Houston ? The Houston Astros have just about ended the playoff chances of the Cardinals.

Tim Redding combined with three relievers on a three-hitter, and Craig Biggio drove in three runs as the Astros beat St. Louis, 4-1, Sunday to complete a three-game intradivision-series sweep.

Houston boosted its lead to two games over the Chicago Cubs and dropped the third-place Cardinals 5 1/2 games back with two weeks left in the regular season. The Astros and Cardinals play three more times in St. Louis next weekend.

“You can’t start talking about scenarios,” Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny said. “We’re not going to give up. The guys in here believe in each other, and that’s what’s gotten us this far, and it’s going to continue to get us through the rest of this season.”

It was the first sweep of the Cardinals by the Astros since a three-game series in April 1997. Earlier this month St. Louis lost four of five games in Chicago.

“These games do end up counting more, because if you win three you’re in great shape, and if you lose three you end up being in even more of a mess,” Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg said. “You have to put them away, and we did in this series. It was a great series for us.”

St. Louis has lost four straight overall, dropping to just two games over .500 at 76-74.

“Obviously, it’s going to be tough,” Tino Martinez said. “But we’re not out of it yet. We’ve got … three more against these guys, so we’ve just got to stay in striking distance until they have to play us at home, and then maybe we can get back in it.”

Houston outscored the Cardinals 20-6 and outhit them 29-13 in the three-game series. The Astros are 10-5 against St. Louis this season.

St. Louis' Jim Edmonds misses a ball hit off the wall by Houston's Lance Berkman for a triple in the second inning. The Astros won, 4-1, Sunday in Houston.

“We came down here thinking we pretty much had to win two out of three,” the Cardinals’ Kerry Robinson said. “That’s our approach to every series, but it just didn’t happen.”

Redding (9-14) allowed one run and three hits in six innings. He had been 0-5 in six starts since beating Florida Aug. 1. The Astros scored an average of 1.6 runs in those losses.

Reds 1, Cubs 0

Chicago — Russell Branyan hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth. Carlos Zambrano (13-10) had allowed only three hits through the first eight innings. But after waiting out a 13-minute delay before the ninth when plate umpire Steve Rippley left with a headache, Zambrano gave up a leadoff walk to Ray Olmedo, who advanced on a sacrifice and a wild pitch. John Riedling (2-3) won, and Chris Reitsma struck out two in the ninth for his ninth save.

Braves 8, Marlins 4

Miami — Rob Fick hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in the ninth. The loss, the Marlins’ first in eight games, cut Florida’s wild-card lead to 11/2 games over Philadelphia. Florida starts a three-game series at Philadelphia Tuesday. Atlanta trailed 4-3 when Vinny Castilla led off the ninth with a single against Braden Looper (6-4). Will Cunnane (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for Atlanta, which stopped a three-game losing streak.

Phillies 10, Pirates 7

Pittsburgh — Jim Thome drove in three runs as Philadelphia opened a 10-1 lead in the third and held on. Randy Wolf (15-9) allowed five runs and eight hits in 61/3 innings to win his third straight decision and had two hits. Former Pirates closer Mike Williams pitched the ninth for his 27th save — his third in five chances since Pittsburgh traded him. Salomon Torres (5-5) gave up seven runs and six hits in 12/3 innings.

Dodgers 5, Padres 2

Los Angeles — Hideo Nomo (16-11) tied a career high with his 16th victory as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep. Nomo (16-11), who hadn’t pitched since Sept. 1 because of rotator cuff inflammation, allowed two runs and four hits in 52/3 innings. Eric Gagne got four outs for his major-league-leading 51st save and record 59th in a row. David Ross, Robin Ventura and Jeromy Burnitz homered off rookie Ben Howard (1-2) during a four-run third inning.

D’backs 5, Rockies 0

Phoenix — Randy Johnson (5-8) pitched a one-hitter for his first shutout in exactly one year, tying a season high with 12 strikeouts. Johnson (5-8) allowed just two runners — on a fourth-inning walk by Garret Atkins and a fifth-inning single by Rene Reyes, who poked a one-out grounder into right on an 0-2 pitch. Raul Mondesi hit a two-run homer for the second straight game, and Luis Gonzalez had a three-run double — both during a five-run third against Jason Jennings (12-13).

Giants 5, Brewers 4

San Francisco — Todd Linden hit a bases-loaded single in the 11th off Leo Estrella (6-3) as San Francisco reduced its magic number for clinching the NL West to five. Jose Cruz Jr. homered and drove in two runs for the Giants. Felix Rodriguez (8-2) escaped a bases-loaded jam by striking out Keith Ginter and Brady Clark with 95 mph fastballs. Barry Bonds drew his 2,062nd walk, tying Babe Ruth for second place on baseball’s career list.

Expos 7, Mets 3

Montreal — Vladimir Guerrero hit for the cycle in four straight at-bats, completing it with a two-run homer in the seventh off Dan Wheeler. Guerrero doubled off Tom Glavine (9-13) in the second, singled in the third and hit an RBI triple that put Montreal ahead for good in the fifth. Zach Day (8-7) allowed five hits and three runs — two earned — in seven innings. The Mets lost for the 12th time in 16 games.