St. Louis Post-Dispatch (TNS)
PITTSBURGH — Fittingly, it a took a replacement to clinch the division.
A season defined as much by the wins the Cardinals collected as the players they lost to injury along the way culminated Wednesday night with Tyler Lyons’ exceptional start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. One win against Pittsburgh away from claiming their third consecutive National League Central crown, the Cardinals received seven shutout innings from a lefty who just a week ago was trying to prove himself as a reliever.
Thrust into a start as a replacement for injured right-hander Carlos Martinez, Lyons sped through the Pirates on the way to a 11-1 drubbing.
The Cardinals, already in the postseason for the fifth consecutive season, secured a spot in the division series. They will face the winner of the Pirates-Cubs wild-card game next Wednesday. The Cardinals will have home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs, should they advance to a fifth consecutive NL championship series.
The win Wednesday — part of a split doubleheader — was the Cardinals’ 100th of the season. They are the first team in baseball to win 100 games since the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies.
This is the ninth time in club history that the Cardinals have won 100.
Lyons faced the minimum through 6 2/3 innings thanks to two double plays. He held the Pirates to two hits, both singles, and did not allow a single baserunner to reach second base safely in his seven innings.
Jason Heyward backed Lyons with a grand slam in the third inning. He reached base three times in his first four plate appearances, and he had two catches to aid Lyons. One was a diving snare of a sinking liner, and then in the fifth inning he fell against the 21-foot high right field wall to steal extra bases away from Michael Morse.
Matt Carpenter scored three runs, walked twice, and had a triple and a double.
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