WASHINGTON — After a dominant August http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-sammy-sosa-jersey , the St. Louis Cardinals open a three-game series against the Washington Nationals looking for their first September win.The Cardinals dropped the final two games of their weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds, losing consecutive games for the first time since July 22-23.They arrive in Washington trailing the just departed Milwaukee Brewers by a half-game and the Chicago Cubs by 5 1/2 games in the National League Central. The Cardinals (76-61) had won 10 straight series.Article continues below ...A stellar pitching matchup opens the series Monday afternoon as St. Louis right-hander Jack Flaherty (8-6, 2.87 ERA) opposes right-hander Max Scherzer (16-6, 2.22).Flaherty went 4-0 in August with a 1.13 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 32 innings. Last time out he allowed one run and four hits in seven innings of a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He struck out five without a walk.“He’s a little different. Motivated. Works hard. Takes care of himself. I would really love to see him sustain what he’s doing for a long time,” Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “He’s really learning himself. And the more he learns himself, the more he likes himself, and it shows in his performance,”Scherzer Joe Maddon Jersey , a candidate for a third straight NL Cy Young Award, is coming off two starts against Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies. He lost the first one and got a no-decision as Washington won the second. Scherzer was 2-1 during in August with a 1.89 ERA.He leads the league in strikeouts and his next one will give him 250 for the fifth straight season.Scherzer is 2-4 with a 2.70 ERA in eight starts against the Cardinals.On Sunday, the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning but failed to score, and Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suarez clubbed a two-run homer in the 10th in the Reds’ 6-4 win.“We weren’t able to execute our situational hitting where we wanted tonight,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s been a strength of our club, and we expect it to be a strength of our club. We can’t overreact to (three) at-bats.”Cardinals right fielder Jose Martinez struck out four times. He has fanned seven times in nine at-bats.“I think what we’re seeing is he’s human. Just expanding the zone, maybe trying to do a little too much,” Shildt said. “He’ll be just fine. We’ll take him up there tomorrow in the same situation. I’ll tell you that.”Washington (68-69) couldn’t build on Saturday’s come-from-behind win and lost the rubber game to Milwaukee 9-4. The Nationals walked 11 batters Sunday http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-willson-contreras-jersey , matching the team record since the club moved to Washington in 2005.Nationals starter Jefry Rodriguez (2-2) issued seven walks and allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings as the Brewers broke the game open with a seven-run fifth.“It’s the walks,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “When you fall behind, it’s tough. They got pretty good hitters.”Three games into a 10-game homestand, the Nationals are 8 1/2 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves with 25 games to play and eight back in the wild-card race.“You never give in to the game,” Nationals second baseman Wilmer Difo told the Washington Post. “Today, it didn’t happen for us, but it wasn’t because we changed our mindset or approach at all. It’s not always going to happen.” CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers were on top of the NL Central for much of the season’s first half. Then Anthony Rizzo and the Chicago Cubs moved into the lead of what just might be baseball’s best division.Then Yelich powered the Brewers to one more charge.So of course, it’s going to extra innings.Milwaukee visits Chicago on Monday for the first tiebreaker in major league history in which the loser doesn’t go home. The winner advances to the Division Series Albert Almora Jr Jersey , the loser to Tuesday’s wild-card game against the loser of the NL West tiebreaker later Monday between Colorado and the Los Angeles Dodgers.“Just like the last couple weeks, we’ve approached almost every one of these games like a do-or-die game,” Brewers slugger Ryan Braun said. “Tomorrow won’t be any different. Obviously, it will be a challenging place for us to go and win but we’re playing good baseball and if we go in there and do the things we’ve done over the last couple of weeks we’ll forget about where we are.”The winner at Wrigley Field gets home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs, starting with a Division Series on Thursday against the wild-card winner.“We put ourself in a position to come down to one game to win the division and get a couple days off,” Rizzo said after Sunday’s 10-5 victory over St. Louis. “If we win it, we’ll be ecstatic. If we lose, we’ve played more games in a row before Kyle Hendricks Jersey , so we’ll be ready to play.”Chicago had a five-game lead on Sept. 2, but Milwaukee won seven straight and nine of 10 overall to finish with a 95-67 record. Yelich led the way, rising to the top of the NL MVP conversation and making a bid for the Triple Crown by hitting .383 with 13 homers and 42 RBIs in his last 30 games.“We need to be ready to go,” Yelich said. “They are a great team. We’ve played each other tough all year. It’s only fitting that we have to do one more.”The playoff-tested Cubs are going for their third straight NL Central title. They went 11-8 against the Brewers this season but dropped two of three in each of their two September series.Planning for a possible tiebreaker, Chicago has Jose Quintana lined up on regular rest. The left-hander is 6-2 with a 1.60 ERA in 10 starts against Milwaukee.“He’s pitched really well against us all year,” Yelich said. “I’m sure they know that. We know that. It’s going to come down to execution like it has all year. It should be a fun one.”Milwaukee did not announce a starter, but the Brewers’ deep bullpen might be the biggest concern for the Cubs.“The big thing is to get up early and hold onto a lead, that’s the big thing http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-mike-montgomery-jersey ,” Chicago manager Joe Maddon said. “To stay out of the beefier part of their bullpen also, they’re very good.”