The St. Louis Cardinals keep piling on the Washington Nationals, first eliminating them from the National League (NL) wild-card race on Monday night, then holding them to a near-no hitter going into the ninth Tuesday night as the Cardinals continue their march into the postseason.
The Cardinals, trying to hold on to the NL Central lead and avoid playing in the one-game wild-card postseason elimination game, stayed two games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates and three games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds after defeating the Nationals 2-0, on rookie pitcher Michael Wacha's (4-1) no-hitter bid that got broken up by Washington third baseman's Ryan Zimmerman with one out left to end the game.
The right-hander struck out nine and walked two, retiring the first 14 batters before Adam LaRoche reached first off an error Cardinal second baseman Matt Carpenter.
"For a kid to do that against a lineup like that, at this point in the season, it's hard to get your head around it," said St. Louis Cardinals Mike Matheny.
The Nationals were officially mathematically eliminated on Monday, after losing to St. Louis 4-3 on Monday, paving the way for the Pirates to clinch a playoff berth for the first time in 21 years.
"It doesn't feel too good," said Washington manager Davey Johnson. "We gave it a good fight. We just came up short. Now, we're spoilers. So it's not over for us."
The Pirates are still fighting hard trying to win the NL division title - which would be their first division title since Jim Leyland, Barry Bonds, and Bobby Bonilla helped Pittsburgh win three straight NL East division crowns between 1990 and 1992 - hoping to avoid the wild-card round.
"We're doing the celebrating here because we've earned it. But we're not done," Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen told reporters after the Pirates Tuesday night 2-1 win against the Chicago Cubs.
The Reds also guaranteed themselves a playoff spot with the Nationals' Monday night loss. The Reds return to the postseason for the third time in four seasons. Their celebration, after beating the New York Mets on Monday, was much more tempered compared to champagne-soaked Pittsburgh's reaction to earning a playoff spot.
"We're excited, obviously," said Cincinnati shortstop Zack Cozart after their victory over the Mets. "That's not our goal. We're in the division hunt. We're not happy with a wild card."
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