The play was close. And it was early, too early for most Cardinals fans’ comfort. But Matt Holliday’s line-drive single up the middle in the first inning was just enough to score Stephen Piscotty from second. And it ended up being plenty to win the first game of the NLDS over the Chicago Cubs.
As he’s been all season, righthander John Lackey was money for the Redbirds. He gave up just two hits, walked one
and struck out five in 7.1 innings of work, the longest postseason outing of his career.