Manaea (5-8, 4.53) starts the opener of a three-game series at Houston seeking his first road win. He worked seven scoreless innings against the Astros in a 2-1 loss July 10.Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (12-7, 3.13) will make his third start at Milwaukee as St. Louis opens a nine-game, three-city trip. Martinez won his first two starts against the Brewers, allowing one run in 13 innings. Jaroslav Halak Bruins Jersey . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. Jakub Zboril Bruins Jersey . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/phil-esposito-hockey-jersey/ . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Sean Kuraly Bruins Jersey . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. Boston Bruins Jerseys . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. WHISTLER, British Columbia -- Lizzy Yarnold will make her return to skeleton when she competes at the opening World Cup of the new season in Canada this weekend.The 2014 Olympic champion decided to take a year out of the sport after winning World Championship gold in Germany in March 2015.And she believes her time away has left her more determined than ever to successfully defend her Olympic title in Pyeongchang in 2018.Yarnold said: Ive come back feeling refreshed, recharged and ready to give it my all again.I needed a break last season but I was always determined to come back and try and retain myy Olympic title.dddddddddddd I hope this is the first step on that journey.I know how difficult that challenge will be as so many women slid so well last season but Im really looking forward to that.Also in Whistler, Olympic sprint champion Mark Lewis-Francis will make his debut in Great Britains four-man bobsleigh crew piloted by Lamin Deen.Lewis-Francis, who won relay gold in Athens in 2004, joins Andrew Matthews and Tremayne Gilling in completing a new-look GB line-up. ' ' '