When I broke down the playoff teams for Bullz-Eye, I said the following about San Diego when detailing their weaknesses: “If Jake Peavy gets pounded – and that’s happened to him quite a few times this year – the offense is not built to mount a large comeback.” There you have it, proof positive that Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa reads Bullz-Eye.
Here’s how bad San Diego is at catching up: when Albert Pujols hit that bomb in the fourth inning (which was only a two-run shot), the game already seemed out of reach for the Padres. And sure enough, those two runs are all the Cardinals would need, though they tacked on three more for good measure. San Diego did give LaRussa a brief scare in the seventh, when they loaded the bases with one out. But Mark Bellhorn struck out, of course, and Todd Walker was robbed by Ronnie Belliard in short right field to end the inning.
San Diego has now dropped seven straight games to St. Louis in the playoffs, but that may change on Thursday when they face human pitching machine Jeff Weaver. Then again, the Padres are trotting out 76-year-old David Wells, so…
