ST. LOUIS -- Alec Bohm grew up in Nebraska, so he grew up watching the Cardinals.

He remembers watching Adam Wainwright pitch in the World Series.

“Here we are,” Bohm said after Friday night’s 2-0 victory over St. Louis at Busch Stadium.

Bohm hit two solo home runs against Wainwright as the Phillies took a one-game lead over the Cardinals for the third NL Wild Card and moved a season-high six games over .500 at 45-39. Bohm’s homer to center field in the sixth gave Phillies ace Zack Wheeler the lead. His homer to left in the eighth gave the bullpen breathing room.

“It’s really cool,” Bohm said. “It’s what you work for, right? You put in all this work in the cage. To come out and see it happen is fun.”

Friday’s series-opening victory would not have happened without Bohm, Wheeler and yet another solid pair of performances from Seranthony Domínguez and Brad Hand. Bohm provided the power, of course, while Wheeler once again showed why he is one of the best pitchers in baseball. He pitched seven scoreless innings against a St. Louis lineup that features Paul Goldschmidt, who is a candidate for NL MVP, and Nolan Arenado, who could go down as one of the greatest third basemen in baseball history.

But even more impressive, Wheeler just pitched seven scoreless innings Sunday in a victory over the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park.

Fourteen scoreless innings in six days against a team battling for a postseason berth?

Impressive.

“It’s a tough challenge,” Wheeler said. “A good lineup, a good team. You definitely think about it coming in. Do I change anything? Do I do the same thing? We all talked about it. … We kind of stayed with the same plan for the most part. We changed up a couple different hitters in how we attacked them and tried to finish them, but for the most part, we stayed the same.”

Perhaps the biggest difference is that Wheeler threw 37 percent four-seam fastballs and 35 percent sliders Friday, compared to 51 percent four-seam fastballs and 25 percent sliders Sunday.

“We saw it years ago and we said, ‘This guy is going to be really good,’” Wainwright said. “Now, he’s come of age and he’s great.”

Wheeler is 8-4 with a 2.46 ERA. He should join Bryce Harper and possibly other Phillies at the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium. He has been simply fantastic since late April. In his last 13 starts, he is 8-1 with a 1.53 ERA (14 earned runs in 82 1/3 innings). He has struck out 93 and walked 17.

“That’s Wheels, man,” Bohm said. “Anytime he’s got the ball, we know we’ve got a good chance to win.”

Wheeler rolled his right ankle coming off the mound in the second inning, but he was fine. He retired 15 of 17 at one point. He made perhaps the pitch of the night in the sixth. He allowed a two-out single to Arenado. He balked to put Arenado in scoring position. He walked Nolan Gorman to put runners on first and second. But Wheeler reached back and struck out Dylan Carlson on a 2-2 fastball to end the inning.

“It was hot. It was humid,” Wheeler said. “I looked up, and it said 82 [degrees]. I said, ‘There’s no way it’s 82 degrees right now.’ Honestly, I hit a little wall there in the sixth, but I was able to catch my breath after that.”

It was a huge pitch because Bohm just gave the Phillies the lead in the top of the inning with the homer to center.

It was Bohm’s first homer since June 7, when he hit a game-tying homer against Brewers closer Josh Hader in the ninth in Milwaukee. Bohm’s blast against Wainwright snapped a 104 at-bat homerless streak, which was the second-longest drought of his career.

But then Bohm homered again.

The Phillies believe Bohm has more power like that in him. They are working to tap into it. If he hits for a little more in the second half, it could go a long way.

“It’s there,” Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said. “You watch batting practice and early work, it’s there. He hits the ball a long way. It’s just got to get synched up. Maybe this is a sign of good times to come for him as far as home runs.”