Cardinals-Giants preview

A capsule look at the Giants-Cardinals matchup in the NLCS

By The Associated Press

A look at the best-of-seven National League championship series between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals:

Schedule: (All times Eastern) Game 1, Wednesday, at St. Louis (8:19 p.m., Fox or Fox Sports Net), Game 2, Thursday, at St. Louis, (8:19 p.m., Fox), Game 3, Saturday, at San Francisco (4:20 p.m., Fox), Game 4, Sunday, at San Francisco (7:50 p.m., Fox), x-Game 5, Oct. 14, at San Francisco (8:20 p.m., Fox). x-Game 6, Oct. 16, at St. Louis (4:20 p.m., Fox), x-Game 7, Oct. 17, at St. Louis (8:20 p.m., Fox).

x-if necessary.

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Season Series: St. Louis won 4-2.

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Projected Lineups

Giants: CF Kenny Lofton (.261, 11 HRs, 51 RBIs, 29 SBs), SS Rich Aurilia ( .257, 15, 61), 2B Jeff Kent (.313, 37, 108, 42 doubles, 102 runs), LF Barry Bonds (.370, 46, 110, 117 runs and major league records .582 on-base percentage and 198 walks), C Benito Santiago (.278, 16, 74), 1B J.T. Snow ( .246, 6, 53), RF Reggie Sanders (.250, 23, 85), 3B David Bell ( .261, 20, 73).

Cardinals: 2B Fernando Vina (.270, 1, 54), RF J.D. Drew (.252, 18, 56), CF Jim Edmonds (.311, 28, 83), LF or 3B Albert Pujols (.314, 34, 127, 40 doubles), 1B Tino Martinez (.262, 21, 75), SS Edgar Renteria (.305, 11, 83), 3B Miguel Cairo (.250, 2, 23) or LF Eli Marrero (.262, 18, 66), C Mike Matheny (.244, 3, 35).

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Projected Rotations

Giants: LH Kirk Rueter (14-8, 3.23), RH Jason Schmidt (13-8, 3.45, 196 Ks), RH Russ Ortiz (14-10, 3.61 ERA), RH Livan Hernandez (12-16, 4.38).

Cardinals: RH Matt Morris (17-9, 3.42), RH Woody Williams (9-4, 2.53), LH Chuck Finley (11-15, 4.15), RH Andy Benes (5-4, 2.93).

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Relievers

Giants: RH Robb Nen (6-2, 2.20, 43/51 saves), RH Felix Rodriguez (8-6, 4.17), RH Tim Worrell (8-2, 2.25), RH Jay Witasick (1-0, 2.37), LH Chad Zerbe (2-0, 3.04), RH Ryan Jensen (13-8, 4.51), LH Aaron Fultz (2-2, 4.79).

Cardinals: RH Jason Isringhausen (3-2, 2.48, 32 saves/37 chances), LH Steve Kline (2-1, 3.39, 6), RH Dave Veres (5-8, 3.48, 4), RH Rick White (5-7, 4.31), LH Jeff Fassero (8-6, 5.35), RH Mike Crudale (3-0, 1.88), RH Jason Simontacchi (11-5, 4.02), RH Luther Hackman (5-4, 4.11).

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Matchups

These teams met in the 1987 NLCS, with the Cardinals winning in seven games despite a big series by Giants star Jeffrey "One Flap Down" Leonard. ... Teams split two games at St. Louis in July before the Cardinals won three of four at Pacific Bell Park a week later. ... Bonds only played in two of the games because of a sore hamstring, going 1-for-1 with three walks in the first meeting, and striking out as a pinch-hitter against Isringhausen to end the game July 22. ... Bonds is 0-for-11 in his career against Isringhausen. He hasn't had much success against other Cardinals either, hitting .154 against Morris and .167 against Williams. ... In late innings, Bonds will see lots of Kline (2-for-6, 1 homer and 6 walks) and Fassero (9-for-28, 1 homer, six walks). ... Renteria and Edmonds were the big hitters in the two series for the Cardinals. Renteria batted .542 and Edmonds hit .364 with two homers and five RBIs. ... Morris won games in each series and is 3-0 with a 1.16 ERA the past two seasons against the Giants. ... Schmidt lost both starts against the Cardinals. ... Rueter pitched 7 1-3 scoreless innings in his only appearance and is 9-3 in his career. ... Lofton is a .386 career hitter against Finley from their days together in the AL. ... Marrero has a .157 career average against the Giants. ... Rueter is 5-0 in his career at Busch Stadium.

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Big Picture

Giants: Came back from a 2-1 deficit against Atlanta to win the final two games and take the NL division series. ... Bonds hit three homers in the series, giving him four in 114 career postseason at-bats, and raising his average to .211. Bonds finally won a postseason series after losing three with Pittsburgh and two with San Francisco. He's still looking for his first World Series appearance. ... Lofton was a sparkplug in the opening round, hitting .350. He needs to get on base, along with Aurilia and Kent, to make it more difficult for the Cardinals to pitch around Bonds. ... Aurilia had seven RBIs in opening round and Santiago drove in five. ... Ortiz won both the opener and the deciding Game 5 at Atlanta. ... Nen and Rodriguez, one of the best late-game relief duos in the game, didn't allow a run in the opening round with Nen getting two saves. ... The Giants surged late to clinch the wild card on the season's second-to-last day, reaching the playoffs for the third time in six years. ... The Giants had the best record in baseball in 2000, but they lost the division series to the New York Mets. Last season, they finished two games behind eventual World Series champion Arizona in the NL West, and three games behind St. Louis in the wild-card race. ... Kent, who bats before Bonds in the No. 3 slot, manager Dusty Baker and GM Brian Sabean all are in the final years of their contracts, so this might be the last time this group. ... Bonds and Kent don't like each other and even got into a dugout skirmish this year, but even Bonds has lobbied the Giants to bring back Kent.

Cardinals: Overcame devastating death of Darryl Kile, injuries to several other members of the rotation, to reach postseason for third straight year. Used 14 different starting pitchers and 26 pitchers overall, and benefitted greatly from unlikely emergence of 28-year-old rookie Jason Simontacchi and midseason comeback of Andy Benes, who nearly retired in April due to arthritic right knee. ... Lost 3B Scott Rolen to a sprained shoulder in the first round and he's not likely to play at all in the NLCS. Cairo. who went 4-for-4 in opening round, and Marrero will share duties replacing Rolen, with Pujols moving to third base when Marrero plays. Cardinals will miss Rolen as much in the field as they do at the plate. ... Swept defending World Series champion Arizona in first round, winning games started by Cy Young favorites Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. ... Vina hit .600 against the Diamondbacks and Matheny batted .444. ... Fassero got two wins in relief and Morris outpitched Johnson in Game 1 win. ... Pujols contended for MVP after becoming first player in major league history to begin his career with back-to-back seasons with a .300 average, 30 home runs, 100 runs and 100 RBIs. ... Team hit stride after season-worst seven-game losing streak from July 31-Aug. 7. ... La Russa's fourth trip to the postseason in seven years in St. Louis, and probably his best managing job ever. ... Marrero has been the most productive on a day-in, day-out basis, filling a void because of Drew's season-long battle with tendinitis in his right knee. But Drew has been feeling better lately, homering in three straight games the final week of regular season.

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Watch For

-- Battling Barry. La Russa might be best suited to figure out how to deal with Bonds after watching teams try to avoid Mark McGwire for years. Bonds showed signs of breaking through his postseason struggles with three homers in the division series. If Cardinals walk Bonds, Santiago must make them pay.

-- Replacing Rolen. Rolen will be missed as much for his stellar glove as for his big bat in the middle of the Cardinals lineup. But St. Louis played just fine without him for the first four months of the season. Cairo came up with the clutch hits in his place against Arizona.

-- Living with Livan. Despite losing 16 games in the regular season, Baker stuck with Hernandez in the division series. The move paid off when Hernandez delivered 8 1-3 strong innings to win Game 4. That should come as no surprise. The MVP of the 1997 NLCS and World Series is 6-0 in his career in the postseason.

-- Rotation questions. Woody Williams, who hasn't pitched since Sept. 20 because of a side injury, says he'll be ready to start in Game 2. If he can't go, Finley and Benes will move up in the rotation and Simontacchi will start Game 4.