|
 Manager Mike Matheny delivered a "quick talk" to his players to
recognize their franchise-record fifth straight trip to the
postseason.
"We're excited about it, and it's not something we take for
granted," said Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal, who earned his
46th save after throwing 1 1/3 innings. "Obviously, we would love to
win the division and bypass the wild card game. Just getting in any
way we can is special."
When the San Francisco Giants lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks on
Saturday, the Cardinals officially qualified for the playoffs.
Center fielder Tommy Pham and left fielder Stephen Piscotty homered
as the Cardinals snapped Chicago's five-game winning streak on
Sunday.
The Cubs pulled to within one when infielder Tommy La Stella drew a
bases-loaded walk against reliever Jonathan Broxton in the eighth.
After Seth Maness replaced Broxton, Jason Heyward caught shortstop
Addison Russell's fly ball and threw out Anthony Rizzo at the plate
to prevent the tying run.
"This guy's a great defender," Matheny said of Heyward. "He comes up
throwing, it's very accurate and has a lot of velocity to it. He's
just an all-around very good player."
Catcher Yodier Molina was injured on the play at the plate and later
exited in the ninth due to a sprained left thumb. He is expected to
be evaluated on Monday.
READY TO GO
Starlin Castro singled to start the Cubs ninth, but pinch runner
Quintin Berry was caught stealing. Rosenthal then got a strikeout
and groundout to seal the victory.
The Cubs were trying for their first sweep of St. Louis since 2010
and are now two games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, winners at the
Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, for the first wild card spot.
Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez (14-7) allowed two runs, struck
out six and walked three in 6 2/3 innings.
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Cubs starter Jon Lester (10-11) gave up four runs in six innings.
The Cardinals scored three runs in the first inning for their first
lead of the series. Pham hit a solo shot for his fifth home run.
"They just ambushed (Lester) early," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
"After that, I thought he had really good stuff. The homer-homer,
just give them credit. They came out, and they were ready to go."
Rizzo's two-run single cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the
third. Martinez gestured that he should have received a third-strike
call against right fielder Chris Coghlan. He ended up walking
Coghlan to bring up Rizzo.
Upon umpire review, Cubs pinch hitter Starlin Castro was awarded
first base after a pitch from Martinez grazed his right arm in the
seventh. Castro was the seventh hit batter in the tense series.
Center fielder Dexter Fowler then singled, but left fielder Kyle
Schwarber grounded out against new reliever Kevin Siegrist.
Maddon remained upbeat about his young team.
"I could not be more proud of our guys. It's obvious that we are
playing on the same level as (the Cardinals) are right now," Maddon
said. "Now we know we can beat them and they know we can beat them
too, and that's a good thing."
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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