Cardinals magic number
Cardinals magic number series#
Jackson said returning for the first time to the city he helped win a World Series had nothing to do with his woes. "Your club is in a pennant race and you have a game like that, it definitely leaves a bitter taste in your mouth that you did absolutely nothing to give your team a chance to win." "Today's game was just very disappointing and embarrassing," Jackson said.
Jackson was 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA down the stretch last fall, helping the Cardinals earn the wild card on the final day of the season, and was the winning pitcher in Game 4 of the NL division series over Philadelphia. Jackson (9-11) left trailing 9-1 after just 1 1-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season, in his first start in St. Jackson (9-11) was chased early by a team that he dominated a month at home, allowing an unearned run in eight innings with 10 strikeouts in an 8-1 victory. The team with the best overall record will open the NL division series on the road against the winner of a one-game playoff between the wild card teams. The Nationals and Cincinnati Reds, who got a no-hitter from Homer Bailey in a 1-0 victory over the Pirates, are tied for the league's best record at 95-62.
"This is a good team we're playing," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. Jordan Zimmerman (12-8, 2.90) faces the Cardinals' Kyle Lohse (16-3, 2.77) in the second game of a three-game series. Louis' win also eliminated Arizona from contention for a wild-card spot. The Nationals, who secured the first postseason berth for Washington, D.C., since 1933 a week earlier, lead the Braves by four games with five to play and could wrap up the division title Saturday night. Roger Bernadina homered and Bryce Harper had his fourth consecutive multi-hit game for Washington, which saw its magic number for wrapping up the NL East cut to two when Atlanta lost to the Mets. "Hopefully it happens sooner rather than later." "We've been playing good ball for the last few weeks and we're going to be a very dangerous team if we get in there. "I think our team's coming together nicely," St. Louis Cardinals took all the suspense out of a matchup of teams on the cusp of clinchers.Įven in a wipeout loss, the Washington Nationals took away a big positive.Īllen Craig matched his career best with four hits to go with two RBIs, Yadier Molina hit a two-run home run and the Cardinals punished Edwin Jackson in a 12-2 victory Friday night to reduce their magic number for clinching the second wild-card berth to three.