And then there were eight.

Just eight teams remain in the 2015 Major League Baseball postseason thanks to the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs. The Cubs and Astros each won their one-game wild card playoff match, and have advanced to the next round.

The Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road in another incredible performance by Jake Arrieta. Arrieta pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 11 Pirates batters. That win gave the Cubs their first playoff victory in 12 years. Thanks to that win, the Cubs will now face the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series.

The winner of that series will face the winner of the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers series later in the NLCS.

This National League Central rivalry dates back to the 1800s. This will be the first time the Cubs and Cardinals face each other in the playoffs since the 1886 World Series. Yes, it's been that long.

The Cardinals won the regular season head-to-head meetings, 11-8. They won a league-high 100 games this year, and many MLB experts are picking them to win it all yet again. John Lackey will be getting the start for the Cardinals in Game 1 while Jon Lester will be on the mound for the Cubs. This is a best out of five game series, so the Cubs will only have Arrieta on the mound for two games at the most.

The Cardinals will also have home-field advantage in this series. The first two games will be played in St. Louis and if this series goes the distance, Game 5 will also be in St. Louis. Matt Carpenter is always the consistent player who shows up when it matters most, and the Cardinals had the No. 1 ranked team ERA in the league during the regular season.

The Cubs may have the favorite to win the NL CY Young Award, and they may be hot, but they are the underdogs in this one. The Cubs have a great pitching staff, but you can't sleep on their hitters either. Anthony Rizzo had a team-leading 31 homes runs and 101 RBI. Rookie outfielder Kris Bryant had a fantastic year with 26 home runs and 99 RBI.

Hopefully for the Cubs, they can get imitate last year's San Francisco Giants squad. Last year the Giants were also a wild card team who caught fire with an ace pitcher (Madison Bumgarner) and they too eliminated the Pirates in the wild card game. This should be a very low-scoring series that will more than likely go the five-game distance.

Who do you think will win the 2015 NLDS? Vote in our fan poll below.

Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1