Arrieta spins gem; Cubs clinch NL’s No. 1 seed

CHICAGO — One week after clinching the National League Central title, the Cubs are focused on fine-tuning some things in preparation for the postseason. The Cardinals, on the other hand, have to beat their division rival if they hope to secure an NL Wild Card berth, and they were unable to do so on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Jake Arrieta struck out 10 over seven innings in the Cubs’ 5-0 victory over the Cardinals, their 15th shutout of the season. It was Chicago’s 98th win, the most in a single season since winning 98 in 1945, which was the last time the Cubs played in the World Series. With the loss, the Cardinals fell to 1 1/2 games behind the Mets and one game behind the Giants, pending San Francisco’s game vs. San Diego on Friday night, in the NL Wild Card standings.

“You keep an eye where you’re at, but at the end of the day, you just try to win,” Cardinals starter Mike Leake said. “If you’re winning, then you don’t have to worry about what the other teams are doing.”

With the win and the Nationals’ extra-innings loss in Pittsburgh, the Cubs clinched the No. 1 seed in the NL Division Series and home-field advantage in the NL Championship Series.

Arrieta is now tied with teammate Jon Lester and the Nationals’ Max Scherzer for the NL lead in wins with 18.

“That was more reminiscent of what we saw last year,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Arrieta, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. “He’s not 100 percent there, but that was pretty darn good. [The Cardinals are] a good hitting lineup. That lineup they threw out today was a great test to see where he’s at.”

Anthony Rizzo hit an RBI double and scored on Ben Zobrist’s single in the four-run first inning to give Arrieta all the support he needed. Leake was lifted after 3 1/3 innings, matching his shortest outing of the season. Behind him, six Cardinals relievers held the Cubs scoreless the rest of the way.

“If we don’t have the first inning that we have and are able to hold them close, you never know what happens with our club,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “But [Arrieta] was not giving a lot of anything. Being down four to a good team puts your back against the wall. It’s not an easy assignment anytime, let alone against a guy who just won a Cy Young.”

• Sloppy start downs Leake, Cardinals in opener

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDStart me up: Arrieta erased any doubts about his command or velocity. He walked one and scattered five hits in his longest outing since Aug. 23, and he notched double digits in strikeouts for the fourth time this season. Arrieta continued to stymie his former TCU teammate, Matt Carpenter, as well. Carpenter …

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