Cardinals clobber Pirates to clinch National League Central title

The St Louis Cardinals posted their 100th victory as they locked up their third straight National League Central Division title with an 11-1 blowout of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Jason Heyward had a grand slam among his three hits and starter Tyler Lyons pitched seven scoreless innings in the second game of a doubleheader as St Louis reached 100 wins for the first time since 2005.

The Pirates are assured of finishing second to the Cardinals for the third consecutive year despite having the second-most wins in Major League Baseball.

The Pirates will play in the one-game NL wild-card playoff against the Chicago Cubs on October 7. Pittsburgh holds a 2.5-game lead for the first wild card and home-field advantage with four days left in the regular season.

The Cardinals, who are in the playoffs for the fifth straight year, will meet the wild-card winner in the best-of-five NL Division Series, which will open October 9 at St Louis.

Heyward's second career grand slam came in the third inning and gave the Cardinals a dominating 6-0 lead. The right fielder's other grand slam came in 2013 as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

Source: AFP