Cardinals Poised To Sweep Padres After Game 2 Win
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ST. LOUIS – Mark Mulder tossed aside a pair of poor tune-up starts and put the St. Louis Cardinals on the brink of a playoff sweep.
Mulder pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and the Cardinals once again built an early lead, beating the San Diego Padres 6-2 yesterday for a 2-0 edge in their first-round NL series.
Matt Morris will try to clinch it for St. Louis tomorrow at San Diego against Woody Williams.
The Cardinals, who led the majors with 100 wins this season, have advanced to the NL championship series four times in five chances under manager Tony La Russa. San Diego, which limped into the playoffs with an 82-80 record, hasn’t shown any signs of stopping them.
Seven teams have rallied from a 2-0 deficit in division series play – the last team to do it was Boston against Oakland in 2003.
“We held home field advantage,” David Eckstein said. “One thing we’ve got to do, we’ve got to stay aggressive. We can’t wait to get over there.”
Mulder was 16-8 in his first season since being acquired from Oakland, but gave up seven earned runs over 5 2/3 innings in two starts after the Cardinals clinched the NL Central.
Plus, the lefty was a decidedly better pitcher at night (14-3, 2.26 ERA) than day (2-5, 6.86).
Mulder scoffed at both of those trends the day before Game 2, blanking a lineup stacked with seven right-handed hitters until the late innings and backed by four double plays, tying the NLDS record.
The Cardinals’ first four runs came on balls that didn’t leave the infield – or in one case, even the catcher’s glove. Eckstein had a run-scoring groundout and a squeeze bunt, Yadier Molina had an RBI grounder, and Albert Pujols drew a bases loaded walk to finish Pedro Astacio after four innings.
As in Tuesday’s opener, when the Cardinals took an eight-run lead behind Chris Carpenter before the Padres rallied in an 8-5 loss, it got a little closer at the end.
A double by Khalil Greene, a single by Joe Randa, and Xavier Nady’s run scoring single cut the deficit to 4-1.
Reggie Sanders, who drove in an NLDS-record six runs in Game 1, hit a two-run double off Rudy Seanez in the seventh that made it 6-1.
The Padres got another run in the eighth when Julian Tavarez hit Nady with the bases loaded, but San Diego left the bases loaded when Randy Flores struck out pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney for the third out.
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BRAVES 7, ASTROS 1 Rookie catcher Brian McCann became the first player in Braves history to homer in his first postseason at-bat, hitting a three-run shot off Houston’s Roger Clemens as the Braves evened their NLDS series at one game apiece with a 7-1 win last night.
John Smoltz allowed one run through seven excellent innings as the Braves salvaged a game at home before the series shifts to Houston for Game 3 on Saturday.