Posted: Monday October 11, 2004 1:10AM; Updated: Monday October 11, 2004 1:10AM 
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Wilson Alvarez's home run pitch to Albert Pujols put the Dodgers in a hole they couldn't cimb out of.
Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
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By John Donovan, SI.com
Turning Point
From the start -- or, more accurately, the starter -- the Dodgers were in deep trouble in this one. Manager Jim Tracy made an early move to get his starting pitcher, Odalis Perez, out of the game, pulling the lefty after just 2 1/3 innings and a whopping five walks.
The decision turned out to be exactly the right one, at least initially, as lefty reliever Wilson Alvarez wiggled out of Perez's two-on, one-out mess by striking out Jim Edmonds and Reggie Sanders to end the third inning. But in the fourth, Alvarez started dragging, and he eventually took the Dodgers down with him.
In the fourth inning, Alvarez allowed a one-out single to pitcher Jeff Suppan -- grooving a fastball to him at 3-2 -- and then got a bizarre force out play at second. That brought the Cards' Larry Walker to the plate with two outs and a man on first. Walker knocked Alvarez's first pitch up the middle for a single, putting runners at the corners for slugging first baseman Albert Pujols.
Wilson, who had started 15 games this season, had thrown only 31 pitches when Pujols dug in. He had thrown only 23 previous pitches this postseason. He should have been rested and ready to go.
But he looked tired, and working carefully to the right-handed Pujols, Alvarez got behind in the count, 3-1. He grooved another fastball on the next pitch that Pujols hit out to left field for a three-run homer, bumping the score to 5-2.
It was, in effect, the death blow to the Dodgers.
From the Bench
Cardinals starter Suppan struggled early, too, and was maybe a batter from getting pulled in the third inning. He had just walked Jayson Werth, given up a single to Steve Finley, allowed a sacrifice fly to Adrian Beltre and the lefty-swinging Shawn Green -- who had hit two homers on Saturday night in the Dodgers' Game 3 win -- was up.
Suppan, a righty, had thrown 60 pitches in 2 2/3 innings. The bullpen was starting to loosen up. But manager Tony La Russa decided to let Suppan pitch to Green, and he got Green to strike out on three straight pitches.
Suppan put down the Dodgers in order in each of the next four innings to earn the win, going seven innings while allowing only two hits and two runs.
Clubhouse Confidential
Dodgers right fielder Milton Bradley was involved in couple of bang-bang plays. In the fourth inning, he slid in a try to grab a Tony Womack line drive -- and caught it, too. He bobbled the ball trying to get it out of his glove, though, and the ump called it a drop. Bradley was still smart enough to get the ball into the infield to get a force out at second base. In the seventh, Bradley beat out a throw from Suppan at first -- at least that's what the replays showed -- but he was called out. The volatile Bradley, suspended at the end of the regular season for his run-in with Dodger Stadium fans, jumped up in protest but cooled down almost immediately. ... The crowd of 56,242 was the largest ever in Dodger Stadium, which opened in April of 1962. ... Seen in the L.A. crowd: comedian David Spade and rocker Kid Rock.
Bottom Line
The Dodgers were probably the weakest of the eight teams in this postseason and, for the most part, it showed in this series. It took a superb game from Jose Lima in Game 3 for the Dodgers to win the one game, but their lame starting pitching and a lack of timely hitting doomed them in the others.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, did exactly what they wanted, when they wanted to do it. They hit some home runs (seven of them). They were clutch, scoring 16 of their 22 runs in this series with two outs. They got good enough starting pitching (holding the Dodgers to a .198 average) and solid work from their bullpen (allowing just one run). They played good defense.
And the Cards, believe it or not, can play better. Scott Rolen was 0-for-12. Jim Edmonds was just 4-for-15 (.267). Leadoff man Tony Womack was just 3-for-19 (.158) and scored only two runs.
If those guys get going in the National League Championship Series against either the Astros or Braves (the best-of-seven series starts Wednesday in St. Louis) ... stand back.
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