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Cardinals beat D-backs 1-0 after title decided

Sports

September 28th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

PHOENIX (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals clinched their second straight NL Central title before the first pitch Sunday and closed out the regular season with a 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cardinals were already in the postseason entering the day and celebrated the division title in the dugout minutes before first pitch, when Cincinnati’s 4-1 win over Pittsburgh was announced. St. Louis finished 90-72 and opens their NL division series Friday at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Once Sunday’s game started, both teams seemed to go through the motions, the only run coming on Kolten Wong’s groundout in the sixth inning off Josh Collmenter (11-9). The Cardinals scratched scheduled starter Adam Wainwright just before the start, using five relievers instead. Justin Masterson (3-3) pitched two scoreless innings and Carlos Martinez got the final two outs for his first save.

Arizona went down meekly, managing two hits to finish 64-98, the second-worst record in team history.