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Nl Division Series Preview - St. Louis vs. San Diego

(Sports Network) - For the second straight year the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres square off in the National League Division Series with Game 1 of the best-of-five series slated for Tuesday night at Petco Park.

The Padres captured home-field advantage for this series after winning their fifth National League West title in franchise history with Sunday's 7-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. San Diego was tied with Los Angeles but owned the head-to-head tiebreaker even though the Dodgers defeated San Francisco.

San Diego won back-to-back titles for the first time in its 38-year history thanks in large part from winning 13 of 18 games against the division-rival Dodgers this season.

Bruce Bochy's club is in the playoffs for the second straight season, the fourth time over the past 11 years and fifth time ever. The Padres, who went 82-80 and won the West in 2004, were swept in last season's NLDS by St. Louis.

The Padres were down 2-0 when they headed home for Game 3 and St. Louis busted out the brooms with a 7-4 victory. It's a different year for San Diego, which finished 12th in the National League in team batting average, 14th in runs scored and 12th in home runs this season, and the club hopes it can repeat the success of 1998, when they last made it to the World Series.

Just like San Diego, the Cardinals needed to win the NL Central division on the final day of the regular season, as they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday for their third straight division championship.

St. Louis just barely made the playoffs for the third straight season and the seventh time in 11 years. It lost home-field advantage and nine of the 12 games of the regular season to fend off the creeping Houston Astros.

Houston ousted the Cardinals in six games in last year's National League Championship Series but lost out on a postseason opportunity after St. Louis came out on top versus the Brewers.

St. Louis, which ended fourth in the NL in batting average, fifth in home runs and sixth in runs scored, has reached the NLCS three times in the last four seasons and seven times under manager Tony LaRussa, including the 2004 pennant.

LINEUP

Albert Pujols is the monster of the St. Louis offense and led the club in average (.331), RBI (137), runs (119) and home runs (49). Pujols would have hit many more homers but was hampered for some time with an oblique injury.

Pujols is an NL MVP candidate and finished the season on a torrid pace with three homers and seven runs batted in over the last five games of the regular season. He will surely provide some highlight-reel hits during the playoffs.

After Pujols, the Cardinals also have Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen. Edmonds is the leader in the outfield at center and hit .257 with 19 homers and 70 RBI in 110 games. He is a veteran to the postseason and will make his 11th appearance in the playoffs.

Edmonds batted .267 in nine playoff games last year and collected four hits in six NLCS contests. Meanwhile, Rolen, the team's star third baseman, is healthy for the postseason after last year's injury-plagued campaign.

Rolen batted .296 with 22 homers and 95 RBI this season and will make his third-career appearance in the playoffs (2002, 2004). Always a reliable player on the hot corner, Rolen sets the table for the slugging Pujols and is expected to make a major impact this month.

Juan Encarnacion, Scott Spiezio, Davis Eckstein and Preston Wilson also can change the momentum of the game with one swing and will play a significant role for the Cardinals this postseason.

San Diego was led by a myriad of players in their effort for the NL West crown. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez led the club with a .304 batting average and 24 home runs, while recording 82 runs batted in. He proved to be an excellent offseason addition from Texas.

Gonzalez has never played in the postseason, while veterans Mike Cameron, Mike Piazza and Brian Giles have. Cameron led the Padres with 88 runs and cracked 22 homers to go along with 83 RBI in his first season out West. The center fielder reached the playoffs with Seattle in 2000 and 2001.

Piazza will show face in the playoffs for the fifth time in his career after leading the Dodgers to the postseason in 1995 and 1996. He then helped the New York Mets reach the playoffs in 1999 and a 2000 World Series appearance.

Piazza, the all-time home run leader among catchers (419), batted .283 with 22 home runs and 68 RBI this season. Giles is playing in October for the second straight year and fifth time in his career as well.

Giles was a member of the 1996, 1997 and 1998 Cleveland teams which reached the playoffs and finished tied for the team lead in RBI this season with 83 (Cameron). He also recorded a .263 batting average with 22 home runs.

Other San Diego players primed for national exposure are infielders Josh Barfield, Geoff Blum and Khalil Greene and outfielders Dave Roberts and Russell Branyan. Roberts is a magician on the base paths, while shortstop Greene possesses uncanny home run power.

EDGE: CARDINALS

STARTING PITCHING

St. Louis ace and 2006 NL CY Young Award candidate Chris Carpenter will lead his club in Game 1 on Tuesday night at Petco Park. Carpenter, who won the Cy Young Award last season, lost his last two starts of the regular season following an eight-game unbeaten streak (5-0).

Carpenter finished 2-0 with a 2.14 ERA over 21 innings in three playoff starts last year and is making his second career appearance in the postseason. The right-hander led the team in wins with a 15-8 record over 32 starts with a team-high 3.09 ERA through a team-best 221 2/3 innings.

Taking the hill for St. Louis in Game 2 will be Jeff Suppan, who reached the postseason for the third time in his career. Suppan did not pitch in the 2005 NLDS but posted a no decision against Houston in Game 4 of the Championship Series. He went 2-2 in four starts in the 2004 playoffs.

Suppan finished the regular season with a 12-7 record and 4.12 ERA in 32 starts. The righty won his last three decisions and was unbeaten (3-0) through his last nine trips to the mound.

Jeff Weaver, who went 3-1 with a 4.15 ERA in September, is slated to pitch Game 3 for the St. Louis at Busch Stadium. He is in the playoffs for the fourth time in his career and was a mid-season acquisition from the LA Angels of Anaheim.

Weaver had a shaky start with the Cardinals but ended the season winning his last three decisions and an unbeaten streak over five starts.

With no Mark Mulder for the postseason, the only reliable starters left on the Cardinals' roster are Anthony Reyes and Jason Marquis. Marquis could be the starter for a possible Game 4 and went 14-16 with a 6.02 ERA in 33 starts. He lost his last four decisions to close out the regular season, though.

San Diego will rely on the right arm of Jake Peavy in the series opener at home. Peavy was an early Cy Young Award prospect and led the team with 202 1/3 innings pitched. He went 11-14 with a 4.09 earned run average, while winning his last two starts of the regular season and three straight decisions.

The right-handed Peavy made his playoff debut last season and lost his only start, allowing eight runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

The Padres will go with Chris Young in Game 2. The 6-10, 260-pound righty led the Padres with a 3.46 ERA to go along with an 11-5 record in 31 starts. Young, who won his last two decisions of 2006 and was unbeaten in the past nine trips to the mound, will make his postseason debut at Petco Park.

Woody Williams gets the nod for Game 3 in St. Louis and is in the playoffs for the fifth time in his career. The veteran right-hander and former Cardinal ended the regular season on fire, having won five straight starts with an 8-1 mark over his previous 10 outings.

Williams is 3-2 in seven career starts in the playoffs with a 5.50 earned run average through 36 innings. He was 0-1 in last year's NLDS versus St. Louis.

Clay Hensley, David Wells and Chan Ho Park are possible starters for Game 4, if necessary.

EDGE: CARDINALS

BULLPEN

Trevor Hoffman leads the Padres' bullpen which is perhaps the best in the major leagues. Hoffman became the all-time leader in saves last month (482) and anchors a bullpen loaded with talent.

Set-up man Scott Linebrink and Cla Meredith both had great seasons for San Diego, while Alan Embree and Scott Cassidy provide solid arms in the pen. Linebrink has given up just three runs in his last 10 appearances and collected a 7-4 mark in 73 games.

St. Louis lost closer Jason Isringhausen to hip surgery and were in dire straights towards the end of the regular season trying to secure wins. Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper have been thrust into the closer's role with little success.

Randy Flores, Josh Hancock and Tyler Johnson also will be at La Russa's disposal in the bullpen.

EDGE: PADRES

MANAGERS

Tony La Russa has led five different clubs to the playoffs and hopes this year will be the year despite St. Louis' plunge at the end of the season. La Russa is third all-time in postseason wins with a 48-42 record (.533) and has guided the Cardinals into the postseason for the 12th time in their history.

Signed with the Cardinals through 2007, La Russa has the experience and expertise to outwit the minds of most managers in the big leagues. He is the 48th manager in Cardinals history and has spent 11 seasons in St. Louis.

One manager who would enjoy proving the previous theory wrong is Padres skipper Bruce Bochy. Bochy is managing in the playoffs for the fourth time in his career and helped the Padres to the 1998 World Series.

Bochy is 7-13 (.350) in the playoffs and has lost the last seven postseason games San Diego has been in since winning the 1998 NLCS in six games over the Atlanta Braves.

EDGE: CARDINALS

BENCH

St. Louis has a very talented bench with Preston Wilson, So Taguchi and John Rodriguez being the main characters. Wilson batted .243 with eight homers and 17 RBI in 33 games for the Cards. He played 102 games with Houston before being dealt to St. Louis a few months ago.

Taguchi hit .266 with a pair of homers and 31 runs batted in through 134 games this season in a reserve role. Aaron Miles and Chris Duncan can fill in if needed during the series.

San Diego's bench is led by Dave Roberts, Geoff Blum and Todd Walker. Roberts swiped 49 bases and scored 80 runs while recording a .293 batting average with two home runs and 44 RBI. His gutsy style of base running is what catapulted the Boston Red Sox to a World Series title after the New York Yankees choked in the American League Championship Series.

EDGE: PADRES

PROGNOSIS

Even though the Cardinals squirmed their way to an NL Central division title with a horrible finish to the regular season, they are still the favorite to win this series.

If you have Albert Pujols in the lineup and Chris Carpenter on the mound, the odds of winning will always be high. Pujols can hit any pitcher in the majors and has Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds to back him up. Carpenter is a different breed in the playoffs and his Cy Young form will appear come Tuesday evening.

The only thing standing in the way of St. Louis' dream is the right arm of Jake Peavy. Peavy will get the start in Game 1 and can change the face of this series if he comes out firing on all cylinders. If not, the Padres will be packing their bags and booking flights home after just one trip to St. Louis.

Prediction: CARDINALS IN FOUR

Source: www.intwebnews.com

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Nl Division Series Preview - St. Louis vs. San Diego

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