ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jack Flaherty, Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals quickly drained any drama from a final-day playoff chase.
They were totally fine with that.
The Cardinals clinched the NL Central in their last game of the regular season, using Flaherty’s arm and Goldschmidt’s bat Sunday to win their first division title since 2015 with a 9-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
“This is what it’s all about,” manager Mike Shildt said. “I love to see the guys enjoy the fruits of their labor — it’s something special.”
The Cardinals built an 8-0 lead in the third inning and coasted into the best-of-five NL Division Series, starting Thursday at Atlanta.
St. Louis started the day with a one-game lead over Milwaukee.
The second-place Brewers will play at Washington in the NL wild-card game Tuesday night, with the winner going on to play Los Angeles in the NLDS.
The Cubs lost on Joe Maddon’s final day as their manager. It was announced before the game that he won’t return next year.
Maddon remained calm after the game as he received congratulations from his players.
“I’ve been able to hold it together pretty well,” Maddon said. “It was very cool.”
The 23-year-old Flaherty tossed seven impressive innings. He gave up two hits, stuck and six and walked one in an efficient 69-pitch stint.
Flaherty (11-8) stood in the on deck circle waiting to hit in the bottom of the seventh. After Harrison Bader was retired, Shildt called Flaherty back to the dugout to remove him for a pinch-hitter.
The crowd at Busch Stadium went crazy and would not stop yelling until Flaherty emerged from the dugout to tip his cap.
Flaherty has allowed just seven runs over his last 12 starts. He has an 0.91 ERA after the all-star break.
St. Louis is back in the postseason after a three-year absence. The Cardinals have won or shared 12 division titles since the current format was developed in 1995.
St. Louis (91-71) finished three games better than last season (88-74).
Goldschmidt, who had three hits, added his team-high 34th home run. He was acquired in a trade from Arizona last December.
Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler also homered for St. Louis, back in the postseason after a three-year absence.