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Sports

Cards win NL Central crown

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis Cardinals locked up their first division crown in four years Friday with a 7-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.

David Freese and Matt Holliday each hit solo home runs, Yadier Molina went 2- for-4 with three RBI and Lance Lynn tossed six scoreless innings for the NL Central champions.

Lynn (15-10) struck out nine, did not issue a walk and scattered three singles and a double in the rout.

The Cardinals, winners of a division that boasts three 90-plus win teams, kept pace with the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the NL with two games to play, though the Braves own the tiebreaker.

"It doesn't end here," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We have some other goals set."

Cubs All-Star starter Travis Wood (9-12) was only scheduled to pitch one inning in an effort to save his arm while at least allowing him to reach the 200-inning milestone.

That inning did not go as planned, as the Cardinals pushed across three runs while batting around with four hits and two walks. Molina doubled in a pair, then scored on Jon Jay's base hit to center.

In the third, Freese took Brooks Raley into the bullpen beyond the wall in right-center, and two more runs in the fourth -- via Dioner Navarro's throwing error and Molina's groundout -- gave St. Louis a 6-0 cushion.

Holliday launched his 21st home run of the year in the sixth off Blake Parker, and the Cardinals' bullpen kept Chicago off the board over the final three innings.

Trevor Rosenthal was on the hill for the final out, retiring Darwin Barney on a groundout to start the celebration.

"I don't really like watching celebrations if I'm not involved in it," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said.

Game Notes

This is the Cardinals' 24th division title in franchise history ... St. Louis's 52 home wins matched its record for the current Busch Stadium, set in 2010 ... Lynn also eclipsed the 200-inning plateau this year ... Wood's ERA rose to 3.11. He was trying to become the second Cubs left-hander in the last 50 years to turn in a sub-3.00 ERA with at least 200 innings pitched ... Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter is one hit away from 200 this year.