Nola quiets Cards’ big bats

ST. LOUIS — Aaron Nola pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning, Bryce Harper's homer gave Philadelphia an early lead, and the Phillies held off the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on Saturday night to sweep their National League wild-card series.

Nola struck out six and walked one on 101 pitches before leaving with two outs in the seventh. Jose Alvarado then retired Yadier Molina on a popup, stranding a runner. Seranthony Dominguez struck out Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to wiggle out of a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth.

Goldschmidt and Arenado, two of the leading contenders for NL MVP, went a combined 1 for 15 in the series with no RBIs and six strikeouts.

The Cardinals tried to rally one more time off Zach Eflin in the ninth, getting consecutive two-out singles from Corey Dickerson and Molina. But the starter-turned-closer responded by getting Tommy Edman to foul out to end the game, giving the Phillies their first postseason series win since the 2010 divisional round.

They'll face a familiar foe, the NL East champion Braves, when their division series begins Tuesday night in Atlanta.

Miles Mikolas allowed two runs and two hits for St Louis before leaving with two outs in the fifth. Albert Pujols had a pair of singles, including one in the eighth in what was likely his final at bat.

The sellout crowd of 48,515 was at its flag-waving throatiest trying to keep the dream season of Pujols, Molina and the rest of the Cardinals alive. Instead, their fans watched the NL Central champions go down with a whimper, losing in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

“It's a tough one, when you know it's Yadi's last year and Albert's last year," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “There's just extra motivation to deliver for them, and do something special, and allow that story to end with a championship.”

'It's obviously disappointing," Marmol said, "but it's where we're at.”