St. Louis won 20 of 28 games to finish the season, allowing them to tie the Braves for the wild card lead going into the final day. Molina caught Carpenter's 8–0 shutout of the Astros, the final game of the regular season. Meanwhile, the Philles defeated the Braves 4–3 in 13 innings, giving the Cardinals the wild card title and eliminating the Braves from the playoffs. The games-won deficit marked the largest lead surrendered with 28 left to play in MLB history, consummating what "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" sportswriter Bernie Miklasz termed an "improbable comeback," and one of the greatest sports history. It was just the first in a series of improbable comebacks for the Cardinals in 2011.