Cardinals vs. Pirates

Season Series: Pirates 10-9

St. Louis Cardinals (97-65): The pressure was always on during the regular season and the Cardinals pulled away at the finish from Pittsburgh and Cincinnati after never leading by more than four games nor trailing by more than four. … The lineup core of Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenter is a big bat shy for at least the first round. Allen Craig, who led the majors with a .454 average with RISP and was among the N.L. leaders with 97 RBIs, is in a walking boot with a left mid-foot sprain sustained in early September.

Pittsburgh Pirates (94-68): The The Pirates are one of baseball’s biggest surprises, riding solid starting pitching and an MVP-performance from Andrew McCutchen to the franchise’s first playoff berth in 21 years. After a third-place finish last season, McCutchen is favored to become the first Pirates MVP since Barry Bonds in 1992. McCutchen was at his best down the stretch, hitting .339 after the All-Star break to keep the Pirates offense producing.

Watch For: Carpenter was 1 for 10 during the final weekend, falling one hit short of 200. It’s been a spectacular year for the St. Louis leadoff man, who led the majors in hits, runs, doubles and multihit games and broke Stan Musial’s franchise record for doubles by a left-handed hitter.