National League Divisional Series Predictions - St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres

St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres

The St. Louis Cardinals have been one of the top teams in the National League since 2000, winning the division five times (including this season) and the Wild Card once in the seven seasons since 2000. The Cards reached the World Series in 2004 but were dominated by the Red Sox in four games. The Cardinals feature a veteran lineup led by MVP candidate Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen but after Chris Carpenter the Cardinals pitching staff is weak. The Padres on the other hand have won the NL West in back to back seasons, but last year were easily defeated by the Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs. The Padres now look for revenge against St. Louis, led by ace Jake Peavy, who had a very bad game against St. Louis last season.

The Padres do not have a lineup that is nearly as potent as the Cardinals. Adrian Gonzalez, who was acquired from the Texas Rangers in the off-season, had an impressive season quietly at first base for San Diego, hitting a team high 24 home runs, while driving in 82 runs, which is second on the team, to go along with a .304 average. Mike Cameron, one of the best centerfielders defensively, had a good season with 22 home runs and tied with fellow outfielder Brian Giles with 83 RBI for the team lead. Veteran catcher Mike Piazza had a surprisingly great season, hitting 22 home runs with a .283 batting average. The Padres offense has no one star, but is solid throughout, with Khalil Greene at short, rookie Josh Barfield at second, and former Cub Todd Walker at third. Dave Roberts, the Red Sox ALCS hero, gives San Diego good speed (49 stolen bases), while hitting .293. Roberts also had 13 triples on the season.

The Padres are led by young ace Jake Peavy, who has been a solid pitcher the past few seasons, but against the Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLDS last season, he allowed eight hits and eight runs in 4 innings of work. Peavy, who finished 11-14 this season with a 4.09 ERA can be dominate at times and the Padres are hoping to see the great Peavy, rather than the Peavy they saw in the playoffs last year. Peavy has 57 career wins and a 3.51 career ERA in 138 starts. Chris Young, who came over from Texas along with Gonzalez was very impressive all season, finishing 11-5 with a 3.46 ERA. David Wells was bothered by a sore foot after coming over from the Red Sox but provides a great post-season record (8-8, 3.15 ERA in 25 apperances, 16 starts)Veteran Woody Williams, a former Card, went 12-5 with a 3.65 ERA, but in his playoff career he has a 5.5o ERA in 36 innings pitched and last season against the Cards he alloed 5 earned runs in 1 and 2/3 innings pitched and will be the fourth starter in the rotation.

Clay Hensley, who pitched out of the bullpen last season, was a very consistent starter for the Padres and will be a long reliever and should play a key role for the Pads. The Padres have a great bullpen with Scott Linebrink (7-4, 3.57 ERA) and rookie Cla Meredith (5-1, 1.07 ERA) setting up all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman who had 46 saves this season. Alan Embree provides a good lefty reliever.

The St. Louis Cardinals rotation is missing a key piece, do to the injury to starter Mark Mulder, who will not pitch in the post-season. Chris Carpenter is the Cardinals' very reliable ace and finished 15-8 with a 3.09 ERA and should perform well for the Cards. Jeff Weaver, who was brought over from the Angels, will fill Mulder's spot and while he does not have a great post-season record, he was solid for the Cardinals, picking up 5 wins, including a key win over Milwaukee last Friday night, going 3-1 with a 4.15 ERA in September. Jeff Suppan will start the third game for the Cardinals after a 12-7 season, finishing with a 4.12 ERA. Suppan has good post-season success, picking up series clinching wins in 2004 in the NLDS and the NLCS, beating the legendary Roger Clemens in the second game. Jason Marquis should get the fourth starter if needed, because he has nine post-season starts since 2001, with both Atlanta and St. Louis, even though he has no wins in any of those starts. Marquis had 14 wins this season, but also had 16 losses and a 6.02 ERA. Anthony Reyes (5-8, 5.06 ERA) is a future star for the Cardinals, but should start the post-season in the bullpen, but could be called on for Game 4.

The Cardinals are hurt in the bullpen by the injury to closer Jason Isringhausen, who is not perfect, but is reliable. Braden Looper has stepped in as the closer and is off and on, but did finish with a 3.56 ERA this season. Adam Wainwright (2-1, 3.12 ERA) and Brad Thompson (3.34 ERA) are reliable set-up men.

Offensively the St. Louis Cardinals are the dominate team. Led by perennial MVP candidate Albert Pujols, the best hitter of this decade, the Cardinals can score a lot of runs. Pujols had another amazing season, even after missing time due to an injury. If it had not been for the injury, Pujols would have numbers similar to Ryan Howard's and would be the MVP without a doubt. Pujols did hit 49 home runs in 143 games, and drove in 137 runs along with a .331 batting average. Pujols has a career .332 batting average, 250 home runs, and 758 RBI in his six major league seasons. Jim Edmonds, one of the most exciting defensive players in the game, had 19 home runs and is a veteran leader, while Scott Rolen, also an exciting defensive star, hit .296 with 22 home runs and 95 RBI and led the Cards while Pujols was out. Rolen, Edmonds, and Pujols have been great together and this year are looking to get the World Series that they have missed. Yadier Molina is not a great hitting catcher, but is excellent defensively and David Eckstein is the same at shortstop, although he does hit well for contact, with a .292 batting average. Ronnie Belliard came over from the Indians and adds some power at second base, while rookie Chris Duncan, son of Cards' pitching coach Dave Duncan, put together a Rookie of the Year like season with 22 home runs and a .293 batting average in 99 games.

Prediction: St. Louis Cardinals in 5

In a close series, the Cardinals will out-slug the Padres in the end, winning Game 5 through the bat of Albert Pujols and arm of Chris Carpenter.