Cardinals Clinch NL Central Behind Tyler Lyons and Jason Heyward; Marcus Stroman, Ryan Goins Help Blue Jays Clinch AL East

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 30, 2015

American League

Goins: 5-for-5

Stroman: 4-0 in Sept.

With a 15-2 hammering of the Orioles at Camden Yards in Baltimore, the Toronto Blue Jays cliched the AL East and assured that they will have home field advantage in a divisional playoff series beginning October 8.

Marcus Stroman delivered eight solid innings for the Jays, allowing one earned run on five hits, walking two and fanning eight. Streams is 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four starts after being recalled from AAA Buffalo in September.

Each of the Toronto starters had at least one hit. Ryan Goins went 5-for-5, scored three times and drove in a run. Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista homered for the Jays, who battered seven Baltimore pitchers for 18 hits.

Toronto dropped the nightcap of the day-night double-header, 8-1, necessitated due to Tuesday night's rainout.

National League

Heyward: Grand Slam

Lyons pitches clincher

The St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Central with an 11-1 win at Pittsburgh and will proceed to the playoffs with the best record in baseball.

Tyler Lyons held the Pirates scoreless on one hit through six innings and survived through the seventh, when he allowed three hits, but did not surrender a run. Lyons, who spent much of the season in Memphis of the Pacific Coast League (AAA) where he was 9-5 with a 3.14 ERA, struck out five and took the win, improving to 3-1 on the season.

Lyons split time with the Cardinals between the bullpen and eight spot starts, working 57 innings during the regular season.

Jason Heyward rocked a third inning grand slam and finished the night 3-for-4 with two runs, fueling the rout.

The Cardinals dropped the opener of a day-night double bill with the Pirates, 8-2. The win assured Pittsburgh of at least a tie with the Cubs for home field in the wild card game.

St. Louis will enter the post-season as the only team with 100 or more wins. Their 100 win against 59 losses takes the division with three games left. The Pirates will almost certainly finish with the second-best record in the majors. At the end of the last day in September, Pittsburgh has 96 wins with three games left, the Cubs are 92-55, and the Blue Jays, 92-56.

After starting the season 3-3, the Cardinals went on a 17-3 tear their next 20 games, taking control of the NL Central division and never looking back.

Marcus Stroman's 3-Hit Shutout Lifts Blue Jays over Cubs; Doug Fister Blanks Braves over Seven in Nationals' Win

Players of the Day for Monday, September 8, 2014

American League

Marcus Stroman twirled a three-hit shutout over the visiting Cubs Monday, as the Blue Jays tied the yankees for second place in the AL East with an 8-0 whitewash over Chicago.

Marcus Stroman

Stroman, a rookie out of Medford, NY, allowed just three harmless singles, struck out eight and didn't issue any walks. After giving up a leadoff single in the second inning - subsequently erased by a double play - Stroman didn't allow another hit until there were two out in the eighth, retiring 19 straight batters. A one-out single in the ninth was the only other hit.

At 10-5, Stroman appears to be one of the better young pitchers in the majors. With a 3.53 ERA, he's struck out 97 in 114 2/3 innings.

The Jays trail the Orioles - 4-0 winners at Boston Monday - by 10 games in the division and are five games behind Seattle for the second wild card spot, but it's a crowded bunch chasing Oakland (the #1 wild card) and Seattle. Detroit and Cleveland are ahead of the Blue Jays and the Yankees are tied with them. The remaining schedule is interesting for Toronto. Despite six games against the Orioles, they play four at New York, followed by hosting the Mariners for four straight, September 22-25.

The Jays host the Cubs in game two of their three-game series Tuesday at 7:07 pm EDT at the Rogers Center in Toronto.

National League

Doug Fister

The Washington Nationals are streaking toward the post-season, taking down second place Atlanta, 2-1, Monday, in the opener of a three-game series in the nation's capitol.

Doug Fister (13-6, 2.53) blanked the Braves over seven innings before taking a seat on the bench. Fister allowed just two hits and three walks, striking out three. He threw 71 of 104 pitches for strikes.

Ty Clippard and Matt Thornton combined to allow the Braves a run in the eighth inning, but Drew Storen made sure they would get no more, striking out the side in the ninth inning for his third save of the season. Storen, who was the Nationals' closer in 2011, appears poised to take back his former role heading toward the post-season, having earned saves in each of his last two outings.

The Nats now have an eight-game lead on the Braves in the NL East, their magic number down to 12. They are also one game behind the Dodgers for the best record in the league, which would give them home field throughout the playoffs.

Game two of the series is Tuesday, at 7:05 pm EDT.