CHICAGO -- Preparing for the final weekend of the regular season, the St. David Wright Orange Jersey . Louis Cardinals hoped to easily move past the non-contending Chicago Cubs. Instead, they ran into Chicagos buzzsaw -- Jake Arrieta. Arrieta (10-5), coming off a one-hit shutout against Cincinnati last week, limited St. Louis to two hits and an unearned run while striking out 10 in seven innings, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory. "Hes got swing-and-miss stuff in the strike zone and hes got the ability to get it out of the strike zone as well, and that makes him tough," Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter said. "Anytime you got a guy with that type of electric stuff, you kind of feel like youre on defence up there. Anytime he gets ahead of you, youre in a bad spot." Arrieta outdueled St. Louis John Lackey (3-3), both on the mound and at the plate. After Lackey intentionally walked Logan Watkins in the fourth inning, Arrieta hit a two-run triple -- the first triple of his career and the first by a Cubs pitcher since 2012. The Cubs never surrendered the lead. "Its amazing that that at-bat is the one that does it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. Lackey gave up two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out eight, his most since joining the Cardinals at the trade deadline. The Cardinals, who clinched a playoff berth earlier in the week, remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central. The Pirates lost at Atlanta, reducing St. Louis magic number to three for clinching the division title. "Im tired of looking up there and waiting for somebody else to help us," Matheny said following the game. "Nobodys helped us all season long. Why are they going to start now?" The Cardinals loss assured NL East champion Washington will open a division series at home. The Cardinals were held without a hit through four innings but managed two singles in the fifth. Yadier Molina came in to score on Welington Castillos throwing error, cutting the Cubs lead to 2-1. Molina has hit safely in seven consecutive games and 12 of his past 14. Chris Valaika had a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth to extend the Cubs lead to 3-1. The Cardinals mounted a two-out rally in the ninth, but Hector Rondon worked out of the jam for his 13th consecutive save and his 27th in 31 opportunities this season. After the game, Arrieta took pride in playing the role of spoiler. "To pitch well against them, at this time of the season with the implications on the game that are there, its meaningful," Arrieta said. "Its just another positive thing to use moving forward into the off-season." Arrieta has allowed two or fewer runs in 19 of 25 starts this season. TRAINING ROOM Cubs: SS Starlin Castro will miss the remainder of the season, according to manager Rick Renteria. Castro injured his left ankle sliding into home against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 2. Cardinals: OF Jon Jay missed Wednesdays game due to a personal matter. He will rejoin the team on Friday in Arizona. UP NEXT Cubs: LHP Eric Jokisch (0-0, 1.74) will make his first career start on Friday when the Cubs open a three-game set at Milwaukee. Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.18), who missed approximated three months earlier this season with a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder, starts for the Cardinals on Friday against Arizona. WRIGLEY FACELIFT Now that the Cubs regular-season schedule is over, improvements and renovations at the 100-year-old ballpark -- including constructing a large video scoreboard in left field -- are expected to begin soon. The scoreboard and other outfield signs are expected to be in place by the start of next season, but the new home clubhouse isnt slated to be completed until 2016. David Wright Authentic Jersey . The Nuggets leading scorer, Lawson is characterized as day to day by the team. Hes averaging 17.9 points and 8.9 assists. Lawson suffered the injury late in Denvers win Sunday at Sacramento. http://www.metsbaseballshop.com/gary-carter-mets-jersey/ . He then tried the other side of the ice, and that worked out quite well for him and the Chicago Blackhawks. Bickell had a goal and two assists, and the Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.MANCHESTER, England - Arsenal finally ended its streak of poor away performances against top teams as Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud scored in each half Sunday for a 2-0 victory at Manchester City that dented the hosts title hopes.Cazorla converted a penalty in the 24th minute and then sent in a pin-point free kick that Giroud headed in for the second in the 66th as Arsenal ended second-place Citys 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions.City dominated possession but Arsenal for once showed the kind of defensive fortitude that so often has been missing in big away games in recent seasons. Arsenal lost 6-3 at City last season, to go with a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea and 5-1 defeat at Liverpool.It reinforces the belief of the team and gives us confidence, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. To feel that we can do well is very important for a group of players.With the loss, City fell five points behind leader Chelsea. Arsenal climbed above Tottenham into fifth place, one point behind Manchester United. In Sundays other game, West Ham also gave its European ambitions a boost as a superb second-half display saw the Hammers beat struggling Hull 3-0.City, despite the return of striker Sergio Aguero and captain Vincent Kompany, created little against an Arsenal team that seemed content with sitting back to defend — and did it unusually well.Aguero played up front alone in the first half and had a quiet game, as Arsenal looked the more incisive at times and fit-again captain Kompany was made to look rusty.Kompany gave away the penalty when Nacho Monreal aattempted to play a one-two with Giroud and was impeded by the City captain as he continued his run into the box. Asdrubal Cabrera Grey Jersey. Cazorla took full advantage from the spot as he sent a hard shot beyond the reach of Joe Hart.Wenger started David Ospina in goal, and the Colombian was hardly tested in the first half as City were unable to muster a dangerous response despite controlling plenty of the ball.City boss Manuel Pellegrini reverted to his default 4-4-2 set-up after the break as Stevan Jovetic replaced James Milner and moved alongside Aguero.The change of approach initially appeared to work and Aguero had his first serious shot with an effort that deflected wide. Jesus Navas was the first to test Ospina, the deputy keeper again preferred to Wojciech Szczesny, with a powerful effort that was parried away.Arsenal doubled its lead after Alexis Sanchez was fouled by Jovetic. Cazorla capped his standout performance by clipping a free kick into the area and Giroud reacted quickest, losing his marker Fernando to head home in simple fashion.City tried to hit back and Monreal cleared unconvincingly over his own bar but the hosts did not consistently trouble their visitors.At Upton Park, Sam Allardyces West Ham side was booed off at halftime after a dismal opening period but Hull paid the price for some lacklustre finishing as Andy Carroll, Morgan Amalfitano and Stewart Downing all found the net after the interval.West Ham climbed above Liverpool into seventh while Hull manager Steve Bruce has now overseen just two wins in 15 league games. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '