The Chicago Cubs lost to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night, but their magic number still dropped to single digits as they got some help from a Central Division rival.

That help came courtesy of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 at PNC Park. The loss by the Cardinals drops the Cubs' magic number to clinch the Central Division to just nine and extends their lead in the division race to 16 games.

The Cardinals and Pirates were locked in a 3-3 duel in the game when Jung-Ho Kang stepped up to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning. Facing Alex Reyes, Kang deposited his 17th home run of the season into the bullpen in center field to give the Pirates a one-run lead, and Tony Watson made it stand up for his 11th save in the victory.

The loss was doubly bad news for the Cardinals, who also fell into a tie with the hard-charging New York Mets for the second wild-card spot in the National League. The Mets have now won five games in a row despite suffering a slew of injuries to their pitching staff and starting lineup, and they're looking to get back into the postseason for the second consecutive year.

As for the Cubs, they lost 2-1 to the Brewers as Jonathan Villar slugged two home runs, including a long one to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning. Anthony Rizzo nearly tied the game late with another home run, but he was robbed at the wall by Keon Broxton to help seal the win for Milwaukee.