SAN DIEGO — Considering the way they had staggered into the playoffs, the St. Louis Cardinals could have called it Winning A Division Title For Dummies.
The Cardinals made it to the postseason despite losing more games than they won in their division and dropping nine of their final 12 regular-season games.
But St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa devised a seemingly foolproof plan for winning Game 1 of the National League division series, holding ace Chris Carpenter out of the Cardinals’ regular-season finale so that he could start their playoff opener.
Carpenter rewarded his manager with 6 1/3 superb innings, and Albert Pujols blasted a two-run homer Tuesday at Petco Park to propel St. Louis to a 5-1 victory against the San Diego Padres. Game 2 is Thursday afternoon.
“Our two best players came out and did what they do,” center fielder Jim Edmonds said.
Carpenter allowed five hits and one run and wriggled out of several jams.
Pujols’ fourth-inning homer on the eighth pitch of the at-bat gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead five pitches after he had hit a foul pop that landed near the backstop. Padres catcher Mike Piazza appeared to be closing in on the ball but couldn’t make the catch after stumbling at the last moment.
“Obviously, I need it to get made,” San Diego starter Jake Peavy said of the play. “Just a pop-up.”
Peavy then grooved a cut fastball to Pujols, who launched the ball an estimated 422 feet into the Padres’ bullpen beyond the left-center-field wall.
