Tag Archives: Cardinals

Reds beat Cardinals, Dodgers stay alive.

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The Dodgers’ faint wild-card hopes stayed alive for at least a couple more hours Tuesday night after the St. Louis Cardinals lost 3-1 to the Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals’ magic number to clinch the wild-card berth is 1.

The Reds broke open a 1-1 game with two runs in the sixth inning. With runners on second and third base and none out, Jay Bruce hit an RBI single off Chris Carpenter (0-2). Former Dodger catcher Dioner Navarro added an insurance run on an RBI single off Carpenter to give the Reds a 3-1 lead.

The game began at 5:15 p.m., early enough for the left-field video board to show the first four innings. By the time Chris Capuano threw his first pitch for the Dodgers, the game was tied 1-1 on a solo home run by the Reds’ Scott Rolen and a sacrifice fly by the Cardinals’ Matt Holliday.

The Dodgers still must beat the San Francisco Giants tonight and tomorrow, and the Reds must beat the Cardinals again tomorrow, for the Dodgers and Cardinals to meet in a one-game playoff Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

Updating the Dodgers’ playoff scenarios.

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This one shouldn’t be too hard to understand. The St. Louis Cardinals’ magic number to clinch the National League wild-card berth is one.

Lose, and the Dodgers are eliminated from the playoffs.

If the Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds one of the next two days, the Dodgers are eliminated from the playoffs.

If somehow the Cardinals go 0-2, and the Dodgers 2-0, there will be a Game 163 at Dodger Stadium on Thursday for the right to visit Atlanta in the wild-card game.

Expect every player to be watching the scoreboard tomorrow. “We all know what the situation is,” Aaron Harang said Monday.
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Dodgers win but still face long odds.

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The Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals both won Sunday. The wild-card scenarios are fairly straightforward for the two teams entering their final series of the season (the Dodgers host the San Francisco Giants, the Cardinals visit the Cincinnati Reds).

There are 16 possible outcomes, and the Cardinals make the playoffs in 13 of them. In two, the two teams finish the regular season with identical records and the Dodgers will host Game 163 next Thursday, with the winner traveling to Atlanta for the wild-card game. Only if the Dodgers and Reds both sweep can the Dodgers clinch a playoff berth on the final day of the regular season.

The bottom line: The Dodgers must win at least two of their final three games to even have a chance, and the Cardinals cannot win more than one of three.

The earliest the Dodgers can be eliminated is Tuesday, and they cannot clinch before Wednesday.

The view from St. Louis.

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The Dodgers know a thing or two about heartbreaking losses in must-win situations that turn on a single play. So you can imagine how the St. Louis Cardinals reacted to last night’s 4-3, walkoff win by the Dodgers that left the two teams tied at 76-60 for the final wild-card berth.

One play in particular left a bad taste, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Several players questioned umpire Doug Eddings’ safe call at second base when Gordon stole his way into scoring position after replacing Andre Ethier at first base.

“He missed the call. I know he missed it,” said catcher Yadier Molina, who also thought he stopped Shane Victorino’s first-inning steal attempt before Victorino scored the Dodgers’ first run. “I know those guys (umpires) have a tough job to do. But those calls cost us the game. Gordon was out. The ball was there. The tag was there.”

Another player who saw the replay asserted the same thing as he left the clubhouse. Regardless, the Cardinals were left reeling from a piece of inspiration turned bad.

The loss left manager Mike Matheny draped over the dugout rail for a long minute as his players cleared. The clubhouse remained closed for 15 minutes afterward with manager still inconsolable when the doors opened.

Eddings is the first-base umpire today.

Postgame: Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3 (10 innings)

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The Dodgers beat the Cardinals 5-3 tonight to end their season-high four-game losing streak. For a full recap and boxscore click here.

THE BARE ESSENTIALS:

Oh, was this one big. The Dodgers eeked out a victory to salvage a game out this four-game set with the Cardinals. Neither the pitching nor the offense was great, but the Blue found a way to win.

Matt Kemp came up with the game-winning single in the top of the 10th, knocking in two runs with two outs against Todd Wellemeyer.

The 1-4 hitters in the Dodgers lineup went 1-for-17, including a woeful 0-for-5 day for Manny Ramirez on the day his name came up in a New York Times report that said he tested positive for PEDs in 2003.

Hiroki Kuroda turned in a quality start, going six innings and giving up two runs. Cardinal starter Kyle Lohse did him better, allowing only one run in his six frames.

ETC…ETC:

The Dodgers revamped their bullpen today, trading for George Sherrill and replacing Brent Leach on the active roster with Scott Elbert. The ‘pen did a solid job, allowing only one run in four innings — a solo shot by Rick Ankiel off Guillermo Mota. It broke Mota’s 20+ scoreless innings streak.

Casey Blake went 4-for-5 and scored two runs. Matt Kemp had two other hits besides the game-winner and had an incredible stolen base in which he took off before Kyle Lohse even started his delivery.

Jonathan Broxton got the save but didn’t look all that impressive a day after he blew a crucial save attempt. His fastball didn’t appear to have the same velocity as usual and he walked the leadoff batter, Joe Thurston.

ON DECK:

Jason Schmidt (1-1, 7.88) and Tommy Hanson (5-1, 2.95) at 4:30 P.M. PST in Atlanta tomorrow.

Postgame: Cardinals 10, Dodgers 0

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The Cardinals beat the Dodgers 10-0 tonight to give the Dodgers their first three-game losing streak of the season. For a full recap and boxscore click here.

THE BARE ESSENTIALS:

Chad Billingsley was masterful in his first five innings of work, walking two and allowing only one hit, but he truly imploded in the sixth, issuing four walks (two intentional) and giving up three singles while being charged with six runs.

Adam Wainwright wasn’t fooling the Dodgers, but he navigated out of jams with incredible consistency in eight innings of work, stranding nine runners. He got better as the game went on, retiring the last eight batters he faced.

The 3-4-5 hitters in the Dodgers order went 1-for-11 on the day, including two strikeouts from Manny Ramirez.

ETC…ETC:

Brent Leach continued to struggle in relief, allowing four batters to reach base while retiring none. He was charged with three runs.

There was an 80-minute rain delay that pushed the start of the game back from 5:15 P.M PST to 6:35.

The Dodgers had been 10-0 in games in which they had a two-game losing streak this season. This is the first time since August 30, 2008 that the Blue have lost three in a row.

Joe Torre was non-committal today of his Friday starter. It would be Jason Schmidt’s turn in the rotation but he struggled his last time out. Jeff Weaver could make the spot start.

ON DECK:

Clayton Kershaw (8-5, 2.96) and Joel Pineiro (9-9, 2.95) are scheduled to start tomorrow at 5:15 P.M. PST.

Postgame: Cardinals 6, Dodgers 1

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The Cardinals beat the Dodgers in the first game of a four-game set in St. Louis, 6-1. For a full recap and boxscore click here.

THE BARE ESSENTIALS:

Randy Wolf threw his sixth consecutive solid start, throwing six innings and giving up two runs, but took the loss to fall to 5-5. By comparison, Wolf made 18 starts in 2007 with a 4.73 ERA and was 9-6. This season, he’s made 22 starts with a 3.43 ERA.

The Dodgers had at least one hit in every inning and 11 in all, but could muster only one run. The Cardinals also had 11 hits but produced big hits, going 3-for-8 with RISP.

Chris Carpenter, operating almost strictly in the high 80′s with his fastball, threw seven strong innings, although he allowed 11 baserunners. Carpenter is a good example of a starter getting older and losing MPH on his fastball but still being effective — although Carpenter is younger and has a bit more left in his fastball than the Dodgers’ Jason Schmidt.

ETC…ETC:

Every hitter in the Dodgers lineup had at least one hit. Rafael Furcal went 3-for-4 with the lone RBI, raising his average to .263.

Manny Ramirez struggled, going 1-for-5, grounding into two double plays and striking out once. He left 5 men on base.

Left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo made his first appearance since April 29 tonight, throwing a scoreless inning.

Jeff Weaver was fined an undisclosed amount today by MLB for hitting Hanley Ramirez with a pitch in the sixth inning of Sunday’s loss to the Marlins.

ON DECK:

Chad Billingsley (10-5, 3.72) and Adam Wainwright (11-6, 2.95) start tomorrow at 5:15 P.M. PST.