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DENVER -- St. Louis closer Edward Mujica appreciates a feel-good story as much as anyone. Only, he wasnt about to let this be Todd Heltons moment, not against him and especially not with his team in a tight playoff race. Mujica struck out Helton to end the game with the bases loaded as the Cardinals held off the Colorado Rockies 4-3 on Wednesday night to expand their lead in the NL Central race. "Unbelievable," Mujica said, shaking his head. The cheering crowd thought this just might be another unbelievable memory in a career full of them for Helton, who will retire at the end of the season. Even starting pitcher Adam Wainwright thought things were setting up too perfectly for it to be anything but the stage for Heltons heroics. "When we load the bases there, as much faith as I have in Mujica, you hear, Now coming up to the plate, Todd Helton, and you go, Oh, man," Wainwright said. "Its too perfect. But (Mujica) pitched him perfect. That last pitch, it was like a thing of art." In this case, that art was a high fastball. "You couldnt have asked for a better moment," Helton said. "You couldve asked for a lot better result. You just learn from it and go on." Wainwright (17-9) gave up two runs in the first and then found his groove to earn his 17th win, second-most in the NL this season. He went 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs to help the Cardinals stretch their lead to two games over Pittsburgh after the Pirates lost 3-2 loss to San Diego. St. Louis also reduced its magic number for clinching a playoff spot to three with 10 games to play. "Were playing good ball at the right time," Wainwright said. Tyler Chatwood (7-5) allowed four runs in six innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter. Chatwood is rounding back into form after missing nearly a month with an inflamed right elbow. The hard-throwing Wainwright allowed 10 hits and struck out eight before running into a jam with two on and two outs in the eighth. Reliever Trevor Rosenthal got Charlie Blackmon to ground out to end the threat. Mujica pitched his way out of a bases loaded mess in ninth for his 37th save in 40 chances. He set Helton up with a few splitters before throwing the high heat. "I was betting on Todd right there, to deliver the big hit like he has for years," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He made a good pitch there." Michael Cuddyer remains the NL batting leader, keeping his average at .331 after going 1 for 3 on Wednesday. Cuddyer left the game shortly after making an inning-ending diving catch in the sixth. The team announced he was day-to-day with a bruised right forearm. St. Louis solved Chatwood in the third, stringing together four straight hits to tie the game at 2. Wainwright had an RBI double and Matt Carpenter followed with a run-scoring single. Carpenter now has 67 RBIs from the leadoff spot, the most by a Cardinals player since Lou Brock had 76 in 1967. The Cardinals took the lead for good in the fourth when Yadier Molina led off the inning with a double and was brought home by Wainwrights single. He now has five RBIs this season. "I always brag that the starting pitchers are the best athletes on the field," Wainwright said. "Usually, we dont back that talk up. Tonight, it was a good opportunity to back that up." The Rockies began the game with four straight hits off Wainwright, including a two-run single by Troy Tulowitzki. That was certainly more offence than the Rockies had off Wainwright in May, when the Cardinals ace took a no-hitter into the eighth and finished with a two-hitter during a 3-0 victory. Wainwright escaped more trouble in the first by getting Helton to hit into a 3-6-1 double play. Jordan Pacheco followed by lining out to Matt Adams to end the inning. This is Heltons last hurrah after announcing he was calling it a career after 17 years. Weiss said he plans to start Helton in each of the remaining nine games. "Im going to play him as much as hes physically able to do it," Weiss said. "Give the fans an opportunity to see him." Notes: Cardinals RHP Joe Kelly (right calf tightness) hopes to be ready for his next start. ... Adams left the game in the seventh with right elbow soreness. ... Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez is visiting a hand specialist in Cleveland about his sprained right middle finger. Air Max 90 Cheap Uk . Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres came to an agreement on a big trade that may only offer incremental improvement to the Blues in their quest for a Stanley Cup. Air Max 90 Wholesale Uk . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov. http://www.airmax90outletuk.com/ . Three days after falling to Hamilton, Abbotsford scored three goals in 53 seconds en route to a convincing 5-1 win over the Bulldogs Saturday in American Hockey League play. Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Nike Air Max 90 Sale Uk . Julien coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 and is the longest serving coach in consecutive seasons in the teams history. Claude is one of the top coaches in the NHL and has consistently shown a passion for winning, general manager Peter Chiarelli said Sunday in announcing the signing. PORTLAND, Ore. -- Damian Lillard hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:27 to play and finished with 29 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 110-107 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night. Lamarcus Aldridge and Wesley Mathews added 18 points apiece for the Trail Blazers, who won for the sixth time in seven games. Ryan Anderson and Tyreke Evans each missed on 3-point attempts in the final 5 seconds and the Pelicans (11-14) lost their fourth consecutive game of a five-game swing that concludes Monday at Sacramento. Robin Lopez had 14 points and eight rebounds and Nicholas Batum added 11 points to help the Trail Blazers rebound from Wednesdays 120-109 loss at Minnesota. Anthony Davis and Evans finished with 21 points each to pace five New Orleans players in double figures. The Pelicans hit eight of their first 11 shots including 3-pointers by Anderson and Eric Gordon to take an 18-7 lead after the opening 5:36. Portlands Dorell Wright scored on a layup to pull the Blazers within 32-30 with 8:27 to play in the second quarter, but the Pelicans answered with a 17-6 run, opening their largest lead of the half, 49-36, on Alexis Ajincas layup with 4:05 to play. Lillard, held without a field goal in the first quarter, hit 5 of 7 shots in the second, including a 3-pointer that put the Blazers on top 52-51 with 29 seconds left in the half. Anthony Davis followed with a dunk off an offensive rebound to give thee Pelicans a 53-52 lead at the break.dddddddddddd After shooting 40 per cent (20 of 50) in the first half, the Blazers made 7 of 11 shots to open the third quarter and took a 69-59 lead when Batum set up Aldridge in transition for a dunk. The Pelicans crept back within three before Lillard made an acrobatic catch and shot on Batums inbounds lob just before the third-quarter buzzer to give the Blazers an 83-78 advantage. In the fourth, New Orleans erased another 10-point deficit and took a 105-103 lead when Davis followed up a miss by Evans and dunked with 2:19 remaining. After an offensive foul on Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday gave the ball back to Portland, Lillard hit a shot from deep beyond the top of the arc to give the Blazers the lead for good. The Blazers are off until they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. NOTES: Portland coach Terry Stotts said there is no timeline on a return for rookie guard CJ McCollum, who participated in a full practice Friday for the first time since fracturing his left foot during practice on Oct. 5. . The last time the Blazers had fewer than 10 losses through 28 games was in 1999-2000, when they started 21-7 en route to a monumental fourth-quarter meltdown in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers. . Lillard went into Saturdays game averaging 21.3 points and ranked third in the league among point guards behind Golden States Stephen Curry (24.5) and Clevelands Kyrie Irving (21.8). ' ' '