Strong Wainwright, Wacha pitching helps get job done

The St. Louis Cardinals advanced to the NLCS by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in five games.

Game 1, at St. Louis 9, Pittsburgh 1:

It looked like the series was going to be a mismatch when the Cardinals scored seven runs in the third inning, including a three-run homer by Carlos Beltran. With Adam Wainwright on the mound, seven runs was more than the Cardinals would need. Player of the game: Jon Jay.

Game 2, Pittsburgh 7,

at St. Louis 1:

The Pirates beat up Cardinals starter Lance Lynn and cruised behind the six-inning, two-hit pitching of Gerrit Cole. Sterling Marte and Pedro Alvarez homered for Pittsburgh. Player of the game: Cole.

Game 3, at Pittsburgh 5,

St. Louis 3:

The Pirates moved one win away from their first NLCS since the Bonds-Bonilla days when singles by Alvarez and former Dodger Russell Martin scored two in the eighth. Player of the game: Andrew McCutchen.

Game 4, St. Louis 2,

at Pittsburgh 1:

Cardinals starter Michael Wacha was five outs away from a no-hitter before Alvarez hit a solo homer in the eighth. Both Cardinals runs came on a home run by Matt Holliday in the sixth. The Pirates had the tying run on base and McCutchen at the plate with two out in the ninth, but he popped to second to end the game. Player of the game: Wacha.

Game 5, at St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 1:

David Freese hit a two-run homer in the second inning, and after a controversial double-play call ended a Pirates’ rally, the Cardinals scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away. Player of the game: Wainwright

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St. Louis’ composite statistics vs. Pittsburgh

*--* BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E Kozma 400 455 10 1 4 1 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 1 Adams 316 381 19 3 6 1 0 1 2 1 3 0 0 0 Holliday 300 333 20 4 6 1 0 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 Molina 294 400 17 2 5 1 0 1 1 3 3 0 0 0 Beltran 222 333 18 3 4 1 0 2 6 3 1 0 0 0 Freese 188 278 16 1 3 0 0 1 4 2 4 0 0 1 Jay 188 350 16 5 3 0 0 0 2 4 4 1 0 0 Descalso 111 111 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Carpenter 053 143 19 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 Chambers 000 000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kelly 000 000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Lynn 000 000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Robinson 000 000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wacha 000 000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Wainwrig 000 167 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 ht Wong 000 000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 209 294 158 21 33 5 0 6 18 17 31 2 0 2 Totals *--*

*--* PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO Axford 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 Choate 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Maness 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Mujica 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rosenthal 0 0 0.00 2 0 1 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 2 Siegrist 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 1.2 3 1 0 0 0 0 Wainwright 2 0 1.13 2 2 0 16.0 11 2 2 1 1 15 Wacha 1 0 1.23 1 1 0 7.1 1 1 1 1 2 9 Kelly 0 0 3.38 1 1 0 5.1 5 3 2 0 4 5 Martinez 0 1 9.00 3 0 0 2.0 1 2 2 0 1 2 Miller 0 0 9.00 1 0 0 1.0 1 1 1 1 0 1 Lynn 0 1 10.38 1 1 0 4.1 7 5 5 1 3 6 Team Totals 3 2 2.66 5 5 1 44 31 15 13 4 14 40 *--*