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ST. LOUIS -- Aledmys Diaz made a vow Monday to the family of childhood friend Jose Fernandez, the late Miami Marlins ace who died in a boating accident early Sunday.I told them that every single time I put on the uniform, I would be thinking of him, Diaz said. And that I would give 100 percent because thats how he played the game.Fernandez would have been proud of his longtime buddy on Tuesday night.Back in the lineup after attending a private ceremony for Fernandez in Florida on Monday, Diaz hit his first career grand slam and the St. Louis Cardinals finished with five home runs in a 12-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.St. Louis remained one game behind San Francisco for the final NL playoff spot, and 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets.The Giants routed Colorado 12-3. The Mets, who lead the wild-card standings, won 12-1 at Miami.Jhonny Peralta had a three-run homer and drove in four runs for the Cardinals, who had lost four of five. Matt Carpenter, Randal Grichuk and Matt Adams also homered.Joey Votto and Scott Schebler went deep for the Reds, who beat St. Louis 15-2 on Monday.Diaz slammed a 2-1 pitch from Cincinnati starter Robert Stephenson over the left-field wall. The 408-foot drive erased a 2-1 deficit and served as a wake-up call for the Cardinals, who grabbed their first lead since Saturday.The Cuban-born Diaz pointed to the sky after he crossed home plate and fell into the arms of teammate Yadier Molina. Diaz had tears in his eyes as he came out of the dugout for a curtain call.I felt some serious goose bumps when he hit that, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright said. I almost got choked up. I know he was. He wanted to make some good swings for Jose.The emotional home run triggered an 11-run outburst in a span of three innings.Watching him cross the plate, and watching his reaction as he (shook hands) with the guys, really hit me on how much that meant to him, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. You can never understand what each persons going through when they suffer a loss like that. The show goes on and so does life. But its a tough thing for anyone to go through.Stephenson (2-3) ended up allowing five runs in four innings.Wainwright (13-9) gave up five runs and 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings.Adams connected for a pinch-hit homer in the sixth, extending the franchise record to 16 this season.St. Louis has hit an NL-leading 218 homers this year.Carpenter hit his 20th home run, giving the Cardinals five players with 20 or more.The Cardinals broke out of a hitting slump after scoring just three runs in their previous two games.Theres no telling how big this could be, Wainwright said.Votto was 3 for 5 and finished a triple shy of the cycle.Stephenson rolled through the first three innings, giving up just a solo homer to Carpenter.I felt a lot better today, especially at the beginning of the game, Stephenson said. I was a lot more under control. Just a nightmare inning in the fourth inning.Stephenson was aware of Diazs relationship with Fernandez.I thought that was real unfortunate timing for me, Stephenson said. But really, a special moment for him.TRAINERS ROOMReds: SS Zack Cozart, who has not played since Sept. 10 due to a sore right knee, was placed on the disabled list and will not return this season. ... 2B Brandon Phillips left in the seventh after hurting his wrist when he checked his swing. He is day to day. ... Schebler had a cramping issue and was removed in the eighth.Cardinals: Carpenter was back in the starting lineup after missing Mondays game with a right finger injury.UP NEXTReds RHP Anthony DeSclafani (8-5, 3.38 ERA) faces RHP Mike Leake (9-11, 4.72) in the third game of the four-game series Wednesday. DeSclafani has 13 quality starts in 19 starts this season. Leake is 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA in three starts against his former team. Stromile Swift Jersey . 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Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. (STATS) -- No FCS team has wrapped up a spot in the playoffs. Sure, many traditional powers like North Dakota State, Sam Houston State and Eastern Washington are almost certainly headed there.Yet, none of them can become the first to punch their ticket to the postseason.The team with a chance to do it doesnt have a rich playoff history. It didnt get one first-place vote in its conferences preseason poll. It wasnt even part of the STATS FCS Top 25 until this week.That team is none other than Lehigh.The 24th-ranked Mountain Hawks have mostly flown under the radar despite putting up huge offensive numbers and winning seven consecutive games, a run which puts them in the company of the FCS big boys. The streak is tied for third-longest nationally with No. 16 North Dakota, behind only top-ranked Sam Houston and No. 5 The Citadel.A victory Saturday afternoon over Bucknell would give Lehigh (7-2, 4-0) the Patriot League title and an automatic playoff berth for the first time since 2011.The coaching staff, all of our players have done a great job working to get our program back to the caliber of where we wanna be and were on the doorstep of getting another ring here, coach Andy Coen said. Thats what we talk to our players about. If youre gonna work hard and do the right things, youre gonna have an opportunity to win a championship. That will be in our hands here on Saturday.The only other team with a chance to earn a playoff spot this weekend is The Citadel if it beats Samford, but that game begins 90 minutes after the Mountain Hawks kick off the final home game for their seniors.Many of them were around for past heartbreak against Bucknell (3-5, 2-1), so the Mountain Hawks wont take this game lightly even though the Bison appear to be far inferior. Their only league wins came against Holy Cross and Lafayette, which have a combined 5-13 record.Lehigh was 6-1 in 2013 before being blown out 48-10 by a Bucknell team which entered with a 2-4 record.We already had that conversation with some of our veteran guys, Coen said. They remember what happenned here three years ago.dddddddddddd Were not gonna make that mistake again.The Bison do boast the Patriots No. 1 defense, surrendering 372.6 yards per game. However, when they did have to face a high-powered offense last week against eighth-ranked Charleston Southern, they were torched for 548 yards and 49 points.Lehighs offense is just as potent if not moreso. The Mountain Hawks are averaging more than 500 yards and 40 points per game, and the scary part is that theyre finding better balance.It was the passing attack which fueled the win streak until the past two games, when sophomore Dominick Bragalone rushed for a combined 374 yards and five touchdowns on just 32 carries. Plus, dual-threat quarterback Nick Shafnisky was back last week after missing 2 1/2 of the previous four games with an ankle problem, and he rushed for a season-high 108 yards and three TDs while throwing for 238 and a score in a 58-37 whipping of Fordham.For the future, its gonna cause more problems for opposing defenses, senior fullback Kenny Crawford said of the ground game stepping up. Doms really been picking it up. The O-line has been playing tremendous. Our offense has become very dangerous and explosive.It doesnt seem like the Bison can keep up. Theyve topped 28 points and 400 total yards only once all season.However, if they somehow pull off a shocker at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pa., the Patriot title will be back up for grabs because Lehigh, Bucknell and either Colgate or Fordham -- which play each other -- will all have one league loss.Coen isnt letting his team think much about whats at stake Saturday.We talked about it briefly at our team meeting on Sunday, but then it was right back to work, he said. You wouldnt have known if it was Week 3 or Week 5, and certainly you wouldnt have known it was for a championship this week. Well start revving up the energy level and those types of things as we get closer to the game. ' ' '