Dodgers 7 Cardinals 6

Hi Kari:

You know it is high drama in the baseball season when a manager lifts a starter after 2 1/3 inning and the score is only 4-2. Tracy pulled Ishii.

You know it is late in the season when two teams slug it out and the lead keeps changing hands. The Cards got a 1-0 lead which the Dodgers erased 2-1 then the Cards got it back 4-2 then the Dodgers got it back 5-4 then the Cards tied it 5-5 then the Dodgers got it back 7-5 and the Cards in a last gasp make it 7-6.

You know the manager wants the win desperately when he brings in the closer to get five outs. Tracy brought in Gagne.

You know the manager is really being cautious when he brings in a right handed relief pitcher to face a right handed relief pitcher who is batting (top of the ninth). LaRussa took out Cali and put in Reyes.

UPDATE: In post-game Dodger talk, the host speculated that LaRussa used the pitching change to "ice" Gagne much like calling a timeout so the kicker has time to think about the field goal. What a shrewd manager!

In any case, the Dodgers finally beat the Cardinals!

I will be at the game on Saturday and Sunday!

Laters,
Rene

P.S. I attempted to buy NLDS tickets via the internet (I got to the "virtual waiting room" page and then if I got past that I got the "unable to process your request due to high demand" error message) and by phone (I tried every 15 to 30 minutes only to get busy signals). Alas, by the time I got through on the phone at 3:30pm the sales rep said all tickets were sold out.