Post-Game Thoughts from True Blue LA

Despite a rollicking regular season and some of the National Leagues brightest stars, the St. Louis Cardinals didn't have enough to overcome the Los Angeles Dodgers, and L.A. will advance to the NLCS for a second straight year after tonight's dominant 5-1 win over St. Louis. The Cardinals had the bases loaded in the first inning but could not capitalize, and their chances fizzled from there.

SBN's True Blue LA provides some post-game thoughts:

The Dodgers battered Cards' starter Joel Pineiro with four singles, two doubles, and a home run, scoring four runs in his short four innings of work. On the night, the Dodgers scored all their runs with two outs:

• Manny Ramirez laced a double in the first inning to score Matt Kemp
• Andre Ethier hit a two-run home run in the third inning scoring Rafael Furcal
• Furcal singled home Ronnie Belliard in the fourth inning
• Manny Ramirez singled home Ethier in the seventh inning
  

Ethier and Manny were the catalysts tonight, each with three hits. Ethier finished a single short of the cycle, and Manny included two doubles among his three knocks. Furcal added two hits of his own. Furcal and Ethier each had six hits in the three-game series.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals struggled again with runners in scoring position, that is, when they had the opportunity. The Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning, but left them stranded. The Cardinals had one hit in eight at-bats with RISP (an Albert Pujols RBI single in the eighth inning), bringing their total for the series to just four hits in 30 at-bats.