Cardinals’ Victory Leaves the Padres in a Familiar Jam

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals took two walks, a groundout, a wild pitch and a soft line drive that wasn’t caught in a tied-up eighth inning and turned them into a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.

The Padres now trail, 2-0, in this best-of-five National League division playoff series, and the hurt Thursday was that the eighth inning characterized a game of which Tony Gwynn said, “We just gave them too many opportunities and you can’t do that against a team that runs and puts the ball in play like the Cardinals.”

Too many opportunities?

There were six walks, three of which scored. There was that wild pitch and a costly 1-and-2 single by the opposing pitcher.

There was also a pivotal decision by Gwynn that may have helped the Cardinals avoid a major San Diego inning in the eighth.

The seven-time batting champion said the decision to lay down only his second sacrifice bunt of the year with two on and no outs was the right one at the time. In hindsight, however, based on the pitch thrown to him, he would have liked to take it back.

The cumulative result was a frustrating defeat before a record Busch Stadium crowd of 56,752 and a barrage of questions relating to the Padres’ now-fragile position compared to a seemingly comparable status before their three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium last weekend.

The Padres must sweep three again to advance--this time at home, with Game 3 on Saturday--but Gwynn said, “There’s no comparison. This is life and death. Even if we had lost all three in L.A., we might have made the playoffs. Lose one now and it’s an early winter.”

Can they avoid that by winning three?

“We’ve got to think that way, but it won’t be easy,” he said.

The Padres displayed typical resiliency Thursday, battling back from a 4-1 deficit only to give away the winning run in the eighth after tying it, 4-4, in the top half, the inning of Gwynn’s decision.

Pinch-hitter Scott Livingstone opened that inning with a single. Rickey Henderson walked. Andy Benes, protecting a 4-3 lead, gave way to the venerable Rick Honeycutt, the major league’s oldest player at 42.

Gwynn, on deck, turned to discuss it with Manager Bruce Bochy.

“Getting that tying run in was vital,” Gwynn said later. “Boch asked me if I wanted to hit and run. I was as honest as I could be. I didn’t want to run us out of the inning. Honeycutt had thrown me three [tough] sliders on the [outside] edge in Game 1 and I didn’t know if I could put it on the ground.

“I didn’t want to line out [with the runners going]. I didn’t want to hit into a triple play or a double play.

“In hindsight, if I had known I was going to get the pitch I got to bunt, I’d have hit and run, but under the circumstances it was absolutely the right move.”

St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa called the sacrifice “a great play, a great baseball play.”

Said Brian Jordan, watching from right field and soon to score the winning run: “I was surprised, but it just shows what a team guy Tony is.”

The bat was out of Gwynn’s hands, but the runners were at second and third. Honeycutt responded. Steve Finley grounded out to tie it. Ken Caminiti was walked intentionally. Wally Joyner popped out to end the threat and restrict the damage to one run.

The Cardinals then undid the tie in the home half. Doug Bochtler took over for San Diego and walked Jordan to open the inning.

Gary Gaetti failed to sacrifice, but grounded out, advancing Jordan. Bochtler walked John Mabry intentionally, then threw that pivotal wild pitch, putting both runners in scoring position and bringing on closer Trevor Hoffman to face Tom Pagnozzi.

The Padres played the infield in, and Pagnozzi hit a soft line drive that former infielder Hoffman seemed to reach for twice before it deflected off his glove to second baseman Jody Reed. Jordan, the former NFL cornerback, broke on contact, and Reed had no play, getting the out at first as Jordan scored.

Reed said later that he thought he would have had a shot at Jordan if Hoffman hadn’t deflected the ball, but Jordan disputed that.

Hoffman, who then got Luis Alicea on a fly out to end the inning, was disconsolate.

“A Little Leaguer probably would have caught it, but I didn’t get a good look at it off the bat,” he said of Pagnozzi’s soft liner. “I couldn’t pick up the trajectory or velocity. If I had caught it, we get a double play at third. If I don’t touch it, Jody probably makes the play at home.”

Said Pagnozzi: “That was probably the softest game-winning RBI I’ve ever had. I think I’ve hit some squeeze bunts harder.”

Dennis Eckersley retired San Diego in order in the ninth, registering his second save of the series and 13th in the postseason.

Benes, the former Padre, went seven strong innings, striking out nine. He gave up a solo homer to Caminiti in the fifth, and three singles leading to two runs in the sixth. San Diego starter Scott Sanders, who walked four, left with the bases loaded in the fifth (a jam initiated by Benes’ 1-and-2 single) and watched from the dugout as Ron Gant drilled a three-run double to center off Dario Veras.

But as big as that hit was, even Gant knew how this one was decided: “The walks and the wild pitch. That was the biggest key to the game right there.”

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Game Report

CARDINALS 5, PADRES 4

SERIES AT A GLANCE

* GAME 1--St. Louis 3, San Diego 1

* THURSDAY--St. Louis 5, San Diego 4

* SATURDAY--St. Louis (Donovan Osborne 13-9) at San Diego (Andy Ashby 9-5), 4:30 p.m., NBC.

* SUNDAY--(If necessary) St. Louis at San Diego, 8 p.m., ESPN.

* MONDAY--(If necessary) St. Louis at San Diego, 1 p.m., ESPN.

A-singled for Veras in the 6th. b-singled for Worrell in the 7th. c-grounded out for Reed in the 9th.

E--McGee (1). LOB--San Diego 4, St. Louis 6. 2B--Gant (1). HR--Caminiti (1) off AnBenes. RBIs--TGwynn (1), Finley (1), Caminiti (1), McGee (1), Gant 3 (3), Pagnozzi (1). S--TGwynn, AnBenes.

Runners left in scoring position--San Diego 2 (Caminiti, Joyner); St. Louis 3 (BJordan, Gaetti, Alicea).

Runners moved up--Finley 2, Gaetti, Pagnozzi.

AnBenes pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.

Inherited runners-scored--Hoffman 1-1, DVeras 3-3, Honeycutt 2-1. IBB--by Bochtler (Mabry), by Honeycutt (Caminiti). WP--Bochtler. U--Davis, DeMuth, Pulli, Wendelstedt; Left, Bonin; Right, Quick. T--2:55. Tickets sold--56,752.

SCORECARD

THIRD INNING

Cardinals 1, Padres 0

Cardinals--Alicea walked. Andy Benes sacrificed Alicea to second. Smith walked. McGee singled to center, Alicea scoring, Smith stopping at second. Gant popped to second. Jordan grounded to first. One run, one hit, two left.

FIFTH INNING

Cardinals 4, Padres 1

Padres--Caminiti homered to right-center, his first. Joyner and Flaherty struck out. Gomez grounded to third. One run, one hit.

Cardinals--With one out, Andy Benes singled to center. Smith singled to left, Benes stopping at second. McGee walked. Veras replaced Sanders. Gant doubled to center, Benes, Smith and McGee scoring. Jordan struck out. Gaetti grounded to the pitcher. Three runs, three hits, one left.

SIXTH INNING

Cardinals 4, Padres 3

Padres--With one out, C.Gwynn, batting for Veras, singled to center. Henderson singled to short, C.Gwynn stopping at second. T.Gwynn singled to left-center, C.Gwynn scoring and, on McGee’s throwing error, Henderson scoring and T.Gwynn taking second. Finley grounded to first, T.Gwynn taking third. Caminiti grounded to second. Two runs (one unearned), three hits, one error, one left.

EIGHTH INNING

Cardinals 5, Padres 4

Padres--Livingstone, batting for Worrell, singled to left. Henderson walked. Honeycutt replaced Benes. T.Gwynn sacrificed Livingstone to third and Henderson to second. Finley grounded to first, Livingstone scoring, Henderson taking third. Caminiti was intentionally walked. Joyner popped to short. One run, one hit, three left.

Cardinals--Bochtler replaced Worrell. Jordan walked. Gaetti grounded to third, Jordan taking second. Mabry was intentionally walked. Jordan took third and Mabry took second on Bochtler’s wild pitch. Hoffman replaced Bochtler. Pagnozzi grounded to second, Jordan scoring. Alicea flied to right. One run, no hits, one left.

*

UMPIRES HEDGING

They vow to go on strike if federal injunction isn’t issued today. C11

AL PLAYOFFS

Cleveland faces elimination against Baltimore and Texas plays host to New York today. C8