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(SportsNetwork.com) - Its been 21 long years since the Pittsburgh Pirates have been in this position. Who can blame them for wanting to stick around a little longer? Pittsburgh will continue its first postseason run since 1992 on Thursday when they start the best-of-five National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. "We know the Cardinals and they know us; there wont be any secrets," Pirates second baseman Neil Walker said. Of course, these teams are no stranger to one another, having played 19 times in the regular season. In fact from June 21 on, it was essentially a two-horse race for bragging rights in the NL Central before St. Louis eventually pulled away from Pittsburgh and captured its first division title since 2009 by virtue of a league-best 97-65 mark. So, the Pirates had to settle for a wild card spot, despite finishing above .500 (94-68) for the first time since that 1992 season. Nobody in the Steel City was complaining, though, as they hadnt experienced postseason baseball since Barry Bonds was roaming the outfield at Three Rivers Stadium. And Pittsburgh rewarded its fans on Tuesday, as Francisco Liriano fired seven innings of one-run ball and Russell Martin cracked a pair of solo home runs in the Pirates 6-2 win over Cincinnati in the NL wild card game. "We didnt talk about one and done, we talked about one and run," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Win one and run to St. Louis." Pittsburgh had five All-Stars at this years Midsummer Classic, but none shined brighter than Andrew McCutchen, who continued to state his case as one of the best young players in the game. McCutchen hit .317 with 21 home runs, 84 RBI, 27 stolen bases, a .404 on-base percentage and .508 slugging percentage in 157 games. He became just the fourth major league center fielder since 1947 to have consecutive seasons of hitting .300 with a .400 slugging percentage and .500 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, joining Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. Veteran right-hander A.J. Burnett will get the call for the Bucs in Game 1. Burnett was only 10-11 this season, but pitched to a 3.03 ERA and is no stranger to postseason baseball. "It means a lot," Burnett said about getting the ball for Game 1. "I wouldnt want it any other way. Theyve come a long way, these men in here. Step 2 was tonight. We have a lot of work still to be done, a lot of games to be played. It was a great win, a great step. Now we have to get ready for another series." Burnett has pitched to a 5.08 ERA in seven postseason games, but is 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA in his two Division Series outings. While Pittsburgh may be getting its first taste of postseason action since 1992, St. Louis is holding court in October for the third straight year and for the 10th time in the last 14 seasons. The Cardinals have won four playoff series in the past two seasons and have claimed two World Series titles in the past seven years. Amazingly, Mike Mathenys team keeps chugging along no matter what obstacles seem to be thrown their way. The Cardinals also enter the postseason hot, having won their last six games and 10 of the last 12 in the regular season. McCutchen may be the NL frontrunner for an MVP, but the Cards have a pair of candidates as well in catcher Yadier Molina and second baseman Matt Carpenter. In addition to being the best defensive catcher in the game, Molina has also become a more than capable bat in the lineup. This year, he hit .319 and drove in 80 runs. Carpenter was a real surprise, though, as the rookie earned an All-Star berth, hitting .318, while scoring a major league-best 126 runs. "I dont know where wed be without him -- having that leadoff hitter and having the kind of season that hes having and what hes done defensively," Matheny said of Carpenter. "Its just off the charts, as far as how good he has been and how much hes proven just what a solid baseball player he is -- no matter where we put him." The key for St. Louis will be jumping out in front on a hot Pirates team that seems to be gaining momentum by the day. And who better to do just that in Game 1 than NL wins leader Adam Wainwright, who won 19 games this season and pitched to a 3.00 ERA in three starts versus the Pirates. Wainwright was 4-0 in his final five starts, working seven or more innings in all of them except for a tuneup his last time out. "All in all, a Cy Young-caliber season," Matheny said. "Were not afraid to put him on the mound against anybody." 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Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Foles will start in place of Michael Vick, who is out for the second time this season with a hamstring injury.LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Portland Trail Blazers are hoping theyve put all the bad habits behind them with the playoffs on the horizon. And with a healthy LaMarcus Aldridge providing his usual numbers, they are confident that they can make some noise in the post-season — with or without home-court advantage. Damian Lillard scored 34 points, Aldridge had 31 points and 15 rebounds, and the Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 124-112 Tuesday night. "We had a rough stretch, but now weve kind of picked it back up and were going in the right direction at the perfect time," Lillard said. "Now that were close to the post-season, we want to have that rhythm going into the playoffs — because thats what we play the regular season for." The Blazers fourth straight win, coupled with Houstons loss at Brooklyn, moved Portland within 1 1/2 games of the Rockets for fourth place in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. The Rockets have three games in hand. The Blazers have six games left on their schedule, five of them at home. One more win will give them their 12th 50-win season in the franchises 44-year history. But the last four times the team won 50 or more games, they didnt make it past the first round of the post-season. "We dont have a lot of control over that. Right now, its about winning every game and gearing up for the playoffs," coach Terry Stotts said. "Its that mindset thats the most important thing. Whatever happens with the seedings and all that — I mean, we havent even clinched a playoff spot yet." Nick Young, the fifth and last player off the Los Angeles bench, made his first eight shots and finished 15 for 26 with a season-high 40 points. But it wasnt enough to prevent the Lakers 10th defeat in 14 games. They slipped to 25-49 — the most losses by the club since finishing 33-49 in 1993-94. The franchise hasnt lost 50 games in a season since 1974-75 (30-52). "I didnt know I made my first eight shots," Young said. "I just got into a zone. I got into a rhythm kind of fast." Youngs point total was the highest off the bench by any player in the league this season, surpassing the 37 Jamal Crawford had for the Clippers on Jan.dddddddddddd. 25 at Toronto. Youngs high-point game in the NBA was 43, for the Washington Wizards against Sacramento on Jan. 11, 2011. "Nick Young had a lot of easy shots in the first half," Aldridge said. "Hes a great scorer, so hes going to score. But we did a better job in the second half of making his shots harder." Aldridge, playing his fourth game after missing the previous seven because of a bruised lower back, hit a 13-footer to cap an 18-9 run that extended Portlands two-point halftime margin to 81-70 at the midway mark of the third quarter. Young kept the Lakers within striking distance with his 3-point shooting, draining one with 10:47 left in the game to pull them within 93-86. But Lillard responded with a pair of 3-pointers 28 seconds apart to extend Portlands margin to 13 points, and Los Angeles got no closer than nine the rest of the way. "Coming in, we felt this could be a trap game against a team thats not in the playoff race. But we knew coming in that they were a dangerous team," Lillard said. The Lakers were bolstered by the return of Xavier Henry and two-time MVP Steve Nash, who played in only his 13th game of the season and came off the bench for just the third time in his 18-year career. Nash, who turned 40 on Feb. 7, had 10 points and 10 assists in 22 minutes. The eight-time All-Star has been plagued most of the season by nerve root irritation following his comeback from a broken left leg, which led to issues with his back, hip and hamstrings. NOTES: Lillard became the first player in Trail Blazers history to make 200 3-pointers in a season when he connected with 8:07 left in the first quarter. Wesley Matthews is close behind him with 186. ... The Lakers played before their eighth non-sellout crowd. Before this season, they had sold out every home game since Dec. 6, 2006. ... Portland C Meyers Leonard was ejected after his flagrant 2 foul on Kendall Marshall with 39.9 seconds to play. ... Portland C Robin Lopez had 10 points and 10 rebounds on his 26th birthday. ' ' '