St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres
The St. Louis Cardinals enter postseason having lost nine of their last 12, nearly squandering a seven-game lead. The Cardinals are not as dominating as in recent years and now meet a good San Diego Padres team who has home field advantage.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa gambled in the regular-season finale by scratching Chris Carpenter (15-8, 3.09 ERA) for a possible playoff opener, reasoning that his struggling team needed two starts by the 15-game winner in the first round to have a chance against the Dodgers.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa gambled in the regular-season finale by scratching Chris Carpenter (15-8, 3.09 ERA) for a possible playoff opener, reasoning that his struggling team needed two starts by the 15-game winner in the first round to have a chance against the Dodgers.
On the road, Carpenter is 7-4 this year with an ERA of 4.70. He's 2-2 lifetime against the Padres in 5 starts. In his last appearance against SD, the Padres beat him up for 6 runs off 12 hits in a loss.
Jake Peavy (11-14, 4.09 ERA) goes for the Padres. Peavy hasn't had much success when facing the Cardinals with a career record of 1-2 manufactured in 5 starts. In his last outing against St. Louis, he managed to get a win despite giving up 6 runs and 9 hits in 5 innings of work.
Bet on the 2006 MLB Playoffs at BetUS.com
Offensively, neither team packs much punch, but the Cardinals have Albert Pujols. Pujols is a beast but one player can't carry a club on his back to victory in postseason play. He has a solid stand, however, the Padres get the job done in 4 games.
Game 1 Tue, Oct 3: at SD – 4:05 pm EDT Chris Carpenter vs. Jake Peavy (TV: ESPN).
Game 2 Thur, Oct 5: at SD – 4:05 pm EDT Jeff Suppan vs. Chris Young (TV: ESPN.
Game 3 Sat, Oct 7: at STL – TBA Pitchers TBA (TV: TBA).
*Game 4 Sun, Oct 8: at STL – TBA Pitchers TBA (TV: TBA).
*Game 5 Mon, Oct 9: at SD – TBA Pitchers TBA (TV: TBA).
* – If necessary
