when he directed a point shot from Chris Phillips past Fleur

ST. LOUIS -- The plan called for Adam Wainwright to get a little tuneup for the NL division series opener. The right-hander was so efficient, he stayed in there long enough to earn his 19th victory, an RBI and a triumphant exit, too. "I wanted to stay sharp," Wainwright said after the St. Louis Cardinals showed no letup after clinching the NL Central, beating the Chicago Cubs 6-2 Saturday for their fifth straight win. "Ten days off is too much, I think, between starts. Its good to get in there, get some good work in, get a knock and get the win." Matt Holliday homered for the second day in a row and Yadier Molina drove in two runs for St. Louis (96-65), which entered the day tied with Atlanta for the NL lead in wins. All three of them were taken out before the finish and manager Mike Matheny removed Wainwright (19-9) after getting the first out of the sixth so hed get an ovation. "Youve got to tiptoe around how you do that, we want to make sure we respect the other club," Matheny said. "It worked out fine." The start time was moved up three hours to avoid a forecast of storms. The Cardinals mailed vouchers to all ticket holders, whether they attended or not, for a game in 2014. The crowd of 42,520 was a few thousand shy of a sellout. Wainwright allowed two hits in 5 1-3 shutout innings and tied for the league lead in victories with Washingtons Jordan Zimmermann, who lost his last scheduled start Wednesday in St. Louis. According to STATS, Wainwright is the third Cardinals pitcher to lead the league in victories twice, also doing it with 19 wins in 2009. Dizzy Dean (1934-35) and Mort Cooper (1942-43) are the other Cardinals pitchers to twice lead the league in wins. Bob Gibson did it once. The Cubs averted a second straight shutout loss by scoring twice in the ninth against former St. Louis closer Edward Mujica. Anthony Rizzo led off with a homer and Donnie Murphy had an RBI double against Mujica, who has allowed 18 hits in 7 1-3 innings with two blown saves this month and lost his job to rookie Trevor Rosenthal. Mujica has 37 saves but is in danger of getting left off the post-season roster for the first round. Matheny was noncommittal about using Mujica in the regular-season finale, saying hed see "how he feels." Seth Maness earned his first career save by getting Darwin Barney on a double play ball. Edwin Jackson (8-18) allowed six runs and eight hits in 2 2-3 innings before leaving with mild side discomfort that he said bothered him as the game went on. He leads the majors in losses. "At the end of the day Ive got three more years here to look forward to," Jackson said. "I definitely look forward to changing things and changing everything around." The Cubs have lost 11 of 14, scoring two or fewer runs nine times in that stretch. Wainwright got his sixth RBI of the season with a single off third baseman Donnie Murphys glove in a four-run third. Wainwright entered 1-6 with a 5.16 ERA at home against the Cubs. Hes 6-0 with a 3.72 ERA at Wrigley Field. Holliday hit his 22nd homer, a two-run drive in the first that put his average at .300 and likely wont play Sunday to keep it there. The Cardinals broke away in the third when Holliday and Matt Adams drew one-out walks ahead of Molinas two-run double, and Pete Kozma had an RBI single. NOTES: Jake Westbrook (7-8, 4.67) gets a spot start Sunday in place of Joe Kelly (9-5, 2.81), wholl follow him in relief. Westbrook has battled elbow and back issues and has pitched once this month, and in his past four starts since July 29 has allowed 19 earned runs in 21 1-3 innings. "Im excited to get the opportunity," Westbrook said. "Ive been throwing, just not as fast as its going to be tomorrow. Hopefully itll be a good day." The Cardinals are unlikely to pick up a $9.75 million mutual option next year on the 36-year-old Westbrook. ... Jeff Samardzija (8-12, 4.33) starts for the Cubs. ... Molina has four hits and five RBIs in the first two games of the series, giving him a team-leading 16 RBIs against the Cubs. ... According to STATS, Jackson is among four pitchers since 2000 to throw a no-hitter and later lose 17 or more games. Also on the list are Ubaldo Jimenez last year, Derek Lowe in 2011 and Justin Verlander in 2008, all with 17 losses. Air Jordan 5 Retro NZ . The Brazil defender was substituted 13 minutes into Wednesdays 2-1 Copa del Rey win at Athletic Bilbao because of a right hamstring problem. Scans revealed a second grade tear which could keep him out for a reported four to six weeks. Cheap Jordan 5 NZ . The Opening Day starter played 53 games this season hitting .192 with nine home runs and 25 RBI. Red Sox manager John Farrell has decided to start Jose Iglesias at third base as of late instead of Middlebrooks. http://www.cheapairjordan5nz.com/ .com) - Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight was carted off the field in the fourth quarter of 16th-ranked Sooners 48-14 loss to No. Cheap Air Jordan 5 For Sale . - The Clippers have signed guard Dahntay Jones to a second 10-day contract. Air Jordan 5 Wholesale NZ . "[People] keep asking that question and its not a legit question because we dont have that right, we havent arrived yet," Casey responded. "Weve got to take each game at a time, each possession at a time and look at it that way. OTTAWA -- Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators made a statement heading into the holiday break. Anderson stopped 27 shots for his second shutout of the season as Ottawa defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-0 on Monday. "We definitely had one of our better games this year and we played our most consistent game, playing hard-nosed and in their face," Anderson said. "We know they have a good team and they bring it every night and they do things right 99 per cent of the time so we found a way to win the game and do it with conviction." Senators head coach Paul MacLean was pleased with the timing of the emphatic victory. "Its the best way we possibly could (head into the break)," said MacLean. "If we were looking for something under the tree that could be a motivator for us and a feel-good thing for us, beating Pittsburgh 5-0 we can head into this three-day break with a positive attitude." The game was relatively close after two periods but the Senators dominated the Penguins in the third, outshooting them 15-9 while getting goals from Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris and Cory Conacher. Zack Smith and Bobby Ryan also scored for the Senators (15-17-7) and Anderson earned the 24th shutout of his career. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for the Penguins (27-22-1), but saw his personal five-game winning streak come to an end. The win ended a three-game losing streak for the Senators with all three of those losses coming in Ottawa since they beat the St. Louis Blues last Monday, also at the Canadian Tire Centre. "I thought our response to the game tonight was workman like and our penalty killers did yeomen work and the difference in the game was that we obviously killed off those power plays," said MacLean after his team survived all seven short-handed situations, while scoring once in three power-play opportunities themselves. The Penguins had won 12 of their last 13 games in Ottawa, including seven in a row. Pittsburgh had only been shut out once this season as they fell 1-0 at home to the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 21. The shutout was the first for the Senators since they blanked the Buffalo Sabres 1-0 in their first game of the season. Defenceman Marc Methot set an early tone that it was going to be a physical night. With the Penguins breaking towards the Ottawa goal, Methot took Sidney Crosby out with a hard hip check. Crosby wasnt hurt on the play but his spinning body was catapulted into Pascal Dupuis who went down and hit hard into the end boards. Dupuis left the game with what was later described as a lower body injury and did not return.dddddddddddd Crosby was mostly ineffective the rest of the game and his immediate reaction after the game was not a good one. "I havent seen the replay. I dont know how low it was. He almost blew my knee out so it was pretty low," Crosby said. "I dont know if it was right above my knee or above my hip, but it was awfully close." Methot politely disagreed. "I have a ton of respect for that player," said Methot. "I think hes one of the best players in the world and you have to play him hard and that was our goal." The two players had a lengthy discussion before play resumed while Dupuis was attended to behind the net. "He wasnt happy about it and I wouldnt be happy either so I dont blame him for coming at me a bit," said Methot. "I thought it was a clean hit. Ive been throwing hip checks my whole career and Im six-foot three and I dont think I can get much lower than his knees." Smith opened the scoring at 6:54 of the first period when he put a backhand in a very small opening between Fleurys left skate and the post after the Penguins netminder made a pad save on Cody Ceci. Anderson held Pittsburgh at bay and stopped two Penguins on breakaways in the second period, including one shorthanded by Brandon Sutter. The other was a glove save off James Neal. In between those breakaways, Ryan scored his first goal in four games when he directed a point shot from Chris Phillips past Fleury at 5:56. It came on the same power play that the Senators surrendered on Sutters breakaway. "A big part of the game was when they get the power play goal to go up 2-0 and we have several chances on the power play," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "We had several good opportunities to score but we dont cash in and certainly the game turns on that stretch where we had three power plays in the second and we dont get a goal." The Penguins head into the break leading the eastern Conference while the Senators are in 10th place four points out of a playoff spot. Notes- Patrick Wiercioch, Joe Corvo and Mika Zibanejad were scratches for the Senators Monday and for the Penguins, Deryk Engelland, Brian Gibbons and Evgeni Malkin were scratchesaOttawa is now 7-1-3 this season when leading a game after two periodaSenators defenceman Chris Phillips snapped a 10-game pointless streak with a second-period assistaSidney Crosby at least one point in 31 of Pittsburghs 39 games this seasonaMarc-Andre Fleury has played 499 career games, all with the PenguinsaPenguins forward Chris Cooner turned 30 on Monday. ' ' '