The St. Louis Cardinals needed 12 innings and over four hours, but they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium to break their tie for the second wild card spot in the National League.

Jon Jay doubled in Matt Carpenter for the go-ahead run in the 12th inning, then Dodgers' reliever John Ely loaded the bases by intentionally walking Carlos Beltran and hitting Matt Holliday with a pitch. Allen Craig followed with a single to score two, giving the Cardinals a 5-2 advantage.

Jason Motte pitched a scoreless 12th inning for his 35th save of the season.

Starter Stephen Fife pitched well for the Dodgers over five innings of work. He surrendered just two runs in the first inning, settling in nicely after that. He struck out nine and scattered four hits and a walk. Fife's ERA is down to 2.49 this season. But he was only the first of ten pitchers manager Don Mattingly would use on the day.

Cardinals' starter Adam Wainwright was equally impressive, with his lone mistake coming on a two-run homer to Andre Ethier in the third inning. He worked six innings on the mound, giving up five hits and two walks. He struck out four on the afternoon.

The bullpen would stand out as the real stars though, as the St. Louis relievers tossed six innings while only giving up two hits.