ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jaime Garcia carried a shutout into the eighth inning and Yadier Molina got his 1,000th career hit with an infield single that started a three-run second against rookie Matt Harvey in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-1 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night. Daniel Descalso and David Freese had two hits and an RBI apiece for the Cardinals, who are 42-26 at home for the second-best mark in the National League. St. Louis will go for a three-game sweep Wednesday with Adam Wainwright facing 17-game winner R.A. Dickey. Descalso also stole third in the sixth, putting him in position to score on John Jay’s groundout against Justin Hampson that made it 4-0.

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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is taking another step in a bid to bolster the club’s NL wild card chances by throwing a simulated game. The 37-year-old right-hander, who underwent surgery to relieve nerve compression that resulted in numbness on much of the right side of his body in July, threw to hitters Tuesday before the Cardinals hosted the New York Mets. The Cardinals added another arm in their drive for an NL wild card wild spot, purchasing the contract of top pitching prospect Shelby Miller from Triple-A Memphis. The 21-year-old Miller was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 2009 and had a big August, going 5-1 with a 2.89 ERA in six starts, after inconsistent performances much of the year in Memphis. St. Louis also recalled outfielder Adron Chambers and infielder Ryan Jackson from Memphis. The 25-year-old Chambers has played in 23 games for the Cardinals, batting .250 in 36 at-bats. The 24-year-old Jackson played in seven games last month in his first big-league action.