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dd88
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Post subject: Dodgers 5, Cardinals 1 - Game 3 SWEEEEEEEEEP!
Posted: Oct 10, 2009 - 09:27 PM PST
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The Dodgers went 45 years without sweeping a postseason series until last year, and now they've done it in back-to-back seasons.
complete postseason coverage PostSeason.tv
They eliminated the Cardinals on Saturday night as quickly as they did the Cubs last year, three games to none, clinching the best-of-five National League Division Series with a 5-1 victory in a silenced Busch Stadium.
Now the Dodgers advance to the best-of-seven NL Championship Series, opening at home Thursday against the winner of the snow-delayed Philadelphia-Colorado series.
Vicente Padilla, starting because of the neck injury to Hiroki Kuroda, fired seven scoreless innings of four-hit ball for the victory in his first postseason appearance in an 11-year career. Padilla, unbeaten since he became a Dodger in August, retired 17 of 18 at one point.
The Dodgers were powered -- as they've been all season -- by Andre Ethier, who slugged his second home run of the series, a two-run shot in the third inning, tripled and doubled. Rafael Furcal had two hits, an RBI and scored a run. Manny Ramirez had a pair of doubles, a single and two RBIs.
Furcal went 6-for-12 in the series, while Ethier was 6-for-12 and Ramirez 4-for-13.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, apparently never recovered from their shocking Game 2 giveaway loss Thursday night, committing errors in the field and on the bases. This was the first time the Dodgers have beaten the Cardinals in three postseason series, having lost the NLCS in 1985 and the NLDS in 2004. It was only the third time the Cardinals were swept in a postseason series.
The key for Dodgers pitchers was to contain Albert Pujols, the likely NL MVP. Although he went 2-for-4 with the lone RBI in this game, it was his only RBI and he had no extra-base hits. |
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