The Cardinals started ace Chris Carpenter in
Game 4 against the Padres, deciding not to save him for either the
NL championship series opener at New York or a possible fifth game
at San Diego.
Manager Tony La Russa had held back Carpenter on the last
scheduled day of the regular season, opting to save Carpenter for a
possible makeup game against San Francisco, a tiebreaker with
Houston or the post-season opener.
``It's a different set of circumstances. There's, I think, a lot
of different reasons why today is different from last Sunday,'' La
Russa said.
La Russa opted against starting Jason Marquis, who had a 6.02 ERA
in the regular season. Jeff Weaver would be in line to start Monday
night at San Diego if needed.
``I thought it was real clear,'' La Russa said. ``It's real clear
to me that Chris pitches.''
Carpenter, a 15-game winner, probably would not be available
until Game 3 of the NL championship series, next Saturday. He then
would be on track to pitch a possible Game 7 on regular rest.
Weaver and Jake Peavy, who would start Monday for the Padres,
opted not to go ahead to California.
Padres manager Bruce Bochy said Peavy ``had the option, but he
definitely wanted to stay with the club.''
``The manager knows I'm not leaving the boys,'' Peavy said. ``I
don't like to do it in the regular season, much less the
post-season.''
___
AHH, RELIEF: As good as the starters have generally been in the
Padres-Cardinals series, the bullpens have been better.
Entering Game 4, relievers had combined to allow just one run in
21 1-3 innings: So Taguchi's pinch homer off San Diego's Scott
Linebrink in the eighth inning of Game 3.
The Cardinals' bullpen was considered a weakness heading into the
playoffs, but had thrown 11 1-3 scoreless innings. Josh Hancock,
Randy Flores, Braden Looper and Tyler Johnson escaped several jams
in 4 2-3 innings after Jeff Suppan was knocked out Saturday.
San Diego's bullpen was perfect until Taguchi's homer.
``Both teams are doing a great job with the bullpens,'' Bochy
said. ``I think you're seeing guys going out there and pitching
well.''
