DODGERS ARE SWEPT AWAY BY RED HOT ST. LOUIS PENNY STRUGGLES AS L.A. DROPS FOURTH STRAIGHT TO CARDINALS ST. LOUIS 11, DODGERS 3.Byline: TONY JACKSON
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer ST. LOUIS -- They didn't invent humidity here. They just perfected it. And, by all appearances, found a way to make it work much to the advantage of their favorite baseball team. Showing barely enough fire to light a cigar, the Dodgers spent the past four days being sapped of every ounce of energy by the notoriously sultry weather and getting swept into submission by 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. . That last part was completed Sunday, when the Dodgers were sent on their not-so-merry way with an 11-3 pounding in front of a sellout crowd of 44,741 at 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. . It is quite possible the high-powered, pitching-rich Cardinals would have fared just as well against the utterly outclassed out·class tr.v. out·classed, out·class·ing, out·class·es To surpass decisively, so as to appear of a higher class. Adj. 1. Dodgers if the series had been played at the North Pole North Pole, northern end of the earth's axis, lat. 90°N. It is distinguished from the north magnetic pole. U.S. explorer Robert E. Peary is traditionally credited as being the first to reach (1909) the North Pole. In 1926, Richard E. . But for the shellshocked, sweat-soaked Dodgers, it wouldn't have been nearly as miserable. ``We looked sloppy,'' said Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny Bradley Wayne Penny[1] (born May 24, 1978 in Blackwell, Oklahoma)[2] is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers.[3] Early career , who clearly wasn't at his best in his first start since a two-inning stint in the All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games . ``We had two extra-inning games where we had a chance, but we didn't play very good. It's that simple. ``We need more enthusiasm. We look tired all the time. We just looked flat. We let people take extra bases, and I left balls over the plate and didn't make my pitches. ``If we're going to make it to the playoffs, we have to start picking it up a lot.'' Shortly after the game-time temperature was announced at 93 degrees -- suggesting they must keep the thermometer in the shade -- Penny took the mound and gave up consecutive, one-out doubles to Chris Duncan Christopher Edward Duncan (born May 5, 1981 in Tucson, Arizona) is an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the son of former Oakland Athletics catcher and current St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan. His older brother Shelley plays for the Yankees. and Albert Pujols “Pujols” redirects here. For other uses, see Pujols (disambiguation). José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (IPA: /ˡpuˌhoʊlz , putting the Dodgers in a 1-0 hole. After the Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the second, Penny gave up three singles in a row in the third to David Eckstein, Duncan and Pujols, with Jim Edmonds' run-scoring groundout putting the Cardinals ahead to stay. Finally, in the fifth, Penny gave up two more hits to Duncan and Pujols, who combined to go 6 for 6 with three doubles, three RBIs and four runs against him. A two-out double by Yadier Molina officially buried the exhausted Dodgers, making it 6-2. Although the Cardinals are used to playing in such conditions and although the Dodgers' idea of humidity is being hit in the face by ocean spray while standing on the Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent landmark. Attractions The pier contains Pacific Park, a family amusement park with a large ferris wheel. , Dodgers manager Grady Little refused to say the weather was a factor in his team's four-game humiliation. ``It was the same for both teams,'' he said. ``It didn't matter. They're not (used to it), either. It's not this bad here six months out of the year.'' In classic National League West fashion, the Dodgers (46-46) kept pace with the other four clubs, all of which lost. That left the Dodgers and San Francisco still trailing division-leading San Diego by 2 1/2 games and still leading fourth-place Arizona by a half-game, with the Dodgers set to open a four-game series with the Diamondbacks tonight at Chase Field. Penny (10-3) suffered one of his worst outings of the season against a club that still trails the Dodgers by one point in the NL team batting race, but has an arsenal of offensive weapons the Dodgers could only dream of. ``I get to face them again in five days,'' Penny said. ``I'm looking forward to that.'' If nothing else, Southern California might be a bit balmier. The first indication the Dodgers were running on fumes fumes odorous gases and other volatile materials; inhalation of irritating fumes causes coughing and, if sufficiently severe, irreversible pulmonary edema. came in the first inning, when Cardinals rookie right-hander Anthony Reyes (2-3), a USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. product, faced four batters and struck out three while allowing only an infield single by Kenny Lofton. Although Reyes gave up a towering solo homer to Olmedo Saenz leading off the second and a double to Andre Ethier that led to another run, he finished his five-inning stint strong, striking out five while walking only one. The Dodgers continued to struggle offensively, scoring six runs in 42 innings in the series. Leadoff man Rafael Furcal went 0 for 4 to snap his hitting streak at 10 games and now is hitless in his past eight at-bats. Although No. 2 hitter Kenny Lofton reached base four times, J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent combined to go 1 for 8 behind him, with an infield single, four strikeouts and a double-play grounder. tony.jackson@dailynews.com (818) 713-3675 CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) NOT A PRETTY PENNY (2) St. Louis left fielder Chris Duncan was 3 for 4 with three runs scored against the Dodgers on Sunday. (3) Dodgers catcher Russell Martin can't stop Hector Luna from turning a double play in the seventh inning of Sunday's sweltering swel·ter·ing adj. 1. Oppressively hot and humid; sultry. 2. Suffering from oppressive heat. swel game in St. Louis. Tom Gannam/Associated Press |
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