NL Central

Through a season full of injuries and, at times, uncertainty, Jason Heyward was a constant.

Based on recent headlines, you'd think the Chicago Cubs' rise to power has had everything to do with Jake Arrieta and little to do with, well, anything else.

In reality, however, the bats have also had a lot to do with that. And on Monday evening at Wrigley Field, they made that clear by upstaging none other than Arrieta himself.

Chicago Cubs infielder Addison Russell exited Game 3 of the National League Division Series after suffering a hamstring injury and was replaced by Javier Baez.

Continue for updates.

In just a few hours, (5:07 p.m. CT to be exact), a pivotal Game 3 of the of the National League Division Series will take place at the historic Wrigley Park, where the hometown Chicago Cubs are looking to break the series tie against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Chicago Cubs needed only one win to distinctly swing the advantage.

On Saturday, they got it. Now, the home-field advantage is on their side. But more importantly, so is the pitching lineup.

In their first game of the 2015 postseason, the St. Louis Cardinals got a boost from two rookies and one guy who's being paid like a rookie.

The big difference, of course, is that the guy they're only paying like a rookie is 36 years old and is in the middle of what might be the finest season of a long, successful career.

It's October, and Kolten Wong is feeling himself.

The St. Louis Cardinals second baseman celebrated his two-out double in the second inning of Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs by hitting the whip.

Wong was left on base, but the Cardinals still carried a 1-0 lead into the third.

Take this next sentence, stick it in an envelope, put the envelope in a time machine and send it back to a St. Louis Cardinals fan in March 2015.

Here's the sentence: You're going to lose Adam Wainwright for essentially the entire season to a busted Achilles, Matt Adams and Matt Holliday are going to miss almost 200 combined contests to injury—and the Cards are still going to win 100 games.

Of all the things that happened in 2015, the Chicago Cubs' winning 97 games with a major boost from a pitcher who came to the team as a throw-in player in a throwaway deal was arguably at the top of the "There's No Way This Is for Real" power rankings.

But after what happened Wednesday night, we now know this: This is for real, all right.

Jake Arrieta's run of dominance continued Wednesday in a National League Wild Card contest as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0, to clinch their first NLDS appearance since 2008.

Arrieta pitched a four-hit, complete-game shutout that saw him strike out 11 Pirates batters. According to ESPN's Karl Ravech, Arrieta is operating in truly elite air: