Cardinals Beat Nationals, 3 NL Central Teams Into The Postseason

Sep 23, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran (3) celebrates with teammates after hitting a two run home run off of Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (not pictured) during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Follow Chris Flanagan On Twitter!

Around late May, you began to see the NL central was clearly better than any other division in Major League Baseball, now it’s official. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Monday night, eliminating the Washington Nationals from playoff contention and securing 3 NL central teams into the postseason.

The Nationals weren’t going away quietly as they struck first when Jayson Werth hit a bomb to left field, scoring lead off hitter Denard Span to go up 2-0 in the top of the 1st inning. The Cardinals were not phased. The Cardinals cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the inning when with two outs and Matt Carpenter on first, Matt Adams hit a single to center field to advance Carpenter to third and then Yadi drove him home on another single to center field.

The Cardinals were able to take the lead for good on a 2 run blast by Carlos Beltran to put the Cardinals up 4-2.

The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates both won on Monday night so the Cardinals are still two games up in the NL Central with 5 games left. Exciting times to be a Cardinals fan.

Follow Chris Flanagan On Twitter! You can contact Chris Flanagan at archauthoritytoday@gmail.com