PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks made it obvious they appreciated Paul Goldschmidt in his return to the desert, honoring him with a tribute video before the game and multiple ovations throughout the evening.

Clearly, everyone thought this night was a pretty big deal.

Except for the man being honored. The stoic first baseman still had work to do.

Goldschmidt smacked a two-run homer in his Chase Field reunion, Yadier Molina also had a two-run shot, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Diamondbacks 9-7 Monday night for their sixth straight win.

“It’s all what you make of it, and for me this was just another game,” Goldschmidt said. “I’m appreciative of all the fans coming out, cheering me on, the standing ovation. But I just didn’t want to make too big a deal of it.”

For Goldschmidt, the real importance of the game was that his team won again.

The Cardinals have a 3 1/2-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. St. Louis has five games remaining in the regular season while Milwaukee has six.

The Diamondbacks — who have hung around the fringes of the NL wild-card race for months — were officially eliminated from postseason contention.

“We left some money on the table throughout the course of the season and those are the things that we are going to have to address and tighten up a little bit,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: St. Louis will start RHP Jack Flaherty (10-8, 2.96 ERA). He gave up just one run over eight innings in a win over the Cubs on Friday. He threw a season-high 118 pitches.

Diamondbacks: Arizona will start RHP Mike Leake (12-11, 4.38). He’s 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA over his last five starts.