A team with marquee hitters like Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Larry Walker should not have to concern itself with manufacturing runs.
But too often this season injuries forced St. Louis manager Tony La Russa to put together lineups without one or more of his big names.
So runs have not always been easy to come by, and the Cardinals became adept at building them.
While San Diego starting pitcher Pedro Astacio baffled the big-name Cardinals early in Game 2 of this National League Division Series on Thursday, the rest of the lineup capitalized on shaky fielding by the Padres to scratch out four early runs–none scoring on a hit–en route a 6-2 victory and a two games to none lead in the best-of-five series.
“God knows I’ve been in this situation before and not won the series,” said Game 2’s winning pitcher, Mark Mulder, whose Oakland A’s teams twice led division series 2-0 only to lose 3-2. “But this team’s a little different, man. It’s going to be fun.”
Mulder, a left-hander who took a Joe Randa line drive off his throwing arm in the second inning, held the Padres to one run on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. He kept the ball down and benefited from four double plays.
Shortstop Dave Eckstein said he thought Mulder’s sinker grew sharper after Randa’s line drive struck him.
“It calmed him down,” Eckstein said of Mulder, who recorded 17 of 20 outs on ground balls.
