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Sports

Cardinals wrap up regular season by blanking Cubs

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

St. Louis, MO – Jon Jay, Daniel Descalso and Shane Robinson each drove in a run to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs in the final game of the regular season.

Tony Cruz also drove in a run for the Cardinals (97-65), who will host the winner of the NL Wild Card between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds on Oct. 3.

St. Louis tied the Boston Red Sox for the top record in the majors, and hold home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

"The significance of home-field advantage is just that, an advantage. We're proud of our record," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.

Joe Kelly (10-5) picked up the win after tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. He allowed three hits and fanned five in the win.

Jake Westbrook got the nod in what will likely be his last start in a Cardinals uniform. He gave up just one hit over one inning before he was removed. The 35-year-old made his first start since Aug. 21, and his first appearance since Sept. 6.

Since being acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline in 2010, Westbrook is 93-91 with a 4.38 earned run average. After being left off the roster in the first two rounds of the 2011 playoffs, the right-hander earned the win in Game 6 after working a scoreless 11th inning. The Cardinals went on to win Game 7.

Jeff Samardzija (8-13) allowed three runs on eight hits over six innings to absorb the loss.

The Cubs dropped six of their last seven games to finish the season 66-96.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said of his job security. "We'll find out. It's upon us."

The Cardinals got on the board in the third as Jay singled home Kelly, who reached on a double earlier in the frame.

St. Louis tacked on two more in fourth to take a 3-0 edge. With a runner on second and two outs, Descalso smacked a double to center to score Matt Adams. Robinson followed with a base hit to plate Descalso.

Cruz added an RBI double in the eighth to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

The Cardinals went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position ... Jay extended his hitting streak to 14 games ... The Cubs were 0-for-5 with RISP.