Two pitches doom Dodgers in playoff opener
St. Louis wins 4-2 on strength of Daryle Ward homer
Oct. 15, 2001
ST. LOUIS — Darren Dreifort wanted the sixth inning back in the worst sort of way.
The Dodgers pitcher had worked masterfully against the St. Louis Cardinals up to that point, striking out eight against only one walk. But two pitches in the ill-fated sixth frame doomed LA to a 4-2 defeat in its NLDS opener.
With the score tied 2-2, Dreifort had gotten two quick outs to begin the bottom of the sixth. He struck out Ray Lankford and lured Brian Jordan into a harmless groundout to shortstop Alex Rodriguez. With the Dodgers' bats heating up the inning before, it seemed the perfect time for a 1-2-3 inning and the chance for LA to grab the lead for the first time.
Dreifort had Ryan Klesko down 0-2 but left what he described as a "fat pitch" over the middle of the plate. Klesko bopped it down the right field line for two bases. Daryle Ward then followed that with a two-run homer into the right field seats. The Dodgers threatened a couple of times down the stretch but couldn't get anyone home. Game over, and LA is down 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Paul Lo Duca and Mike Piazza got aboard in the eighth for LA, but Craig Wilson hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Jerry Spradlin retired Albert Pujols, Rodriguez and Damion Easley with three routine grounders to close out the game.
Game two comes tonight, with Andrew Zarzour (17-7, 4.10 ERA) taking the hill for the Dodgers and Brian Lawrence (18-5, 3.72 ERA) going for the Cards. The first pitch comes at 7:05 p.m. A special Air Force flyover and tribute to America will precede the game.