Stat break: 87 Cardinals

Hitters

Name                AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
J Clark               57   15  18   10       3    0     2    20      0    .316
V Coleman        70   10  18     4       1    0     0    11    16    .257
Driessen              9     0     0     0       0   0     0      2      0    .000
Ford                   33    3   10     2       1    1     0      0      3    .303
Herr                   71    7   19   14       5    0     0      7      0    .268
L Johnson            4     0    1     2       0    0     0      1      0    .250   
Lake                    1     0    0      0      0    0     0      0       0    .000
Lindeman            6    0     1      0      0    0     0      0      0    .167
McGee              74     8  17    15      2    4     2       2      0    .230
Morris               17     1    7     1       0    1     0       0      0    .412
Oquendo           23     4    9     2       1    0     0       2      0    .391
Pena                  71     7  17     7       2    0     0       2      0    .239
Pendleton          72     7  23   10       2    2     0       3     3     .319
O Smith            81   13   25     4        4   0     0      7     3     .308

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

D Cox                 5      5    36        37   15    13    10    12        0     3     2    3.25
Dawley               6      0      6.6       8     5      5      0      3        0     0     1    6.75

Dayley                6      0    10          6     4      4      1      7        1     0     0    3.60

B Forsch             4      0    11.3       6     2      2      3      7        0     0     0    1.59

Horton                6      0      6.6       7     8      7      5      0       0      0     1    9.45

Magrane             4      4    25.6     18     7      7      7    13        0     3     0    2.45

Mathews             6     6    37.3     38   20    18    12    29        0     3     2     4.34

Tudor                 3      3    17.3     28   13    13       3      9       0      0     2    6.75

Tunnell              4      0      4.6       6     5       5      1      5       0      0     0    9.64

Worrell              5      0      6          4     1       1      3      4       4      1     0    1.50

Ringo bracket: Giants (87) defeat Cardinals (87) in six games

Game One: 87 Giants 4, 87 Cardinals 2
WP: Reuschel (5-0)
LP: Mathews (3-1)
Save: Lefferts (1)
HR: Leonard (2), Uribe (1)

Game Two: 87 Cardinals 9, 87 Giants 7
WP: D Cox (3-1)
LP: Hammaker (0-1)
Save: Worrell (3)
HR: McGee (2), Thompson (2), J Clark (2)

Game Three: 87 Cardinals 5, 87 Giants 3
WP: Magrane (3-0)
LP: Dravecky (2-1)
Save: Worrell (4)
HR: C Davis (4), W Clark (4),Magrane (1)

Game Four: 87 Giants 8, 87 Cardinals 0
WP: Downs (1-0)
LP: Tudor (0-2)
HR: W Clark (5), Leonard (3), Ma Williams (2), Mitchell (1)

Game Five: 87 Giants 9, 87 Cardinals 4
WP: Reuschel (6-0)
LP: Mathews (3-2)
Save: Garrelts (2)
HR: C Davis (5), Brenley (1)

Game Six: 87 Giants 6, 87 Cardinals 3
WP: Price (1-0)
LP: Cox (3-2)
Save: Lefferts (2)
HR: C Davis (6), W Clark (6), Leonard (4)

The real-life 1987 Cardinals beat the Giants in seven games in the NLCS to advance to the World Series. In the 40-Year Tourney, the outcome was reversed, with the Giants ousting the Cardinals to advance to the round of eight.

Rich Rueschel, winner of his four previous starts in the tournament, made it five in a row in the opener at Busch Stadium. The portly right-hander held the Cardinals to two runs and six hits in eight innings, with opposing pitcher Greg Mathews driving home both runs with a second inning single. The Giants took the lead in the fourth on a pair of homers, the first by Jeffery Leonard and the second from Jose Uribe. They added another in the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Leonard and Candy Maldonado.

The Giants broke out big in the first inning of Game Two, gathering five runs (one unearned) against Danny Cox. Robby Thompson and Eddie Milner each had two-run doubles. But the Redbirds sruck back for four runs off Atlee Hammaker, and took the lead in the third inning. The Giants never caught up again. Cox allowed one more run in five innings before turning the lead over to the bullpen, and Ricky Horton, Ken Dayley and Todd Worrell combined for three innings of one-run relief. Jack Clark was 4-for-4 with a homer, three RBIs and three runs for the victors; Thompson had three RBIs for the Giants. Uribe was lost for the remainder of the series.

The series moved to Candlestick Park for the next three games, and the Cards got a strong start from Joe Magrane in Game Three -- eight innings of four hit ball, two of them solo homers. Magrane homered himself in the third inning. The game was tied at 2 going into the eighth, when Ozzie Smith singled, Tom Herr walked and Clark doubled them both in. Craig Lefferts relieved Dave Dravecky and allowed a two-out RBI single to Terry Pendleton. The Giants got one back in the ninth off Worrell, but it wasn't enough.

Kelly Downs evened the series with an eight-hit shutout in Game Four. The Cardinals had plenty of chances, starting with the first inning, when Maldonado threw Vince Coleman out at the plate. St. Louis left six men in scoring position. The Giants scored three runs in the fourth off John Tudor and two more in the fifth before tattooing Lee Tunnell for three solo homers in the eight and ninth.

Reuschel advanced his record to 6-0 in Game Five, allowed three earned runs in 7.3 innings. The score was 2-2 going into the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Kevin Mitchell doubled. Chili Davis walked, and Maldonado singled to load the bases. Bill Dawley relieved Mathews, and Bob Brenly greeted him with a grand slam. Reuschel later doubled home a run, and Brenley added two more RBIs in the bottom of the eighth. Scott Garrelts escaped a two-on, one-out mess inherited from Rueschel in the eighth, then pitched around his three walks in the ninth for the save.

The series returned to Busch, and the Giants wrapped it up. Will Clark gave the visitors a quick lead with a first-inning homer, but Coleman singled home Jose Oquendo in the third to tie it. Willie McGee tripled and scored in the fourth for a 2-1 lead. The Giants pinch-hit for Hammaker after that, and Joe Price threw two hitless innings while his mates got him the lead on a two-run single by Thompson. Leonard homered in the top of the eight to make it 4-2, and David hit a two-run shot in the ninth to make it 6-2. Lefferts entered to get the final two outs after Don Robinson, in his third inning of relief, allowed three straight singles.

Player of the series: Several Giants hitters had productive series, but none were truly outstanding throughout. We'll go with Downs for his complete-game shutout, which started the Giants's three-game win streak.

Player availability: Uribe's injury will be healed for Game One. Hammaker cannot pitch until Game Three.

Projected rotation: Reuschel-Dravecky-Downs-Mike LaCoss-(Reuschel)-(Dravecky)-(Downs)

Stat break: 87 Cardinals

Hitters

Name                AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
J Clark               34     9    9     5       1    0     1    17      0    .265
V Coleman        46     9  13     1       0    0     0      9    13    .283
Driessen              7     0     0     0       0   0     0      0      0    .000
Ford                   21    3     8     2       1    1     0      0      3    .381
Herr                   46    5   16   13       3    0     0      4      0    .348
L Johnson            3     0    1     2       0    0     0      1      0    .333
Lindeman            3    0     0      0      0    0     0      0      0    .000
McGee              49     4  12    13      2    2     1       2      0    .245
Morris                 8     1    3     1       0    1     0       0      0    .375
Oquendo           16     2    6     2       1    0     0       2      0    .375
Pena                  48     6  13     5       2    0     0       1      0    .283
Pendleton          48     6  17     5       2    2     0       3     2     .354
O Smith            55     9  16     4        4   0     0       6     1     .291

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

D Cox                 3      3    23        21     6      6      7    11        0     2     1    2.35
Dawley               4      0      4          6     3      3      0      1        0     0     1    6.75

Dayley                4      0      6          3     0      0      0      4        1     0     0    0.00

B Forsch             2      0      7.3       3     0      0      3      6        0     0     0    0.00

Horton                5      0      5.6       7     8      7      5      0       0      0     1   11.11

Magrane             3      3    17.6     14     5      5      7    11        0     2     0    2.55

Mathews             4     4    27        23   11      9    10    21        0     3     0     3.00

Tudor                 2      2    11.3     18     8     8       3      4       0      0     1     6.35 

Tunnell              3      0      2.6       3     2     2        1      3       0      0     0    6.74

Worrell               3      0      4          2    0      0       1      3       2      1     0     0.00

Ringo bracket: Cardinals (87) defeat Astros (87) in five games

Game One: 87 Cardinals 8, 87 Astros 1
WP: Mathews (2-0)
LP: Ryan (1-2)

Game Two: 87 Astros 12, 87 Cardinals 5
WP: Deshaies (2-0)
LP: Tudor (0-1)
HR: Doran (1), G Davis 2 (4), Caminiti (1)

Game Three: 87 Cardinals 6, 87 Astros 0
WP: D Cox (2-1)
LP: Scott (1-2)

Game Four: 87 Cardinals 8, 87 Astros 3
WP: Magrane (2-0)
LP: Knepper (1-1)
HR: McGee (1)

Game Five: 87 Cardinals 4, 87 Astros 3
WP; Mathews (3-0)
LP: Ryan (1-3)
Save: Dayley (1)

Base hits, suffocating fielding range and stolen bases. That was the recipe for the 1987 Cardinals as they flew past the 87 Astros.

The Cards ran wild in the first inning of the opener against Nolan Ryan. Vince Coleman led off with a walk and promptly stole second and third and scored on a throwing error by catcher Mark Bailey. Later in the inning, Bailey was charged with a bases-loaded passed ball that allowed Ozzie Smith to score and set up Tony Pena's two-run double. Coleman stole a third base in the second inning.

Greg Mathews went the distance, allowing just six hits and one unearned run in the ninth inning.

The Astros had a power surge in Game Two. Glenn Davis hit a pair of home runs, one off John Tudor in the third inning and the second off Ricky Horton in the eighth, and gathered four RBIs in all. Bill Doran and Ken Caminiti each had solo homers off Tudor. Jim Deshaies allowed five runs in the first two innings for the Astros but then shut out the Cards in the next five frames.

The series moved to the Astrodome for Game Three, never to return to Busch Stadium. Danny Cox threw a six-hit shutout, while his mates put up a pair of three-run innings against Mike Scott. Terry Pendleton had three hits, including a double and a triple, and stole a base while scoring twice. Smith and Pena each had two RBIs, and Curt Ford scored two runs.

Willie McGee had the Redbirds' only homer of the series in Game Four, a three-run shot off Bob Knepper in the sixth that made the score 6-0. St. Louis banged out 14 hits for the game.

Game Five was the only competitive contest of the series. Each team scored in the first. Smith doubled for the visitors and scored on McGee's single; Alan Ashby's two-out base in the bottom of the inning scored Gerald Young to tie it. McGee doubled in the third to score Smith and Jack Clark for a two-run lead. Ashby singled and scored in the fourth to make it 3-2 Cardinals, but in the fifth Coleman singled, stole his fifth base of the series and scored on Clark's fly ball to make it a two-run margin again. Doran singled in Young in the seventh to narrow the margin to 4-3.

And then Ken Dayley faced six hitters in the final two innings for six outs and the only save of the series.

Player of the series: Ozzie Smith was 11-for-22 with seven runs and four RBIs with four doubles, three walks and a steal. Plus he was Ozzie Smith with the glove.

Player availability: All Cardinal pitchers will be on full rest for Game 1 of the third round.

Projected rotation: Mathews-D Cox-Magrane-Tudor-(Mathews)-(D Cox)-(Magrane)

Stat break: Cardinals 87

Hitters

Name                AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
J Clark               21     6    7     2        1    0     1     9      0    .333
V Coleman        25     3    6     1        0    0     0     6      8    .240
Driessen              5     0     0     0        0   0     0     0      0    .000
Ford                  11     1     3     1        1    0     0     0      2    .346
Herr                   26     3    9     8        1    0     0     3      0    .000
L Johnson            3     0    1     2       0    0     0      1      0    .333
Lindeman            2    0     0      0       0    0     0      0      0    .000
McGee              29     3    8     5        1    2     0      2      0    .276
Morris                 4     1    3     1        0    1     0      0      0    .750
Oquendo             9     1    3     1        0    0     0      2      0    .333
Pena                 28      2    6     1        1     0     0      1      0    .214
Pendleton         28      2    9     4       0      1     0      2      0    .321
O Smith           33      2    5     0        0     0     0       3     0    .152

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

D Cox                 2      2    14        15     6      6      5      9        0     1     1    3.86
Dawley               3      0      3.3       6     3      3      0      0        0     0     1    8.11

Dayley               2      0       3          2     0      0      0      3        0     0     0    0.00

B Forsch             2      0      7.3       3     0      0      3      6        0     0     0    0.00

Horton               3      0       3.6       1     1      1      3      0       0      0     1    2.45

Magrane             2      2    11.6       9     3      3      6      8        0     1     0    2.31

Mathews             2      2    11          9    7      6      4      8       0      1     0     4.90

Tudor                 1      1       5          6     2     2      3      3       0      0     0     3.60 

Tunnell               1      0      0.6       3     2     2       0      0       0      0     0   26.87

Worrell               3      0      4          2    0      0       1      3       2      1     0     0.00

Ringo bracket: Cardinals (87) defeat Padres (87) in seven games

Game One: Cardinals 7, Padres 6 (11 innings)
WP: Worrell (1-0)
LP: McCullers (0-1)

Game Two: Padres 7, Cardinals 4
WP: Whitson (1-0)
LP: Cox (0-1)
Save: Gossage (1)
HR: Wynne 1)

Game Three: Padres 5, Cardinals 2
WP: Grant (1-0)
LP: Dawley (0-1)
Save: Comstock (1)

Game Four: Padres 3, Cardinals 2 (10 innings)
WP: McCullers (1-1)
LP: Horton (0-1)

Game Five: Cardinals 2, Padres 1
WP: Mathews (1-0)
LP: Show (0-1)
Save: Worrell (1)

Game Six: Cardinals 6, Padres 1
WP: Cox (1-1)
LP: Whitson (1-1)
HR: J Clark (1)

Game Seven: Cardinals 4, Padres 1
WP: Magrane (1-0)
LP' Davis (0-1)
Save: Worrell (2)

On the brink of elimination after four games -- and definitely outplayed by the lowly San Diego Padres -- the St. Louis Cardinals shut down the Padres lineup in the final three games to advance.

Game One proved a microcosm for the series as a whole. The Padres scored five runs in the first inning and another in the third to chase Greg Mathews, while Eric Show opened with three perfect frames.

But the Cardinals scored two in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Show was done after six innings. Bob Forsch and Bill Dawley held San Diego scoreless through nine innings, and the Cards broke through in the ninth against Mark Davis and Goose Gossage to tie it the bottom of the ninth. Todd Worrell threw two more scoreless innings for St. Louis, and in the 10th Tom Herr singled home Curt Ford for the decisive run.

Marvell Wynne led off Game Two with a home run -- the only dinger San Diego would hit in the series -- but Ed Whitson gave the lead right back in the bottom of the first. St. Louis led 3-2 going into the seventh, but Tony Gwynn led off the inning with a single and Carmelo Martinez doubled him home to tie it. After John Kruk walked, Lee Tunnell relieved Danny Cox and surrendered RBI doubles to Randy Ready, Garry Templeton and Whitson. The five-run inning carried San Diego to the win.

The Padres turned to Davis for Game Three in a surprise move, and the lefty shut out the Cardinals for five innings before weakening in the sixth. By the time Greg Booker got the Padres out of the inning, the score was tied at 2. It remained there until the Padres plated three runs off Dawley in the bottom of the eighth, which made a winner of Mark Grant, who was originally scheduled to start but threw two scoreless innings of relief.

Sane Diego came up with another lefty to start Game Four, Eric Nolte. He too threw five scoreless innings and gave up two runs in the sixth, with Booker relieving to preserve the 2-2 tie. After Jimmy Jones -- another displaced starter -- escaped the seventh, Lance McCullers threw three shutout innings, and the Padres stung Ricky Horton for the game-winner in the 10th.

Vince Coleman stole four bases without scoring a run. Bruce Bochy, catching for San Diego because of an injury to Benito Santiago, did throw out three Cardinal basestealers (Terry Pendleton twice, Willie McGee once).

One win from upsetting the best team in the 1987 National League but without another lefty to start, the Padres went back to rotation mainstay Show for Game Five. Show pitched well, allowing just six hits and two runs in six innings, and Keith Comstock and Gossage added three more scoreless frames. But Mathews was even better, allowing just three singles and one run over eight innings, and Worrell pitched around a one-out double by Ready in the ninth to nail it down.

Back in St. Louis, Cox wasn't as efficient in Game Six as Mathews was in Game Five -- the Padres had two baserunners in five of his eight innings -- but the ultimate result was the same: eight innings, one run allowed. The Cardinals plated five runs off Whitson in the first two innings. Jack Clark added a sixth run with a seventh-inning homer off Grant, the only homer of the series for St. Louis.

Joe Magrane got the ball for Game Seven, despite an inclination to go with Forsch, and the lefty did not disappoint. He too allowed just one run, although he needed relief help earlier than Mathews and Cox did. Dawley got the final out of the seventh, Horton worked a perfect eighth and Worrell allowed only a harmless walk in the ninth.

The Cardinals scored three runs off Davis in the fourth inning, with  McGee doubling home one run and Pendleton singling home two more.

Pitcher availability: Magrane and Cox cannot pitch until Game Three. Mathews and Tudor will be fully rested for the start of the second round. The bullpen has not been overworked and is fully available. Projected rotation: Mathews-Tudor-Cox-Magrane-(Mathews)-(Tudor or Forsch)-(Cox)