In 10 regular season starts for the Cardinals, Lackey allowed two or fewer runs in seven of them. He totaled a 3–3 W–L with a 4.30 ERA in IP with St. Louis, and his totals for the year including those with Boston were 14-10 W–L with a 3.82 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 198 innings. He made the postseason for the seventh time in his career, starting once each against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series (NLDS) and the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). The Giants defeated the Cardinals in five games, ending their season. Instead of retiring and foregoing being paid the league minimum, Lackey had stated in the previous August that he would pitch in 2015 if the Cardinals picked up the option that actuated because he missed the 2012 season due to Tommy John surgery. On October 30, the Cardinals announced they had picked up the Tommy John option. With a guaranteed base salary of $507,000, the club added performance bonuses before the start of the season.