From third base, Willson Contreras raised four fingers toward the Cardinals' dugout. The Athletics, having just narrowed the Cardinals' lead down to two runs, walked Lars Nootbaar ahead of Contreras in the eighth inning Wednesday to get the matchup they preferred for right-hander Tyler Ferguson.

Willson Contreras had three hits and four RBIs, Nolan Gorman homered and Matthew Liberatore pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-1 victory over the Athletics on Wednesday night. Liberatore (7-11) struck out seven. Gorman hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, his 14th of the season.

Following a recent game at home, the media huddled around A's All Star shortstop Jacob Wilson to discuss the month that was, the heat in Sacramento, and some other topics. When the scrum was over, we asked Wilson about the autograph. The A's shortstop then told us of the collection he's started. "He's one of those guys that I've respected for a long time, so just to be able to add him to the collection is pretty cool."

The Athletics now have captured back-to-back AL Player of the Month honors.

Athletics (64-76, fifth in the AL West) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (69-71, fourth in the NL Central) St. Louis; Wednesday, 7:45 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Jeffrey Springs (10-9, 4.17 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 122 strikeouts); Cardinals: Matthew Liberatore (6-11, 4.32 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 102 strikeouts) BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals and Athletics play on Wednesday with the three-game series tied 1-1. St. Louis is 69-71 overall and 38-33 at home. The Cardinals have a 50-25 record in games when they record eight or more hits. The Athletics are 64-76 overall and 35-36 on the road. The Athletics are 54-32 in games when they record eight or more hits. Wednesday's game is the third time these teams

Iván Herrera hit a go-ahead two-run home run, and Miles Mikolas pitched six solid innings to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Athletics 2-1 on Tuesday night. Matt Svanson followed with two scoreless innings and JoJo Romero pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save. Victor Scott II drew a leadoff walk from Hogan Harris in the sixth. Michael Kelly (4-3) replaced Harris with two outs and Scott on third and Iván Herrera hit his 12th homer three pitches later for a 2-1 lead.

The Athletics have been playing some of their best baseball of the year since July 24, going 22-13 in that span, which is a .629 winning percentage and a 102-win pace. Of course, not all of the games on the A's schedule during that span have come against the toughest opponents, but that streak includes a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers last week, as well as a four-game sweep of the Astros in Houston to kick it off. With just a few weeks left in the season, we asked A's manager Mark Kotsay what he was looking for from his club during the final month of the season.

Middle game on tap for your Tuesday pleasure

JJ Bleday homered twice and Zack Gelof had a home run among his three hits as the Athletics snapped a three-game skid with an 11-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. Luis Morales (3-0) allowed two runs on five hits and struck out a career-best eight batters in 5 2/3 innings. It was the first time Morales had allowed multiple runs in six career appearances. Bleday hit his second homer of the game and 12th of the season in the sixth inning to extend the Athletics' lead to 5-1.

JJ Bleday homered twice and Zack Gelof had a home run among his three hits as the Athletics snapped a three-game skid with an 11-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. Luis Morales (3-0) allowed two runs on five hits and struck out a career-best eight batters in 5 2/3 innings. Bleday hit his second homer of the game and 12th of the season in the sixth inning to extend the Athletics’ lead to 5-1.