Cardinals Clinch With 11-1 Win, Cubs Down Reds

The celebration has become a fall ritual for the St. Louis Cardinals. The champagne showers. The rowdy sing-alongs. The giddy clubhouse joy.

Yet it doesn't get old. Not for this group. Not after an emotionally draining season in which they somehow powered themselves to a third straight NL Central title, the clincher coming in an 11-1 dispatching of Pittsburgh in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday night that served as an exclamation point on a year unlike any other.

"Tell me another team that is going to lose their ace and their three-hole hitter and is going to win 100 games?" third baseman Matt Carpenter said, his eyes dripping with celebratory booze. "It's just not going to happen and we found a way to do it."

Jason Heyward's third-inning grand slam led the way and Tyler Lyons (3-1) did the rest, shutting down the Pirates for seven innings in a spot start that exemplified the attitude the Cardinals have adopted during a turbulent summer in which they somehow grew stronger even as their stars went down.

"Obviously we have bigger plans," said Lyons, who has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen all year. "This is exciting and hopefully we can ride this out for a little while longer."

The Cardinals can ease up for a week while they finish the regular season in Atlanta and await the winner of next Wednesday's wild-card game between the Pirates and the Cubs. St. Louis will host Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Oct. 9 as it chases the franchise's third title in a decade.

The chat was brief. Clint Hurdle figured he didn't need to elaborate on the stakes when the Pittsburgh manager told Gerrit Cole he was starting the opener of a doubleheader against St. Louis Wednesday, hoping to keep their team's slim chances of catching the frontrunning Cardinals.

"He said, `We need a win. You're going," Cole said. "I said `all right.' It's a compliment. ... You just try not to mess up when you have the opportunity."

No chance. Cole pitched seven solid innings and Francisco Cervelli hit a grand slam off a shaky Michael Wacha in an 8-2 win that put St. Louis' NL Central title hopes on hold for a while at least.

Cubs 10, Reds 3

This is Jon Lester's time of the year. The Chicago Cubs lefty threw another gem in beating the Cincinnati Reds 10-3 on Wednesday night, completing the month of September with a 2.36 ERA. That’s par for the course for him in the final month of the season -- it’s always been his best.

“I take great pride knowing these guys can count on me,” he said after pitching eight innings. “If I make 32, 33 starts, throw 200 innings, you look up and everything usually falls into place. Especially playing for a good team.”

Lester reached the 200-inning mark on Wednesday while striking out nine batters, giving him 207 strikeouts for the season, the most by a left-hander in franchise history. Not bad for a guy that started the year with a “dead arm” in spring training, then had troubles throwing to first and battled through a dreadful month of June. Now he’s heating up just when the Cubs need him -- as he always does in the fall.

“You try to take it as a regular start as best you can,” Lester said of a potential playoff outing. “I’m a big believer in being prepared.”

Lester and teammate Jake Arrieta set a work ethic second to none on the Cubs pitching staff. And now they’ll be asked to lead the team deep into the playoffs. Lester might have to wait his turn until the division series, but he thinks his team can get there. The Cubs battle the same way he did during his early-season struggles.

Royals 5, White Sox 3

The Kansas City Royals have home-field advantage in one round of the playoffs. They're still looking for more. Eric Hosmer hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning, and the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Wednesday night to clinch home-field advantage in an AL Division Series.

Ben Zobrist singled with one out, and Hosmer drove a pitch from David Robertson (6-5) into the bullpen in right field to give the Royals the lead. For Hosmer, it was his 18th homer of the season.

"It was a huge hit for us," manager Ned Yost said.

Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas also homered for Kansas City, which had already clinched the AL Central title. They will host the first two games of their ALDS, and a Game 5 if necessary.

Wednesday, September 30 Scoreboard

Pittsburgh 8, St. Louis 2

St. Louis 11, Pittsbsurgh 1

Toronto 15, Baltimore 2

Minnesota 7, Cleveland 1

Oakland 8, Los Angeles Angels 7

Boston 9, New York Yankees 5 (F/11)

Philadelphia 7, New York Mets 5

Atlanta 2, Washington 0

Chicago Cubs 10, Cincinnati 3

Tampa Bay 6, Miami 4

Cleveland 10, Minnesota 2

Baltimore 8, Toronto 1

Texas 6, Detroit 2

Kansas City 5, Chicago White Sox 3 (F/10)

Arizona 3, Colorado 1

San Francisco 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

Houston 7, Seattle 6

Milwaukee 5, San Diego 0

Thursday, October 1 Schedule (All Times Central)

Toronto at Baltimore, 11:05 a.m.

New York at Philadelphia, 11:05 a.m.

Chicago at Cincinnati, 11:35 a.m.

Los Angeles at San Francisco, 2:45 p.m.

Milwaukee at San Diego, 5:40 p.m.

Boston at New York, 6 p.m.

Minnesota at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Washington at Atlanta, 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Kansas City at Chicago, 7:10 p.m.

Colorado at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.