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The Cardinals will play in the NL Championship Series for the third consecutive postseason. Their advancement comes after a Game Five victory over the Pirates, in which, fittingly, Adam Wainwright, David Freese, and Matt Adams played large roles.

Wainwright—in addition to being one of the last remaining links to the 2006 World Champions squad—delivered another stellar outing to go with his Game One gem. Altogether, the big righty finishes the series by pitching 16 innings, allowing one run, walking one, and fanning 15. He threw his monster curveball 48 times on Wednesday night—or about 45 percent of the time—and at least once in 25 of his 27 multi-pitch plate appearances. Wainwright threw strikes and kept the ball on the ground, and while he allowed eight singles, the Pirates only had three runners reach scoring position.

While Wainwright shut down the Pirates, it was Freese who delivered the first offensive blow. The third baseman best known for his postseason heroics went just 1-for-3 on the night before being removed for a defensive sub, but delivered a two-run home run in the second inning off a poor 1-2 breaking ball from Gerrit Cole. Credit is due to Jon Jay for battling Cole to an eight-pitch walk the batter before; he fell behind 1-2, then managed to foul off two tough pitches before walking and keeping the inning alive.

Finally, there was Adams. He clobbered a first-pitch cutter from Mark Melancon in the eighth to widen the Cardinals' lead to 5-1. St. Louis would add another, but it was Adams who delivered the gut punch to the Pirates' chances while simultaneously reminding everyone about St. Louis' enviable player development system. Lest we forget the Cardinals won this series without Allen Craig, who finished the season ranked third on the team in True Average.

Of course, for all the praise heading St. Louis' way, it's worth giving Pittsburgh some shine as well. The fielded a quality team and were a win away from advancing. Cole outpitched the final score, and probably would've pitched deeper into the game were it not for his spot in the order coming up in the sixth. Clint Hurdle tried generating offensive by inserting Garrett Jones as a pinch-hitter. That failed, and in the end the Pirates just couldn't scratch across enough versus Wainwright to win the series.

Now Pittsburgh heads into the winter facing higher expectations than before. Many veterans, including A.J. Burnett and Marlon Byrd, are headed for free agency, leaving the Pirates to ponder succession plans. What it all means for the Pirates and their competitive aspirations in 2014 is for another day. For now, their fans should reflect on a wonderful season and cherish the high points. Cherish having a team good enough to make the playoffs and look the part on the national stage. Those who do will understand why St. Louis is special.

And, as for the Cardinals, they'll open the NLCS against the Dodgers on Friday. Expect to see Zack Greinke toe the rubber against Lance Lynn in Game One.

Thank you for reading

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drawbb
10/10
Now that's an NLCS I wouldn't watch for any reason. Can a team worth rooting for please advance a round again sometime before doomsday?
buckgunn
10/10
Thanks, drawbb - we're all very concerned what you think
drawbb
10/10
You missed my point: It's that all the bona fide underdogs keep getting knocked out in the first round lately. As a neutral fan whose team is never in contention, I have nothing left worth rooting for when each postseason keeps devolving into one privileged team against another.
Dodger300
10/10
Not really much of a baseball fan, are you?

There has never been a game between two teams that I haven't been able to enjoy, because I always love baseball!
drawbb
10/10
So as a Dodger fan, I presume you were equally ecstatic to watch a Giants/Angels World Series in 2002? Come on, is anybody here an actual FAN with teams they love and hate...or is it all just cold analysis and indifferent appreciation?
therealn0d
10/10
This is a math site, not a baseball site. :rollseyes:
hannibal76
10/10
I agree with you with one exception: any Yankees game in which either Tim McCarver and Joe Buck or the regular Yankees announcers are calling the game. But thankfully my tv has a mute button, so I don't run into that problem too much anymore.
fawcettb
10/10
There's still the A's in the AL, and Jim Leyland's still smoking cigarettes in the Tigers' clubhouse. And the Pirates were a lot of fun even if all that's left to root for in the NL is money or machines.
buckgunn
10/10
The Cardinals are... machines? Please clarify.
rwp9843
10/10
He meant juggernauts.
rawagman
10/10
I used to be agnostic as to the question of whether pitchers should hit or if there should be universalization of the DH. I am now firmly on the side of the DH. Watching Cole get lifted after five strong innings so that the Pirates could put a bat in the hands of a useful hitter instead of the pitcher robbed us all of a great pitcher's duel.
buckgunn
10/10
I'm pro-DH as well, but to play devil's advocate, I think the anti-DH'ers would say that the decision to bat or lift Cole is the very thing they prefer, b/c it adds another dimension of strategy.
rawagman
10/10
I'm all for strategy, but not at the expense of seeing better baseball by more talented players.
buckgunn
10/10
I totally agree. But I do understand the other side.
hannibal76
10/10
I think Clint Hurdle, not the lack of a DH, is responsible for lifting Cole there. It was way too early and not the appropriate situation (e.g., runners in scoring position and two outs) anyway.
redguy12588
10/10
The Baseball gods are cruel. Life is meaningless. The universe is indifferent.
Dodger300
10/10
But more likely, it's just that the Cardinals have the better team. I hope you can accept that.
hannibal76
10/10
Maybe, but a five-game series doesn't determine which team is better.
Dodger300
10/11
The result of the short game series was identical to the result of the long 162 game regular season, as the Cardinals won the division by three games over the Pirates. It wasn't even especially close.

You seem to want it both ways. Despite losing the division, you're thrilled that a wild card saved the Pirates and allowed them to play a short series. Then you're upset that they lost the short series, too.

The truth is that the Pirates didn't win a thing. They lost both the long season and the short series to the same team.

The Cardinals did it all to prove they are the better team. But you can't handle the truth.
drawbb
10/11
Nobody is in denial about the fact that St Louis is better. We all know that. St Louis is ALWAYS better.

What we're lamenting is that the whole thing just sucks for anybody neutral, who was hoping to inject some badly-needed freshness into the MLB playoffs. A team coming off a record 20 straight losing seasons is a rooting interest everybody can get behind. The last thing the sport needed was for that team to be knocked out by the franchise that's won more titles than anybody except the Yankees.
Dodger300
10/11
Nobody is in denial? I guess you missed BirdlandPGH's comment. He is surely in denial, claiming that a division series can't determine a thing.
drawbb
10/11
I took his comment to mean exactly what it said...that a 5-game division series doesn't determine a better team. (It doesn't.) He simply left unsaid what does determine it, which is the very thing to which you alluded: The 6-month season.
hannibal76
10/11
Exactly.
maphal
10/10
Great season for the Pirates. Considering they started the year with a rotation that included WandyRod, McDonald(!), and Sanchez(!!), they came a long way. McCutchen, Marte, and Cole are three players that any team would love to have. I do think that they will need to nail FA signings again to win 90+ games in 2014. Clint had to ride that bullpen pretty hard and he can't expect Locke and Gomez to repeat their 2013 seasons again. But the future is bright.
rawagman
10/10
Speaking of "rode" bullpens, I think that Melancon has been toast for most of the last month. He has not looked like his stat line in a few weeks. Which makes some sense considering that he pitched 25 more innings this year than last.
hannibal76
10/10
There was no reason at all to bring Melancon into any postseason game. Everyone who had watched him pitch in September (except for, apparently, Clint Hurdle) knew that he was a liability out there on the mound. Whether it was physical or mental, I don't know, but he clearly couldn't get the job done any more.
buckgunn
10/10
I think the Baseball Gods are like "hey, we gave you 3 straight infield hits in the 7th inning - what more do you want us to do?"
DetroitDale
10/10
Pirates had a great run, even though the season is over, I think they and their fans have earned a big celebration for breaking the playoff drought.

Now they need to build on that and day one of the free agent signing season drop a big bundle of cash on David Price and say, come to Pittsburgh, Be our Ace, and be a hero when you lead our team to the World Series.
TGT969
10/10
Nah, no FA's. More bat out of middle infield, better lefty platoon at 1st, and trying to get Marte and Alverez to take a walk every so often. Pitching is fine;
plenty of arms coming and RF has a rookie star to fill in June or July.

Take a breath. I'm disappointed too. 2013 was magic!
buckgunn
10/10
I know this is small (and maybe obnoxious) consolation right now, but I can tell you as a Cards fan that it was so much sweeter to win it all after we had charged up the mountain and fell short in '00, '01, '02, '04, and '05. The Pirates will be back, and they have enough core talent and enough talent in the pipeline to win it all. When and if it happens, 2013 will just be part of the same epic voyage.