BUSCH-WHACKED DODGERS LIMP HOME IN 2-0 SERIES DEFICIT CARDINALS 8, DODGERS 3.Byline: Tony Jackson
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer ST. LOUIS - A wise ballplayer/philosopher who grew up on the Hill, an Italian neighborhood not far from where Busch Stadium This article is about the current sports venue in St. Louis, Missouri that opened in 2006. For the stadium in St. Louis that operated from 1966 to 2005, see Busch Memorial Stadium. For the ballpark known as "Busch Stadium" from 1953 to 1966, see Sportsman's Park. was built, is the man generally credited with coining the phrase, ``It ain't over 'til it's over,'' a brilliantly succinct observation that has become an indelible part of the American sporting scene. Yogi Berra Noun 1. Yogi Berra - United States baseball player (born 1925) Berra, Lawrence Peter Berra, Yogi , meet the 2004 Dodgers, who appear to defy your famous utterance. The Dodgers fell again to the vastly superior St. Louis Cardinals For the National Football League team that played in St. Louis from 1960 to 1987, see . The St. Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards" or "the Redbirds") are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. on Thursday night, by the same 8-3 score with which they had been vanquished two days earlier. Assuming their plane was able to get off the ground, they stumbled home facing not only a 2-0 deficit in this best-of-five National League Division Series, but also the harsh realization that this dream season might be down to its final hours. The postgame spin featured all the usual, contrived optimism. It included a reference by closer Eric Gagne to the club's season-long tendency to rise from the ashes. It included a reference by first-year general manager Paul DePodesta Paul DePodesta (born December 16, 1972) is baseball front-office assistant for the San Diego Padres. He has also served as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from February 16, 2004 to October 29, 2005. to the 2-0 lead his former employers, the Oakland A's, blew against Boston in last year's first round. The difference is that these Dodgers - winners of 93 regular-season games and a division title that was far too long in coming considering the quality of the competition - and these Cardinals - winners of 105 regular-season games and a club with a realistic shot of winning the game's biggest prize for the first time in 22 years - don't appear to belong on the same field. The Dodgers would just like to win a playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship , something they still haven't done in 16 years. They'll get their chance on Saturday, when the series resumes with a twilight Game 3 at Dodger Stadium • • [ . Until then, they can console themselves with a slightly different spin on the aforementioned Yogi-ism: It ain't going to be over today. ``We have been doing this all year, battling and battling,'' said Gagne, whose eighth-inning mopup stint was his first appearance in a week. ``We know we're in a corner, but it's up to us. We just have to go out and play hard. We have to start playing our game.'' Gagne's more telling answer came in response to the next question, the one about whether he was surprised at the formidable hole the Dodgers find themselves in. ``Not really,'' he said. ``They're a good team.'' Right now, the Dodgers don't appear to be that at all, at least not offensively. In the early innings, they executed hitting coach Tim Wallach's game plan to near perfection for the second game in a row, working the count in almost every plate appearance and driving Cardinals starter Jason Marquis' pitch count so far up that he had to leave with one out in the fourth, having already thrown 89 of them. It mattered little. All the Dodgers' runs came on solo homers by Jayson Werth Jayson Richard Gowan Werth (born May 20, 1979 in Springfield, Illinois) is an outfielder in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. He has usually been a bench player, but injuries to regular right fielder Shane Victorino and his backup Michael , Shawn Green Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972, in Des Plaines, Illinois) is a 6' 4" left-handed Major League Baseball player. Green is the starting right fielder for the New York Mets.[1] Green was a 1st round draft pick, and has been a two-time major league All-Star. and Milton Bradley  This article or section is written like a personal reflection or and may require .Please [ improve this article] by rewriting this article or section in an . . The club went 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on . Marquis and relievers Cal Eldred When he first entered professional baseball, he played for the Milwaukee Brewers. and Dan Haren (Pepperdine) combined to walk seven. Not one of them scored. For the Dodgers, the game fell apart in two three-run innings for the Cardinals, who don't need lucky breaks but got one to begin each of those rallies. Edgar Renteria began the second with a slicing liner to right on which Milton Bradley foolishly decided to make a diving catch. He failed, the ball rolled past him, and Renteria wound up with a double that should have been a single. Reggie Sanders followed with a bunt, but second baseman Alex Cora bounced the throw to first, both runners were safe, and the Cardinals soon tied the game 1-1 on a wild pickoff pick·off n. 1. Baseball A play in which a runner is caught off base and is put out by a quick throw, as from the pitcher or catcher. 2. Sports An interception, as in football. throw by pitcher Jeff Weaver. The other two runs scored on a triple by Tony Womack and a double by Larry Walker. After Weaver hit Walker to begin the fifth, Albert Pujols followed with what appeared to be an easy double-play grounder to Cora. But the ball skipped past Cora before he could get his glove down, and Pujols had a gift single. Weaver retired the next two batters, but the Cardinals came through with a pair of two-out hits to make it 6-3, effectively putting the game away and sending another jolt through an already-electrified crowd of 52,228 at sold-out Busch. Weaver wound up being charged with six earned runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings. But he didn't fail to notice what took place, and what didn't take place, around him. ``They did a lot of things with two outs to make things happen,'' he said. ``They got two-out hits, and we didn't. They made plays, and we didn't.'' The only glimmer of hope for the Dodgers now is in the fact that there will be a Game 3. As Berra might say, Games 4 and 5 don't exist until they exist. ``Right now, the important thing for us is just to focus on winning Saturday,'' DePodesta said. ``That's all we should be thinking about.'' Tony Jackson,(818) 713-3675 tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Dodgers starter Jeff Weaver looks out from the dugout after being pulled in Game 2. Kyle Ericson/Associated Press (2) Dodgers right fielder Milton Bradley leaps but is unable to catch a ball hit by the Cardinals' Tony Womack, who got an RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in triple in the second inning of Game 2. Tom Gannam/Associated Press Box: (1) STORY LINES (2) CARDINALS 8, DODGERS 3 |
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