SCOTT ROLEN

Scott Rolen is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Slick-fielding third baseman Scott Rolen has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with five votes to spare above the 75% needed.

Scott Rolen could become just the 18th third baseman elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame, the fewest of any position.

With Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling off the ballot, next year’s Baseball Hall of Fame vote figures to be a bit less contentious.

Dylan Carlson, Nolan Arenado and Jose Rondon homered to back Adam Wainwright, and the St. Louis Cardinals extended their winning streak to 17 games and clinched an NL wild card berth with a 6-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Nolan Arenado hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning of his home debut with the Cardinals, lifting St. Louis over the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 as fans returned to Busch Stadium for the first time since 2019.

Like many baseball writers, C. Trent Rosecrans viewed the Hall of Fame vote as a labor of love. Schilling, a right-handed ace who won three World Series titles, finished 16 votes short of the 75% threshold necessary for enshrinement. Schilling, Clemens and Bonds will be joined on next year's ballot by sluggers Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. Schilling wrote on Facebook that he would like the veterans committee to review his Hall case. “I’ll defer to the veterans committee and men whose opinions actually matter and who are in a position to actually judge a player,” Schilling wrote.