Cardinals are postseason bound

~ The Cards earned the wild card with a win and Atlanta's loss

HOUSTON -- Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals completed one of baseball's greatest comebacks, clinching the NL wild card Wednesday night with an 8-0 win over Houston and a later loss by Atlanta.

The Cardinals got their playoff spot when the Braves fell to Philadelphia 4-3 in 13 innings.

St. Louis trailed Atlanta by 10 1/2 games Aug. 25. The Cardinals won 23 of their last 31 games.

The Cardinals will open the postseason Saturday at NL East champion Philadelphia. Arizona visits Milwaukee in the other NL playoff matchup.

St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols, left, and Skip Schumaker celebrate the team's wild-card berth for the baseball playoffs, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011, in Houston. The Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 8-0 and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3, giving the Cardinals the playoff spot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Carpenter (11-9) struck out 11 and allowed two hits in his 15th career shutout to help St. Louis keep up its improbable September charge.

"We had nothing to lose. We were already out of it," Carpenter said. "People were telling us we were done. We decided to go out and play and not embarrass ourselves and do what we can. We played ourselves back into it."

The Cardinals poured onto the field after Carpenter fielded J.D. Martinez's weak grounder for the final out. The celebration was brief and muted as the team raced into the clubhouse to watch the end of the game in Atlanta.

"It was exciting, there's no doubt about it," Carpenter said. "The way these guys have played the past month and a half has been amazing. Every single night grinding, playing their butts off, not giving up.

"We continued to give ourselves an opportunity, and now we are here."

Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is drenched as the team celebrates after clinching the National League wild card Wednesday in Houston. (DAVID PHILLIP ~ Associated Press)

The teams entered Wednesday's regular-season finales with 89-72 records.

Atlanta's game started an hour earlier, but the Cardinals virtually took away any hope for a Houston victory in the first inning of their contest by jumping to a 5-0 lead against Brett Myers (7-14).

Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman drove in runs with singles, and David Freese doubled to left-center before Myers even recorded an out. Berkman scored when Skip Schumaker's hard grounder ricocheted off Myers' glove for an infield hit, and Freese came home on Nick Punto's single to right.

Carpenter handled the rest.

He had struggled lately at Minute Maid Park, going 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA in his last five starts here, but he was in command from the start Wednesday. He struck out five of the first nine hitters he faced. He also had an RBI single in the third to drive in Freese, who reached base when right fielder Brian Bogusevic dropped his fly ball for an error.

Freese led off the fifth with a double to right center, the Cardinals' 10th hit of the game. Myers, 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA in his last five starts, hadn't allowed more than nine hits in a start since Aug. 6.

Freese later scored on Schumaker's groundout to shortstop Clint Barmes for a 7-0 lead, equaling the most runs given up by Myers in 33 starts this season. Wilton Lopez replaced Myers for the start of the sixth.

As the Astros batted in the seventh, the left-field scoreboard posted a 3-3 tie in the Phillies-Braves game, prompting a roar from the large contingent of Cardinals fans in the stands behind the St. Louis dugout.

Carpenter then struck out Bogusevic and Jimmy Paredes to wrap up another easy inning. Allen Craig hit a solo homer in the ninth off Lance Pendleton.

The Cardinals huddled around a television in the clubhouse cafeteria after their victory.

The Cardinals had virtually lost all hope only three weeks ago.