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Cardinals-Diamondbacks at a Glance
Pitchers | Hitters | Matchup Breakdown | Big Picture
| St. Louis Cardinals |
W-L: 22-8
ERA: 3.16
Vs. ARI: 0-1, 2.57 |
W-L: 15-9
ERA: 4.05
Vs. ARI: 1-2, 3.24 |
W-L: 16-11
ERA: 3.09
Vs. ARI: 2-0, 3.46 |
W-L: 14-13
ERA: 4.45
Vs. ARI: 1-1, 14.73 |
| Team pitching statistics |
| Arizona Diamondbacks |
W-L: 22-6
ERA: 2.98
Vs. STL: -- |
W-L: 21-6
ERA: 2.49
Vs. STL: 0-2, 7.90 |
W-L: 11-8
ERA: 3.36
Vs. STL: 0-0, 3.38 |
W-L: 4-7
ERA: 4.00
Vs. STL: 0-0, 8.44 |
| Team pitching statistics |
Pitchers | Hitters | Matchup Breakdown | Big Picture
Pitchers | Hitters | Matchup Breakdown | Big Picture
| Matchups |
Cardinals:
St. Louis isn't worried about facing Schilling and
Johnson, and the numbers support their feelings. Schilling is 5-7
with a 4.21 ERA against St. Louis and Johnson is 4-6 and 3.63.
Albert Pujols gave notice of his ability by torching the
Diamondbacks in the two early-season series, hitting .385 with 8
RBIs.
McGwire is 4-for-18 with four homers in his career off
Schilling.
Swept three games in Arizona during first week of
season.
Manager Tony La Russa isn't sure whether to use
Hermanson or rookie Smith in Game 4. Hermanson tied his career best
with 14 victories but the Diamondbacks have six left-handed hitters
and Smith threw a no-hitter last month.
It's been 5 1/2 months
since the teams played, so there's not much useful information.
Even Rick Ankiel was throwing strikes then, beating Arizona 9-4 on
April 8.
Vina batted .455 vs. Diamondbacks, including five hits
in 12-9 win April 6.
Diamondbacks:
The teams haven't played since April 18. The
Cardinals swept three at Arizona and the Diamondbacks won two of
three in St. Louis.
Schilling didn't face the Cardinals,
Johnson was 0-2. His worst start of the season came at home against
St. Louis, when he gave up nine runs in 5 2/3 innings. He also had
a 3-1 complete game loss at St. Louis. Since then, Johnson is 19-4.
Schilling and Johnson both beat Williams when he was with San
Diego this season.
Gonzalez hit .318 with 3 homers and 6 RBIs
against Cardinals.
Bell batted .455 and Womack hit .364.
Kim didn't allow a hit and struck out seven in three innings.
The Diamondbacks have one of the deepest teams in baseball, and
manager Bob Brenly will stack the lineup with lefties or righties
depending on matchups and liberally uses pinch-hitters David
Dellucci, Erubiel Durazo and Greg Colbrunn. Look for Danny
Bautista, on a hitting tear to end the regular season, to get least
one start in the outfield.
A big question mark is Arizona's
bullpen, which has been shaky at times this season. Kim had several
rough outings before settling down in the final two weeks of the
season.
|
Pitchers | Hitters | Matchup Breakdown | Big Picture
| Cardinals |
A .500 team at the All-Star break, St. Louis picked it
up after Drew and Pujols were moved to the Nos. 3-4 slots and
Edmonds and McGwire were moved down to fifth and sixth. Pujols had
one of the best rookie seasons in major league history, setting
rookie record for RBIs and total bases.
Cardinals have more
reliable starting staff this season than last year, when La Russa
used rookie Ankiel in the first game to disastrous results. Ankiel
threw five wild pitches and hasn't been the same since.
Morris,
hurt last season, turned into an ace this year. Williams was 7-1
with a 2.28 ERA since being traded from San Diego in August, and
has 0.96 ERA in his last six starts.
Kile, a 20-game winner
last season, was steady again this year.
Lost NLCS in five
games to Mets last season. Looking to go to World Series for first
time since 1987.
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| Diamondbacks |
Schilling and Johnson had one of the best seasons
that two pitching teammates ever have had. Their combined 665
strikeouts is a major league record. Schilling was 13-1 after an
Arizona loss, Johnson 10-2.
While Schilling is known as a
big-game pitcher, dating back to his performance in leading
Philadelphia to the World Series in 1993, Johnson is just 2-6 in
postseason play, 0-6 since 1997. He allowed seven runs and eight
hits in a loss to the New York Mets in Game 1 of the 1999
divisional series.
The Diamondbacks were playing their best
baseball at the end of the regular season. Womack and Finley have
been especially effective at the plate, and Arizona got a strong
playoff-clinching performance from Lopez, a three-hit shutout,
Friday at Milwaukee.
The team is loaded with players in their
mid to late 30s, so the window of opportunity for the franchise
will close soon. The veterans are hungry. Of all the players on the
roster, only Counsell has a World Series ring.
Often overlooked
is Arizona's defense. The Diamondbacks led the NL in fielding
percentage.
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| Things To Look For |
|
Mighty Mac or Missing Mac. McGwire, once the most-feared
slugger in the game, batted .188 average and 118 strikeouts in 298
at-bats, an average of once every 2.5 at-bats. He could even be
replaced in the lineup by Paquette, who batted a team-leading .372
with runners in scoring position.
Big Unit or Big Bust? Despite all of his regular season
dominance, Johnson is just 1-5 in eight career playoff starts. He's
lost his last six postseason decisions -- a major league record.
Closing time. Neither team has a dominant stopper, and that
could make for some interesting ninth innings. Kim, who took over
after Matt Mantei had elbow trouble and was lost for the season,
was hit a bit near the end. Cardinals can use a committee.
Getting it going. Tony Womack stayed in Arizona's leadoff spot
despite an awful .307 on-base average. He's got to do better to
spark the Diamondbacks. |
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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