Cards pull within 1 game of Braves in NL wild card

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Cardinals headed to Houston wearing Hawaiian shirts and already dressed for a party.

Nearly out of contention a month ago, St. Louis pulled within one game of the Atlanta Braves in the NL wild-card race when Rafael Furcal hitting a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning Sunday in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Before the game, Cardinals players decided they would all wear island garb on the flight in a show of team unity. Manager Tony La Russa decided to go along, as well.

"I've got a shirt with palms on it," he said. "I hope that qualifies."

St. Louis trailed Atlanta by 10 1-2 games before play on Aug. 26 but have since gone 20-8, …