The St. Louis Cardinals were the first team to earn a playoff berth this season.
On Wednesday, they went one gigantic step further, wrapping up their third consecutive NL Central crown with an 11-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Cardinals had two chances to celebrate Wednesday, but ended up splitting a day-night doubleheader. They dropped the opener 8-2 to Gerrit Cole, but bounced back in the nightcap behind a big game from Jason Heyward to each their 100th victory of the season.
The Cardinals winning the Central was a foregone conclusion for several months. They essentially went coast-to-coast, spending every day from April 16 on in first place. That it ended up taking this long is a credit to the talent and the resilience of Clint Hurdle's Pirates. Pittsburgh could still win 99 games this season, but will have to defeat the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card game for another crack at St. Louis.
That's how important winning the division is to the Cardinals. It's a guaranteed ticket to the NLDS, and it's an extra few days to lick their wounds and heal up.
We spoke of the Pirates' resilience. The story of the regular season in many ways has been the Cardinals resilience. They have embodied that word and almost redefined it all season long.
Along their journey, they've lost Adam Wainwright to a torn Achilles, which cost him five months but remarkably didn't end his season. More on him coming up. They also lost three key members of their lineup when Matt Holliday and Matt Adams went down with quad injuries and Jon Jay was sidelined by wrist tendinitis.
They were able to overcome those injuries, in addition to the loss of Randall Grichuk with a right elbow strain in August. Now they enter the postseason with uncertainty surrounding Yadier Molina, who has a torn thumb ligament, and rookie Stephen Piscotty, who somehow avoided major injury after an ugly collision this week. They also know they'll be without Carlos Martinez, who is lost for the season with a strained right elbow.
The Cardinals resolve will be tested again, but they've been here before and have overcome before, including when Adam Wainwright missed the 2011 postseason after Tommy John surgery.
On Wednesday, there was a beacon of hope provided by Wainwright. Perhaps as important as St. Louis clinching the division title, Wainwright was able to pitch for the first time since tearing his Achilles on April 25.
The ace will be used in a relief role, much the same way he was during the Cardinals' 2006 postseason run. His performance wasn't earth-shattering. He allowed one run on two hits. The set up itself isn't ideal, but his presence could be important in helping bridge the gap from starter to All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal. Wainwright may even be called on to close, which was his role in '06.
To put it mildly, no team has a recent history of mixing, matching and surviving like St. Louis. Not even the San Francisco Giants. Now the Cardinals are into series play, they will undoubtedly be a difficult team to send packing.
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