St. Louis, MO (My Sportsbook) - The
San Francisco Giants hope to take a commanding two-games-to-none lead in the 2002 National League Championship Series this evening when they battle the
St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
In the opener of this best-of-seven series on Wednesday, Benito Santiago finished 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and four RBI as San Francisco earned a 9-6 victory. Barry Bonds notched a two-run triple for the Giants, who scored eight of their nine runs with two outs. The team that has won the first game of the last nine NLCS has advanced to the World Series.
"I've been seeing this for two and a half months. That didn't start tonight," Santiago said. "I have a lot of opportunities to make some damage out there at the right time."
Kenny Lofton was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and was in the middle of a fifth-inning controversy at home plate. The veteran centerfielder crushed a solo homer in the third inning that gave the Giants a 6-1 lead. In his next at-bat in the fifth inning, Lofton was brushed back by a Mike Crudale pitch, prompting the benches to clear. No punches were thrown, but there was a few heated arguments, including one between St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa and Giants skipper Dusty Baker.
"[Lofton] has done that before. You throw the ball inside and he's always reacting like you're trying to hit him," stated LaRussa. "He's just trying to change the way the game is played and not have anybody pop him inside. It's a trick that Lofton does that we don't appreciate."
Kirk Rueter earned the victory, despite surrendering five runs in five-plus innings of work. He gave up nine hits and one walk, while striking out one. Robb Nen pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save of the postseason.
Miguel Cairo and Albert Pujols each hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who have dropped eight of their last nine contests in the NLCS. Cairo tied a major league record by getting a hit in his eighth straight postseason at-bat. The streak, which was also achieved by Reggie Jackson and Billy Hatcher, came to an end with a strikeout in the eighth inning.
Matt Morris suffered the loss, yielding seven runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 frames. He walked four and whiffed two in his first-ever start in the NL Championship Series.
Woody Williams gets the call this evening for the Cardinals, who are gunning for their first NL pennant since 1987. Williams did not appear in the Division Series because of a strained muscle in his left side and will be starting for the first time since September 20.
The veteran righthander received an injection on Sunday to ease the pain of his side before working out for LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan. After the bullpen session went well, LaRussa decided to use Williams for this contest because of the 36-year-old hurler's superb lifetime record at Busch Stadium (8-2 with a 2.29 earned run average).
A season ago, Williams appeared in the postseason for the first time in his career and defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the NLDS with seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball. He walked one and struck out nine.
Lifetime, Williams is 3-4 versus San Francisco. He did not face the Giants during the regular season, when he was 9-4 with a 2.53 earned run average and one complete game in 17 outings.
Jason Schmidt counters for the visitors. Schmidt started Game 3 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves and was tagged with the loss after permitting four runs on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked four and whiffed five in the 10-2 setback at Pac Bell Park.
The righthander pitched well in the second half of the year, going 9-5 with a 3.20 earned run average and one complete game. He won three of his final four decisions, including two in a row. This, after compiling just a 4-3 mark with a 3.75 ERA prior to the All-Star break. The 29-year-old hurler struggled at times on the road this year and finished 5-3 with a 5.02 earned run average in 13 attempts.
For his career, Schmidt is 6-6 versus St. Louis. He battled the Cardinals on a pair of occasions this season and suffered the loss each time. Over a total of 12 innings, the 1991 eighth-round pick of the Braves surrendered eight runs on 11, including a home run to Jim Edmonds, while walking nine and fanning 13.
This will be Schmidt's second career postseason appearance.
The Cardinals won the regular season series between these two teams by a 4-2 margin, although each club posted one victory in the Gateway City. San Francisco was 45-35 on the road during the season, and 2-1 in the NLDS, while St. Louis won its only home game in the Division Series after going 52-29 at St. Louis won its only home game in the Division Series after going 52-29 at Busch Stadium.
This series will shift to Pac Bell Park for Game 3 on Saturday.
