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EVENTS
CENTERS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
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Strong-arm tactics Arizona has the pitching, but the Cardinals can swing
Updated: Tuesday October 09, 2001 2:34 AM
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com The last thing anyone in the National League wanted to do was to go up against the Diamondbacks in the divisional series. It's standard-issue postseason doom-and-gloom reasoning. You never want to face two dominant pitchers in a first-to-three series. But it's not as if the Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling are unbeatable. They can be had. Heck, the Cardinals practically own Johnson. St. Louis beat Johnson twice this season, reaching him for 16 hits and 12 runs in his 13 2/3 innings. In fact, the Cardinals hit .314 against Johnson, the big lefty who has held opponents to a .203 mark this season. Big Unit? Ha! The Cardinals, 50-26 since the break, won the season series between the two teams, 4-2. Rookie Albert Pujols hit .385 with eight RBIs against Arizona. Fernando Vina hit .455 against the D'backs.
Still … Johnson is 21-6, with a 2.59 ERA. Schilling (who didn't face the Cards this year) is 22-6, with a 2.98 ERA. They are, without a doubt, the best 1-2 combination in the game. And they're workhorses. There's even been some talk of using Johnson out of the bullpen, if the need arises. When the Diamondbacks starters falter -- beyond Johnson and Schilling it's Miguel Batista and Albie Lopez --the D'backs also have Byung-Hyun Kim, a credible closer, and a solid-enough offense that revolves around Luis Gonzalez (.325, 57 homers, 142 RBIs). St. Louis relies on rookie Pujols (.329, 37 homers, 130 RBIs), young J.D. Drew (.323, 27, 73) and veteran Jim Edmonds (.304, 30, 110) for one of the most potent lineups in the game. Mark McGwire, still bothered by a bad knee, is hitting under .200, though you still have to pitch to him carefully. Matt Morris is a 22-game winner and Darryl Kile has added 16, but the Cards' big boost came when they traded Ray Lankford to the Padres for Woody Williams, who is 7-1 with a 2.28 ERA since joining the Cards. This is the second playoffs appearance for the Diamondbacks, bumped out of the divisional series by the Mets in 1999. The Mets were responsible for knocking the Cardinals out of the National League Championship Series last season. Making a pick: St. Louis hits better, Arizona pitches better. That's the simple boil-down look. And pitching usually is the way to lean in cases like that. Especially when it's Johnson and Schilling in front of the best defense in the league. But St. Louis has talent, and if a spotty bullpen can buck up, the Cards have a chance. We'll say the Cardinals in five.
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