Cardinals score 10 runs in first to rout Braves, advance to NLCS

ATLANTA - With a stunning 10-run outburst their first time up — the biggest opening inning in postseason history — the St. Louis Cardinals dealt the Atlanta Braves another playoff heartbreak with a 13-1 rout in decisive Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday.

The Cardinals will face the Washington Nationals in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series beginning Friday in St. Louis. It will be the Cardinals' first NLCS appearance since 2014.

"We know we can beat anyone at this point," Kolten Wong said.

For the Braves, it might take a while to get over this debacle. After pitching seven scoreless innings in a Game 2 win, Mike Foltynewicz retired only one hitter before getting lifted. First baseman Freddie Freeman made a crucial error that might have limited the damage. The Cardinals scored their final run of the inning on a strikeout — a wild pitch in the dirt that skipped away from catcher Brian McCann.

"We just strung together a bunch of great at-bats," Wong said.

It was Atlanta's 10th straight postseason round loss since its last victory 18 years ago, tying the ignominious mark set by the Chicago Cubs between 1908 and 2003.

"Everything went wrong," Freeman said.

"We took the crowd out of it," Fowler said. "We knew Folty would try to get ahead of us. We were trying to get some good pitches to hit. It was a little easier to see the ball today."

The 23-year-old Flaherty had not given up more than three runs in 15 starts after the All-Star break, posting a 0.91 ERA. The righthander certainly wasn't going to let this massive lead get away, though Josh Donaldson gave the fans a brief reason to cheer when he homered in the fourth.

Flaherty surrendered four hits and that lone run in six innings for the first postseason win of his career.