ST. LOUIS -- Milwaukee Brewers rookie Tyler Thornburg found himself in the middle of a pennant race Thursday night, even though it was only in a spoiler role. "You always want to try and make it as tough for those teams who have something to play for," he said. Thornburg did just that, tossing six solid innings to lead the Brewers over St. Louis 5-3. Sean Halton homered for Milwaukee, which snapped the Cardinals five-game winning streak. St. Louis fell into a tie with Pittsburgh for the top spot in the NL Central. Both teams are 85-61 with 16 games remaining. The idle Cincinnati Reds are 2 1/2 back. Milwaukee broke a three-game losing streak against St. Louis and beat the Cardinals for only the fourth time in 16 meetings this season. "Its important to beat these guys. Theyve been taking it to us pretty good," manager Ron Roenicke said. "We played a good game today. There were a lot of good things that happened." The Cardinals are 5-1 on their nine-game homestand. Thornburg (2-1), making his eighth career start, gave up two runs and three hits. He spent most of the season with Triple-A Nashville, going 0-9 with a 5.79 ERA in 15 starts. Thornburg struck out six and walked two. He has allowed two runs or fewer and gone six innings in all five major league starts this season. Jim Henderson earned his 25th save in 29 opportunities. "I thought I threw the ball pretty well," Thornburg said. "I was locating my fastball pretty well. Everything felt good." St. Louis outfielder Carlos Beltran was impressed with the right-hander. "The first couple of at-bats youre kind of like wondering, watching what hes trying to do," he said. "We just couldnt do anything against him." Halton, who had three RBIs, hit a two-run homer off Joe Kelly (8-4) in the fourth to put the Brewers up 4-0. Halton also had a run-scoring single in the second. The round-tripper was the biggest hit of the season for Halton, a rookie starting his 15th game. "This is as good as it gets for a guy like me," he said. "Getting called up in September, thats all you can ask for is to be a factor." Like Thornburg, Halton loves the spoiler role. "Were in a (pennant) race all right, a race to knock someone else out," he said. The Brewers jumped on Kelly, who allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits in five innings. He won his previous five starts, and the Cardinals had won his last eight. "My stuff felt good, I just missed on a couple pitches," Kelly said. "They didnt hit the ball extremely hard. I just left some pitches up." Matt Adams hit a two-out solo homer in the ninth, his 13th of the season. The Brewers scored single runs in each of the first two innings. Scooter Gennett and Jonathan Lucroy singled in the first, and Gennett came around on a groundout by Aramis Ramirez. The Cardinals pulled to 4-2 in the fourth on a run-scoring double by Matt Holliday and a sacrifice fly by David Freese. They also put two on with one out in the sixth, but Thornburg retired Beltran and Freese to end the threat. "We just had a lot of things not really going the way we wanted them to," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "We hit a few balls hard, but (Thornburg) threw a good game against us." Norichika Aoki tripled in Yuniesky Betancourt in the ninth. NOTES: All three games in the series lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes. ... St. Louis RHP Trevor Rosenthal missed the game. His wife, Lindsey, was in labour awaiting their first child. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina missed his second successive game due to an illness to his mother, Gladys. General manager John Mozeliak said Molina could be back Friday. ... St. Louis 1B Allen Craig is making progress with his injured left foot. "Were still optimistic hell play again," Mozeliak said. "Hes feeling a lot better. Its one of those things where youre just going to have to let some time progress." Craig sustained a left mid-foot strain on Sept. 4. ... The Brewers begin a 10-game homestand Friday against Cincinnati. Kyle Lohse (9-9, 3.59 ERA) will face Reds RHP Mat Latos (14-5, 3.02) in the opener of a three-game series. ... St. Louis ends its homestand with three games against Seattle beginning Friday. Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (16-9, 3.03) faces Hisashi Iwakuma (12-6, 2.97). Phillip Lindsay Youth Jersey . The premature end left 26 players still to finish the round in the Asian Tour event. Siddikur, who shot a bogey-free first round to share the lead with five others, eagled the par-5 first hole before bogeying twice and rebounding with six birdies. DeMarcus Ware Broncos Jersey . -- Get a flow chart ready to follow the Packers quarterback situation. http://www.thebroncosstoreonline.com/Youth-Gary-Zimmerman-Broncos-Jerseys/ . - Steve Stricker usually doesnt show up at a tournament on Sunday. Gary Zimmerman Womens Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins (3) - Surrendered a tough first goal against on a deflection through the body short side. Brian Dawkins Womens Jersey . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a course-record 10-under 62 on Wednesday to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament.MILWAUKEE -- Chris Bosh scored 14 points, LeBron James had 13, and the short-handed Miami Heat wrapped up their three-game trip through the Midwest with an 88-67 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. James Jones added 10 for Miami in place of star guard Dwyane Wade, sidelined a second straight game with a sore hamstring. The Heat also played without Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers. It didnt matter against the team with the NBAs worst record. Milwaukee tried to match Miamis energy, but couldnt keep with the more talented opponent -- even one without two All-Stars. Defence keyed Miamis win. The Heat led 46-29 at halftime and held the Bucks to a season low for points in a half and in a game. John Henson had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee. On paper, this was a mismatch from the opening tip -- the two-time defending NBA champions against a young, undermanned squad that fell to 14-59 on the season. But the Heat at times played a bit disheveled, perhaps a little worn from their third straight road game and fourth in five contests. James extended his consecutive-game streak of double-digit scoring to 564, the fourth-longest run in NBA history. But James only got to 10 with about 5:16 left in the third quarter on a 3. Fresh off recording a triple-double in a 110-78 blowout win Friday night in Detroit, James had nearly as many turnovers (three) as points (four) in the first half. His two early buckets, though, came off open dunks that thrilled the crowd, a few of whom were wearing James jerseys. Miami opened the game 3-of-14 from the field. The shooting improved, and the Heat clamped down on the other end and held the Bucks to 12-of-39 shoooting (30 per cent) in the first half, and 34 per cent for the game.dddddddddddd The Heat held an opponent under 40 per cent shooting for the fourth straight game, and ended their road trip with two straight wins after losing Wednesday in Indiana. Just like Friday night, James spent the fourth quarter on the bench with a victory well in hand. The only drama in the second half when James would get to double digits in scoring. A dunk with 6 minutes left in the third gave Milwaukee a 54-38 lead. Khris Middleton missed a jumper, and James corralled the rebound before spotting up at the wing for his 3 to get to double figures. Zaza Pachulia and Udonis Haslem exchanged buckets before Pachulia missed a jumper with about 4 minutes left. James got the rebound and then threw a long outlet pass to streaking Haslem down court for a layup. James clapped, slapped his right hand on his thigh and waited down court on defence. His night was just about over. Ramon Sessions had a game-high 15 points for Milwaukee, while Toney Douglas and Rashard Lewis each added 13 for the Heat. Bothered by a sore hamstring, Wade watched in a grey suit and white sneakers in returning to the arena in which he played college ball at Marquette. NOTES: Allen, sidelined with a stomach virus, played in Milwaukee from 1996 through part of the 2002-03 season. He holds the franchise record for most 3-point field goals in a game at home with 10. ... Chalmers missed the game with a bruised quad, and Greg Oden was also sidelined by back spasms.... The Bucks have yet to win consecutive games all season. They were coming off a 108-105 win Thursday over the Lakers. ' ' '