What transpired over the prior six months was simply the cost of entry. Entering October, no longer did the St. Louis Cardinals’ 100 wins matter. Nor did their third straight National League Central Division title. Nor did their regular-season head-to-head edge over the third-place Chicago Cubs.
After the Cubs eliminated the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card Game, the Cards and Cubs would face off in the best-of-five game National League Division Series. Despite being rivals since 1892, the two clubs had never met in the post-season until now.
After Chicago nullified the home field advantage in a split of the first two contests at Busch Stadium, the Cubs took the next two at Wrigley Field to win the series, three games to one.
Individual game details can be found at the following links.
Game 1 – St. Louis 4, Chicago 0 – Lackey dominates
Game 2 – Chicago 6 at St. Louis 3 – Jaime’s flu bug
Game 3 – Chicago 8, St. Louis 6 – Six Cubs homers
Game 4 – Chicago 6, St. Louis 4 – Siegrist can’t hold the tie
In the process, the Cardinals fell short of their fifth consecutive Championship Series appearance, bowing out of the post-season the earliest since the 2010 club sat out of October play entirely.
However, the Cubs quickly lost their mojo in the Championship Series, where they were swept four straight by the Eastern Division champion New York Mets.
The two clubs – Cardinals and Cubs – will next meet again on April 18, perhaps on the way to another October showdown in 2016.
Link to The Cardinal Nation Blog’s top 20 stories of the year countdown
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