St. Louis Cardinals celebrate playoff return (Photo)

The St. Louis Cardinals had the luxury of knowing they were the National League Central Division champions before the first pitch of their game against the Arizona Diamonbacks, thanks to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ loss to the Cincinnati Reds earlier Sunday.

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After St. Louis learned of the Pirates’ loss, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny pulled starter Adam Wainwright during warmups to give the right-hander more rest for the playoffs, but a cast of backups led the Cardinals to a 1-0 victory over the Dbacks, which was simply a prologue to the team’s NL Central clinching celebration. Here are some of the best tweets from the Cardinals’ clinching party:

A local Cardinals reporter made sure he came prepared with the proper eyewear for interviewing players during a clinching celebration:

St. Louis apparently had a strict “no jumping in the pool” rule for its players, as to not anger the Diamondbacks, who don’t enjoy watching opposing teams celebrate playoff berths in the center field pool at Chase Field. Cardinals players found another way to get soaked:

The Cardinals will enjoy this party, then head west to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game One of the National League Divisional Series on Friday:

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