ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals manager Mike Shildt and his players have insisted that no matter how meaningful these games in September are, their goal is to treat every game the same.

But there was no denying how important Wednesday’s game against the Nationals was for the Cardinals’ playoff hopes.

• Box score

Backed by seven strong innings of one-run ball from Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals scored five runs off Nationals starter Max Scherzer in their 5-1 win Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won a crucial series by beating two top pitchers -- Scherzer on Wednesday and Stephen Strasburg on Monday.

Tommy Edman knocked Scherzer first with his 10th home run of the season in the third inning. His RBI single in the seventh extended the Cardinals’ lead before Matt Wieters put St. Louis firmly on top with his first career pinch-hit home run.

“It gives us confidence having beaten Strasburg and Scherzer,” Edman said. “[Those are] the kind of pitchers we’re going to have to beat if we want to do well in the playoffs. It’s good that we’re playing these teams now to get us prepared.”

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Wainwright matched Scherzer on Wednesday afternoon with the recent groove he’s found. The Cardinals veteran is 4-0 in September with a 0.33 ERA (one earned run in 27 innings).

“It’s just sort of simplifying everything and figuring out exactly who I needed to be,” Wainwright said. “I’ve been sort of searching for that correct mix all year, now I’m trying to read hitters and only focus on executing pitches and not trying to do anything else. Simplifying it that way.”

The series victory over the Nationals sent the Cardinals flying into Chicago to begin a four-game series at Wrigley Field with a three-game NL Central lead over the Cubs and Brewers, who both lost later Wednesday.

“We’re excited,” Shildt said. “Two out of three against a really good club, really good pitching staff. But we’re excited about the competition, we’re excited about the opportunity. We’re going to be aggressive, you saw that today and the whole series. We’re going to get after it. We’re going to go out there, have some fun, play our game and lay it all out there. That’s all we can do.”

The Cardinals also assured themselves that if they were to tie the Nationals for the first Wild Card spot, they would host the Wild Card Game. The Cardinals won the season series 5-2.

But the Cardinals have their sights set on the division, and Wednesday’s win set them up to carry the momentum into Chicago on Thursday with the lead. The Cardinals and Cubs play seven of their final 10 games of the regular season against each other. St. Louis has yet to win a game at Wrigley Field this season, and this weekend could give whoever emerges victorious the edge for the final week of the regular season.

“Right now we’re going to play like we’re dead even,” Wainwright said. “We gotta go out and win every single game. That’s what our mindset should be, that’s what it is right now, so we’re going to stay right there.”

Edman, a rookie who has carved out an important starting role for the Cardinals, echoed a similar sentiment: The Cardinals know where they are, but they also know where they could be if they don’t finish the regular season strong.

“We know how important it is,” Edman said. “It’s going to come down to these last two series in the division. If we keep playing like we have been, continue to show resilience -- I think we’ve done a good job of staying within ourselves and in the present and not getting too ahead of ourselves. As long as we continue to do that, we’ll be fine.”