Ladies and gentlemen, the Dodgers are going nowhere anytime soon.
For the second straight season, the Dodgers came into the Division Series as the underdogs, and they once again turned doubters into believers by getting a sweep. This year it was three straight over the Cardinals after beating them on Saturday night, 5-1.
The Dodgers jumped on Joel Pineiro in the first, as they established that they would be the aggressors. Matt Kemp legged out an infield single to short with one out. After Andre Ethier flied out, Manny Ramirez lined a first-pitch fastball for an RBI double to go up 1-0.
With the way Vicente Padilla pitched, who knew at the time that getting one run of support would be enough. It didn't start off easily, as Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols hit singles with one down. Matt Holliday grounded out, but Colby Rasmus walked to load the bases. It was looking like the Cardinals might break through.
But in what was most likely the turning point of this game, Yadier Molina weakly grounded out to short, and the threat was over. The air was already getting sucked out of Busch Stadium, and the Dodgers made sure it stayed that way.
In the third, Raffy singled with one out, which added to his .500 average these last three games. With two outs, Ethier crushed one to deep right for a two-run homer, making it 3-0. Ethier also hit .500 to go along with two home runs.
The next inning brought another run, and again with two outs. Ronnie Belliard singled to lead off. Following two groundouts, Furcal hit an RBI single down the left field line to get the lead up to 4-0. Little by little, the Dodgers increased their lead and kept the Cards in check.
With Padilla still dealing, Ethier tripled with... you guessed it, two outs in the seventh. He scored on Manny's RBI single, and it was 5-0. Manny ended up 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs, silencing critics saying he wouldn't hit this postseason. So much for that!
Padilla was pulled to start the eighth, as Joe Torre went with the George Sherrill-Jonathan Broxton combination to close it out. Sherrill walked Julio Lugo with one out, then got Ryan Ludwick to fly out.
Torre went with Broxton to get Pujols with two down, but Pujols lined an RBI single into right, cutting the lead to 5-1. Holliday had one last chance to atone for a lousy series, but he instead flew out lazily to Ethier in right, ending the inning.
Broxton stayed on to finish it off in the ninth. Molina got an infield single with one out, but Rick Ankiel pinch-hit and struck out to end the game and the season for the Cards.
There were many heroes for the Dodgers this game, but who would have thought Padilla would lead the charge? Quite simply put, he was brilliant. He went seven innings for four hits, no runs, one walk, and four strikeouts. His fastball and control was top-notch all night. Wow, was he nasty when it counted the most.
This was a hard game for the Dodgers to win, as the Cardinals rightfully should have been sitting at a 1-1 tie with a chance to win two at home. Once again, the Dodgers found ways to get a win against a good team, and the Cardinals are one of the best.
Looking ahead, the Dodgers will now take on the winner of the Phillies-Rockies series. That's currently tied at one each, with Game 3 snowed out on Saturday. It'll be pushed back to Sunday night, with Game 4 Monday, and Game 5 on Tuesday if needed.
The Dodgers will now wait until Thursday, October 15 for Game 1 of the National League Championship series. Keep in mind, they'll have home-field advantage this round as well. It's a 2-3-2 format.
For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy scouting the competition the next few days. Then get ready for the Dodgers to resume their quest for a ring on Thursday!
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