The Dodgers and Cardinals knew how to finish the season strong.

Los Angeles had been chasing the Giants for most of the final month, and though it settled for the first wild card spot, LA still finished with the second-best win percentage from September till the end of the regular season (.759, just behind San Francisco’s .767).

The third-hottest team? That would be the Cardinals, who stunned the baseball world by rattling off a 17-game win streak to salvage what seemed like a lost season and ultimately run away with the second wild card spot behind a .719 winning percentage from September through the end of the year.

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These two red-hot ball clubs will each turn to seasoned starting pitchers, with the Cardinals rolling with 40-year-old Adam Wainwright and the Dodgers turning to 37-year-old Max Scherzer.

After pitching to a 3.05 ERA, his lowest in a full season since 2014, Wainwright will be appearing in his ninth postseason. He has a career 2.89 postseason ERA in 109 innings of work and has struck out 118 batters.

Scherzer might be the NL favorite after joining the Dodgers midseason in a trade with the Nationals. He’ll now be making his eighth trip to the playoffs. He has a career ERA of 3.38 in 112 innings with 137 strikeouts, having made appearances with the Tigers, Nationals and now the Dodgers.

Sporting News is tracking live scoring updates and highlights from Cardinals vs. Dodgers in the 2021 MLB postseason. Follow below for complete results from the National League wild-card game.

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Cardinals vs. Dodgers score

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Cardinals vs. Dodgers live updates, highlights from 2021 NL wild-card game

10:29 p.m. End Top Sixth: Wainwright grounds out to end the inning. He’ll come back out for the bottom half of the frame.

10:28 p.m.: Bader hit by a pitch for the second time tonight. Wainwright is coming up to bat now for the Cardinals.

10:27 p.m.: Sosa grounds out to second on the second pitch he sees and there are two away.

10:26 p.m.: Brusdar Graterol is the new pitcher for the Dodgers, and he immediately gets Molina to ground out to start the frame.

10:23 p.m. End of Fifth: Betts grounds out to third for the final out. Wainwright keeps rolling right along.

10:22 p.m.: Luke Raley goes down swinging at a fastball on the outside corner of the zone. He’s fanned four of the past five batters he’s faced.

10:20 p.m.: Wainwright gets Bellinger swinging for the first out of the inning.

10:16 p.m. End Top Fifth: Kelly gets Carlson swinging for the third out of the inning, and the Dodgers get out of a tough spot.

10:13 p.m.: Goldschmidt advances to third on a wild pitch. Runners now on the corners for Carlson.

10:10 p.m.: Arenado bounces a grounder to Justin Turner, who steps on the bag at third for the force out. Two away.

10:04 p.m.: That will do it for Scherzer’s night as Roberts will hand the ball over to former Cardinal Joe Kelly. 

10:04 p.m.: Huge strikeout for Scherzer as he gets O’Neill swinging and missing for the first out.

10:00 p.m.: Goldschmidt takes ball four for his second walk of the game. Runners on first and second with no one out with O’Neill coming up to the plate.

9:56 p.m.: The exit velocity on Edman’s two pitches? 75.7 mph in the first, 65.7 mph in the fifth. Meanwhile, two of the four batted balls over 100 mph tonight have been recorded for outs.

9:56 p.m.: Edman picks up his second broken bat hit of the night, this one to lead off the fifth inning.

9:51 p.m. End of Fourth: Beaty pops out to Molina, but this game heads to the fifth knotted up at one.

9:49 p.m.: Joe West says Pollock went around on strike three. Two away for Beaty.

9:46 p.m.: Smith is caught looking at strike three for the first out.

9:45 p.m.: Baseball Savant listed that ball as 105.6 mph off the bat and 401 feet to left.

9:44 p.m. Dodgers scoring play: Justin Turner launches a 2-2 pitch from Wainwright deep to left field for a solo shot to tie the game. Dodgers tie the game 1-1.

9:38 p.m. End Top Fourth: Wainwright goes down swinging to end the inning.

9:36 p.m.: Hader is hit with a pitch on a full count, and Wainwright will come to bat in the fourth.

9:33 p.m.: Sosa dribbles one back out to the mound that Scherzer is able to field for the second out.

9:31 p.m.: Molina hits a grounds out to start the fourth.

9:26 p.m. End of Third: Turner hits a broken bat groundball that Edman fields, takes himself to second and throws on to first for a double play to get St. Louis out of the inning without allowing a run.

9:23 p.m.: The Dodgers are in business. Seager takes ball four and the bases are loaded for the National League batting champion, Trea Turner.

9:18 p.m.: Betts sends a line drive up the middle, Sosa makes a leap to try and catch it, but it bounces out of his glove. Bellinger stays at second and Betts is safe at first.

9:16 p.m.: Scherzer gets the bunt down and Bellinger moves up to second. One away with Betts due up.

9:13 p.m.: Cody Bellinger takes a leadoff walk to give Scherzer a clear bunting situation with nobody out in the third.

9:09 p.m. End Top Third: Beaty with a nice snag on a grounder down the first base line from Carlson, and he steps on first to end the frame.

9:06 p.m.: Arenado grounds one to Beaty at first, who fires it over to second for the forceout. Arenado is left on first with two away.

9:04 p.m.: O’Neill comes up empty chasing at a slider down and away in the zone for the first out.

9:03 p.m.: Goldschmidt sends a base hit to right to give the Cardinals a leadoff baserunner in the third.

8:58 p.m. End of Second: Matt Beaty lifts one high and far to right, but it stays in the yard for Carlson, who catches it for the third out.

8:56 p.m.: Pollock pops up to short and there are two outs in the inning.

8:54 p.m.: Edman with an incredible sliding grab and strong throw over to first to rob Will Smith of a base hit.

8:48 p.m. End Top Second: Scherzer gets Edman to fly out to left field for the final out of the inning. He’s already up to 43 pitches through two innings. His 2021 season-high in pitches in a game is 109.

8:45 p.m.: Wainwright gets the sacrifice bunt down and Bader moves up to second. Edman will bat with a runner in scoring position and two away.

8:41 p.m.: Second walk of the afternoon as Harrison Bader takes a few close pitches inside to reach first.

8:39 p.m.: Scherzer throws a fastball right by Sosa for the swinging strike three.

8:34 p.m.: The pitch by Wainwright: 86.1 mph. The comebacker: 100.5 mph.

8:33 p.m. End of First: Justin Turner hits a liner right back to the mound, but Wainwright makes the catch to end the inning. 

8:30 p.m.: Sosa drops the liner off the bat of Turner, but flips over to second to get Betts for the forceout. Two outs.

8:29 p.m.: Seager is caught looking at a 92 mph sinker that hits the inside edge. Trea Turner now up to the plate.

8:27 p.m.: That hit from Betts was 99.1 mph off the bat and had an expected batting average of .510, per Baseball Savant.

8:26 p.m.: Betts hits a rocket on the ground to shortstop that Edmundo Sosa gets a glove on with a slide, but he can’t make the play. Dodgers get the leadoff hitter aboard.

8:22 p.m. End Top First: Yadier Molina flies out to center to end the inning, but St. Louis will hand the ball to Adam Wainwright with the lead.

8:21 p.m.: Dylan Carlson rolls one up the middle that Corey Seager can’t get a grip on right away. His throw is too late as Carlson reaches first on the E6.

8:20 p.m.: Arenado flies out to left for the second out.

8:19 p.m. Cardinals scoring play: St. Louis is on the board. Scherzer bounces one in the dirt, and the speedy Edman darts home to score. Goldschmidt moves up to second. Cardinals take a 1-0 lead.

8:17 p.m.: Betts makes a great play at the right field wall in foul territory to set down Tyler O’Neill, but Edman tags up from second and advances to third. Runners on the corners for Nolan Arenado.

8:16 p.m.: Goldschmidt takes the walk and Max Scherzer now has to deal with runners on first and second with no one out.

8:15 p.m.: Edman swipes second to give Paul Goldschmidt a runner in scoring position as he faces a 2-2 count.

8:12 p.m.: Edman drops in a single in front of Mookie Betts in right to lead off the inning.

8:10 p.m.: The NL Wild Card game between the Dodgers and Cardinals is underway, as Tommy Edman takes a ball to start the game.

7:55 p.m.: We’re about 15 minutes away from the start of this one. Here are the starting lineups for each team.

Cardinals vs. Dodgers start time

• First pitch: 8:10 p.m. ET | 5:10 p.m. PT

First pitch for Cardinals vs. Dodgers is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

How to watch MLB playoff games

• TV channel: TBS
• Live stream: TBS App

TBS will begin its coverage of the National League playoffs with the NL wild card game. Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, Jeff Francoeur and Lauren Shehadi will be on the call for the game. Those looking to stream it can find the game on the TBS app.

In Canada, all postseason games are available on Sportsnet and SN1.

MLB playoff schedule 2021

National League

Wild card

Division Series

TBS will handle the broadcast for all NLDS games in both series.

*If necessary

Championship Series

TBS will continue its National League playoff coverage with coverage of every NLCS game.

*If necessary

American League

Wild card

Division Series

MLB Network and FS1 will carry all the ALDS games, until potential Game 5s, which would be broadcast exclusively on FS1.

*If necessary

Championship Series

FOX and FS1 will split coverage of the ALCS.

*If necessary

World Series schedule

Every World Series game will be on FOX.

*If necessary