ST. LOUIS - It didnt take Tony Cruz long to consider all of his home runs and rank his latest. Hes only had three in his 100-game career and the first two came on the road. Cruz hit a three-run homer and the St. Louis Cardinals connected three times, beating the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 on Saturday night and moving closer to their fourth straight playoff berth. "It was a really good feeling," said Cruz, who also had the first curtain call of his career. "The first one of the year is always a really good feeling and my first one at home. You know you hear the crowd. Its amazing." Milwaukee beat second-place Pittsburgh 1-0 on Saturday to give the St. Louis a 3 1/2-game lead in the NL Central. The Cardinals cut their magic number to one for clinching a post-season berth, and five for their second NL Central title in a row. Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk also homered as St. Louis won for the seventh time in eight games. The Cardinals have hit five homers in the past two games, but have just 104 for the season — among the lowest total in the majors. Their lack of power has provided an ongoing issue manager Mike Matheny has had to address. "I like the home runs," Matheny said in his postgame interview. "You guys always accuse me of not liking them, but especially those three-runners that Tony did. We know we have the kind of team that can do that and its nice to see them." Cincinnatis four runs were as many as it scored in the previous five games. The Reds have lost six in row and has been outscored 30-8 in that stretch. They are 20-40 since the All-Star break. "Youre seeing us having to go out there and really struggle so mightily to try to find a way to win a ball game," manager Bryan Price said. "Certainly nobodys enjoying this current portion of our schedule. The way weve played for the last 60 games has been miserable." Jason Motte (1-0) needed just three pitches and one out to earn the win. He came in relief of starter Michael Wacha and got Todd Frazier to foul out to right. Wacha didnt qualify for the win because he lasted just 4 2-3 innings. He was seeking his first win since June 17 before going on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Wacha gave up two runs and six hits on 78 pitches, the most since returning at the start of the month. "I felt a lot better, today," he said. "More secondary stuff was working for me. My command was a little bit better. I felt it was a step in the right direction." Mike Leake (11-13) allowed six runs in five innings. He also walked two and hit a batter, all of whom scored. He gave up two homers and has surrendered 22 this season. Cruz hit his first homer in more than a year, connecting in the second. His last home run was Aug. 4, 2013, at Cincinnati. Wong hit his 12th, a two-run shot in the third. Grichuck added a pinch-hit homer in the sixth — it was his third of the season and his second in two nights. Grichuck later added an RBI bloop double. Zack Cozart homered for the Reds and Kris Negron doubled twice. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams and 3B Matt Carpenter both were out of the starting lineup with a stomach virus. Matheny said they were "quarantined," though it wasnt clear if they were at Busch Stadium and available or sent home. ... Star C Yadier Molina got his first start of the season. Reds: C Devin Mesoraco was pulled in the sixth inning because of a stomach bug. Price said Mesoraco could have continued but the manager didnt think it was worth it. UP NEXT Reds: RHP Alfredo Simon (14-10, 3.35) has given up five hits in seven innings during each of his past two starts, including in a 4-2 win against St. Louis on Sept. 10. The Cardinals have batted .228 in 101 at-bats against Simon over 22 2-3 innings. Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (15-9, 2.68) has given up two runs over his past 15 innings and went 0-1 in those games, including a 1-0 loss at Cincinnati on Sept. 11. 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Lauzon rushed for 42 yards on 15 carries for the Vert et Or (2-3) while quarterback Jeremi Roch completed 19-of-32 passes for 251 yards and one interception. Alexandre Aube scored the other touchdown for Sherbrooke.NEW ORLEANS -- John Wall soared over his mascot, and the East stomped on the West in the slam dunk contest. Walls sensational slam finished off a clean sweep for the Washington star, Paul George and Terrence Ross in the contests new battle format, helping the Eastern Conference earn a 2-2 tie against the West on All-Star Saturday night. Answering Sacramento rookie Ben McLemores dunk in which he leaped over Shaquille ONeal seated in a kings throne, Wall took the ball from Wizards mascot G-Man, who held it above his head, then brought it down between his legs and slammed down a two-handed reverse dunk. "It was only my second time doing it. My first time was on Thursday," Wall said. "So I just felt comfortable with myself and I knew it was a dunk that hasnt been done before." Judges Dominique Wilkins, Magic Johnson and Julius Erving all gave the victory to Wall in his matchup, after picking George over Harrison Barnes, and defending champion Ross over Damian Lillard in the first dunk contest with three All-Stars since 1988. San Antonios Marco Belinelli won the 3-point contest, and Lillard and Utah rookie Trey Burke won the skills challenge for the Wests two victories. Miamis Chris Bosh, Wilkins and WNBA star Swin Cash won the nights first event for the East, the shooting stars. The league tried to jazz up All-Star Saturday for its return to New Orleans, with a number of tweaks to the format that werent all positively received. Players were given an entire rack of money balls worth 2 points in the 3-point contest, which they could place at any of the five spots on the floor. The skills challenge became a team relay format, but the biggest change was in the dunk contest, which was broken into two parts. The first was the freestyle portion, where the teams had 90 seconds to execute as many dunks as they could, before the three 1-on-1 matchups in the battle format. The East had already clinched that part by winning the first two, but Wall made it a resounding shutout. McLemore came out wearing a kings robe and trailed by ONeal, who unveiled a "Shaq-Lemore" jersey. He made it over ONeals throne on his second attempt, and ONeal presented him with a crown. But moments later, Wall was the real king. "The slam dunk has returned," said Erving, one of the NBAs most ffamed dunkers.dddddddddddd Before that, the new format was confusing to fans and the West players themselves, creating a largely silent crowd during their turn. The East had it all figured out, winning the first stage with a passing and dunking display straight out the Harlem Globetrotters, capped by a three-man dunk where Ross threw if off the backboard to Wall, who lobbed it off the overhead shot clock for George to race in and slam it down. That was just a warm-up for the second round, when Ross, the events defending champion from Toronto, started things off by edging Lillard with an assist on his dunk from rapper Drake. Lillard was the first person to compete in three All-Star Saturday events, adding that to Fridays Rising Stars Challenge and Sundays game to give him the most ambitious itinerary ever. He started 2 for 2 by following Fridays victory by winning the skills challenge for the second straight year, he and Burke beating Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo by a tenth of a second. But Lillards run was stopped when Belinelli made his final three shots to finish with 19 points, edging him by one to advance to the finals from the West. "I was happy to just be invited to all of them and be able to compete in them, and I wanted to win at least one. And I won the first one, and then I thought there would be some momentum to continue to try and win all three of them," Lillard said. "But I fell short in the 3-point contest, and as you all saw in the dunk contest, they kind of just outclassed us." Bradley Beal had 21 points to win the East bracket, then made his final six shots in the finals to tie Belinelli and force a tiebreaker. Belinelli won it by making six straight shots at one point, sweeping his fourth rack. "I was a little bit nervous at the beginning and I think that I shot like two airballs," Belinelli said. "But in the end I was focused. I really cared about this trophy." Bosh, Wilkins and Cash won their second straight shooting stars title, with Bosh making a pair of halfcourt shots. "I keep asking Coach to let me shoot that shot in the game," Bosh said of Miamis Erik Spoelstra. "He wont let me do it yet, but I think that today will give him confidence if he was watching." The conferences split $500,000 in winnings for charity. 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