Dodgers Take 1-0 Lead Despite 16 Runners Stranded

NFL News - October 8th, 2009 - Written by John

If there is a way to win a postseason game, yet come away with a bitter taste in your mouth, Wednesday night was it. The Dodgers roughed up Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter for three runs, and added another in both the fifth and sixth innings, and Los Angeles took a key one-game lead, 5-3, at Dodger Stadium. But both MLB Teams stranded a total of 30 runners and St. Louis could've easily taken the lead several times, leaving the Dodgers celebrating while still feeling a sense of anxiety.

Los Angeles' Randy Wolf made his first career postseason start, and managed 3 2/3 innings, allowing but two runs despite six hits. He then turned the ball over to a terrific bullpen that didn't give up another run until the top of the ninth when Mark DeRosa hit a two-run double.

“A lot of people believe they have one of the best bullpens in baseball,” St. Louis outfielder Ryan Ludwick said. “They kind of shut us down. They shut the door.”

Carpenter came into the game with a career postseason record of 5-1 and an ERA of 2.53 but was roughed up in the first inning that gave the Dodgers the lead they would never relinquish. Matt Kemp came up to bat after a first-pitch single by Rafael Furcal and turned on a sinker for a two-run shot to go ahead 2-1.

“It was a little sinker down the middle,” Kemp would later say. “We haven’t done too well against him, but we came tonight with the confidence. We were trying to make him battle and got him out pretty early and got to the bullpen.”

It was enough to atone for the division series record of runners left stranded. The Dodgers left 12 runners in scoring position and ruined a 6-for-12 night by their 1-2-3 hitters. Meanwhile, the Cardinals probably felt the worst, surrendering a game they needed to have on the road with their undisputed ace on the mound.

“We had too many chances, too many chances,” said St. Louis infielder DeRosa.

Probable NL MVP Albert Pujols was 0-for-3 on the night with two intentional walks, only the fourth time in nearly three weeks he had gone without a hit.

Now, he and the Cardinals will try to beat sophomore phenom Clayton Kershaw, who was 8-8 this year with an ERA of 2.79. He will face another stud in Adam Wainwright, who has lost only once this season when following up a Carpenter loss.

The closest St. Louis got was in the fourth inning when mustachioed Skip Schumaker belted a double to the fence to score Colby Rasmus. A hit batter then chased Wolf from the mound in favor of Jeff Weaver. Ludwick was his first batter, who yanked a line-drive barely foul before hitting a slow bouncer to the left side of the mound. Weaver made a very athletic play, reaching over his glove shoulder to snare the ball, then tossed it to James Loney to end the inning.

“It’s a game of inches, huh? It went my way,” Weaver said. “The second slider was a good pitch. He just kind of one-handed it out there, and luckily it curled enough to go foul. Then Russ came out and we just said that we have to make sure the next pitch is chased—and if anything, he hits it off the end of the bat.”

That was the way many of the Cardinals' innings ended, like in the first when they loaded up the bases and got only one run on a tweener by Ludwick.

To discuss this and other NFL related stories be sure to check out our new forum at:
https://www.usaplayers.com/forums/