Cardinals advance to postseason

Having secured one of the two National League Wild Card spots, the Cardinals are in the postseason for the 24^th time in franchise history with an opportunity to repeat as World Champions.

While the team’s 11^th World Championship required winning eleven postseason games, the Cardinals will need twelve postseason victories in their quest for a 12^th World Championship in 2012 (#12in12).  The postseason path to a championship is not only longer for the Cardinals, it promises to be dramatic given MLB’s new single-elimination Wild Card format.

The new Wild Card format pits the two teams with the best record who didn’t win their division in a sudden death match up. The winning team advances to the Division Series, while the season will be over for the losing team.  The Cardinals will face the Braves in Atlanta on Friday October 5^th (Game Time TBD).  If the Cardinals win the Wild Card game, they will host the first two National League Division Series games at Busch Stadium on Sunday October 7^th and Monday October 8^th.  Tickets are currently available for both games, with prices starting at $25.

The new Postseason format is the first change to the MLB Postseason format since the six-division, eight-team structure was adopted before the 1994 season.  The new Wild Card format allows two more teams into the Postseason than previous years, while simultaneously rewarding Division winners for their success throughout the 162-game regular season and maintaining the most exclusive Postseason in professional sports.