St. Louis appeared to have the game won in the ninth, but Corey Patterson dropped Carlos Ruiz's drive to right with two outs allowing the tying run to score.
The Phillies (97-51), who have already clinched no worse than the wild card, entered the game with a magic number of two to clinch their fifth straight NL East title, needing a win combined with loss by the Atlanta Braves to the New York Mets.
Yadier Molina homered and Albert Pujols went 4 for 4 for the Cardinals, who won for the eighth time in nine games, closing within 3 1/2 games of the Braves for the NL wild card while remaining 5 1/2 back of Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Kyle McClellan (12-6) pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the victory, and Fernando Salas earned his 24th save in 29 chances with a scoreless 11th.
Cincinnati, Ryan Braun homered twice and became the second player in Brewers history to get 30 homers and steals in a season, as Milwaukee began a final push for its first NL Central title by eliminating defending NL Central champion Cincinnati from playoff contention.
Braun hit one of Milwaukee's four homers off Bronson Arroyo (8-12), then added his 30th off reliever Jeremy Horst. Braun, who also has 31 steals, joined Tommy Harper as the franchise's only 30-30 players.
Prince Fielder, Mark Kotsay and George Kottaras also homered off Arroyo, who has given up a club-record 44. Left-hander Randy Wolf (13-9) gave up three runs and seven hits while pitching into the eighth inning.
In Atlanta, David Wright drove in five runs with two homers and New York responded to criticism from its manager to beat a struggling Derek Lowe and Atlanta.
The Braves lead St. Louis by only 3 1/2 games in the NL wild-card race with 11 games remaining.
The Mets matched their season high with 20 hits in ending a six-game losing streak.
Chris Capuano (11-12) gave up two runs on six hits in five innings to earn his second win in three weeks against the Braves.
Lowe (9-15) gave up nine hits and six runs in only 2 1-3 innings while losing his third straight start. His ERA rose to 4.94.
In Denver, Madison Bumgarner allowed one unearned run in seven strong innings and hit a two-run double, helping San Francisco keep its playoff hopes alive with a sixth straight win.
Brandon Belt, Cody Ross and Chris Stewart all homered for the Giants, who closed to within 6 1/2 games of NL West leading Arizona with 11 games remaining. Arizona played at San Diego later Friday. The Giants gained ground in the NL wild card race, getting to within five games of the Atlanta Braves, who lost 12-2 to the New York Mets earlier on Friday.
Bumgarner (12-12), who has been a big part of the Giants' late push, allowed six hits in winning his career-best fifth straight. He dropped his ERA in that span to 1.04.
Alex White (2-2) gave up six runs on nine hits in 5 2-3 innings.
In Washington, Javier Vazquez threw his first complete-game shutout in more than six years as Florida snapped a four-game losing streak and ended Washington's five-game winning streak.
Vazquez (11-11) allowed five hits for his eighth career shutout and first since he pitched the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 1-0 win at Detroit on May 22, 2005.
Mike Stanton had an RBI double and two singles for the Marlins.
Washington starter John Lannan (9-13) lost for the sixth time in seven starts.
In Chicago, Matt Garza pitched nine strong innings and Marlon Byrd hit an infield single in the 12th inning to lift Chicago to victory.
Starlin Castro set up the winning rally with a leadoff walk, went to second on Darwin Barney's sacrifice, and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored when third baseman Chris Johnson couldn't handle Byrd's dribbler up the line off reliever David Carpenter (0-3).
Garza was one strike from finishing off a five-hitter when Carlos Lee hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot into the left-field bleachers that tied it 3-all.
Jeff Samardzija (7-4) threw a scoreless 12th to pick up the win and send the Astros to their 99th defeat, extending a franchise record for losses in a season.
In San Diego, Tim Stauffer shut down Arizona into the seventh inning before leaving with arm stiffness and the last-place Padres beat the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks' lead over the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants was trimmed to six games with 11 to play. The Giants won 9-1 at Colorado. It was just the fourth time the Diamondbacks have been shut out this season, a major league low.
Arizona had won 18 of 22 since Aug. 23, and had beaten the Padres nine times in their previous 11 meetings. San Diego had lost 17 of 20 coming in. Each team had just five hits at spacious Petco Park.
Stauffer (9-12) won for the first time in five starts by holding Arizona to four hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out six and walked none.
Wade Miley (3-2) took the loss.
In Los Angeles, Pinch-hitter James Loney hit a three-run homer, Matt Kemp increased his career-high RBI total to 111 and the Dodgers beat the Pirates.
Hiroki Kuroda (12-16) set a career high in victories, allowing two runs and five hits in six innings. The right-hander struck out seven and walked two to win for the first time in three starts this month.
Loney's first career pinch-hit homer off Chris Resop hit the top of the right-field wall, capping a four-run sixth inning that extended the Dodgers' lead to 7-2. Dee Gordon grounded into a fielder's choice to first base, scoring Russell Mitchell for the other run.
Pittsburgh's Jeff Locke (0-2) gave up three runs and five hits in three innings.
