an offensive struggle for the Braves, scoring only one run between the two games and losing both of them. The Cardinals, meanwhile, edged out the Cubs with one-run victories in the final two games of their series. Entering the final series of the regular season, the Braves' once mighty lead was reduced to a mere game. The Braves returned home to Turner Field to host the Philadelphia Phillies, who had already clinched the National League East while the Cardinals traveled to Minute Maid Park to play the Houston Astros, a team that had already lost 104 games and was 39 games behind in the standings. Facing two Phillie aces in Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt in the first two games of the series, the Braves found little success, losing the games by scores of 2–4 and 1–7, respectively. In the first game of the series in Houston, the Cardinals lost a close game in ten innings by a score of 4–5. The following game, however, resulted in a Cardinals blowout, finishing with a final score of 13–7. For the first time since June 8, the Braves had lost their lead in the Wild Card. The Braves and Cardinals entered the final scheduled day of the regular season with the Wild Card standings tied between the two clubs. The situation was one familiar to the Braves, who were tied with the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card standings on the final day of the 2010 season. Starting one hour before the Cardinals-Astros game, the Braves tossed veteran ace Tim Hudson against a Phillies pitching staff that was preparing for the 2011 National League Division Series. After giving up a run to the Phillies in the first inning and scoring one of their own in the bottom half, Braves second baseman Dan Uggla launched a two-run home run in the third inning that gave the Braves a 3–1 advantage. Meanwhile, the game in Houston began with the Cardinals scoring five runs in the top of the first. With veteran Cardinals' ace Chris Carpenter pitching for the Cardinals, the game was already out of reach. The Cardinals would sail to an 8–0 victory that assured at worst a tiebreaker at Busch Stadium the following night. Back in Atlanta, the Phillies scored a run in the seventh to reduce the Braves' lead to one run. With the Cardinals game having already gone final,