Cardinals & Blue Jays Flying High!

For the St. Louis Cardinals, it was business as usual. For the Toronto Blue Jays, not so much.

The Cardinals clinched their third consecutive National League Central Division title on Wednesday night, blasting the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-1. The Cardinals and Pirates split a doubleheader and the Cardinals’ victory in the nightcap gave them 100 victories and consigned the Pirates to a wild-card berth for a third year in a row.

The Blue Jays? Different story. Their 15-1 beating of the Baltimore Orioles on the road in the first game of a doubleheader – rain was quite a problem on Tuesday evening, forcing several twinbills – gave them not only their first American League East title since 1993 (when they also won the World Series) but their first playoff berth since that grand occasion.

The Cardinals have been steady contenders since 2000, with four trips to the World Series and championships in 2006 and 2011. The Blue Jays essentially became an unstoppable force at the end of July, when they had a 50-51 record and were eight games out in the AL East.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos pulled off a series of trades that brought in shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (currently injured), reliever LaTroy Hawkins, ace starter David Price, outfielder Ben Revere and right-hander Mark Lowe. Toronto has baseball’s best record since July 29 (42-15, winning percentage of .737).

For the Cardinals, winning has been a steady, patient business. For the Blue Jays, it’s sudden and stunning.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .