Detroit Tigers vs. St. Lousis Cardinals'



The St. Louis Cardinals' pitching staff has been dominant through the first three games of the World Series. The scary part for the Detroit Tigers is that St. Louis has yet to send its most dominant postseason pitcher to the mound.

Jeff Suppan looks for another brilliant playoff performance in a bid to help the Cardinals take a commanding lead in the World Series on Wednesday night when they play Game 4 against the Tigers at Busch Stadium.

Chris Carpenter and Braden Looper combined on a three-hitter Tuesday night as St. Louis won 5-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. After batting .297 and averaging 5.5 runs to win seven of eight American League playoff games, the Tigers have managed just five runs in three games versus the Cardinals.

Detroit is batting only .185 in the World Series, including .154 (2-for-13) with runners in scoring position. The Tigers advanced only one runner past first base Tuesday -- Brandon Inge reached third base in the third inning -- but center fielder Curtis Granderson grounded out to end the threat.

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"If we don't swing the bats better they'll go up 3-1," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "That's as simple as it is. But at the same time when I say that, I think we'll swing the bats better. We're certainly not conceding anything."

Now, the Cardinals give Suppan the ball for the fourth time this postseason. The right-hander dominated the New York Mets in two NL championship series starts, giving up only one run and five hits over 15 innings to earn NLCS MVP honors.

He did not factor in the decision in Game 7 at New York last Thursday, but limited the Mets to one run and two hits in seven innings to make a 3-1 St. Louis victory possible.

"This guy has been nails for us," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

"He's come through so big. But I've got people that I know in the Cardinal organization that have been around 30, 40 years, that compare that performance in Game 7 with what any Cardinal pitcher has ever done. I don't think you can give him enough credit."

Suppan, who pitched for the AL Central rival Kansas City Royals from 1998-2002, is a familiar face to the Tigers. The right-hander is 8-6 with a 4.63 ERA in 20 career starts against them -- his most starts against any opponent.

A couple of key Detroit hitters have had success against Suppan. Magglio Ordonez is 17-for-43 (.395) with two homers and two doubles versus the right-hander, while Ivan Rodriguez is 6-for-12 with two doubles and a triple.

Second baseman Placido Polanco, though, is just 1-for-13 (.077) versus Suppan. He also is 0-for-10 in the first three games of the World Series after batting .471 through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

While the Tigers have had plenty of experience against Suppan, the Cardinals have faced Detroit starter Jeremy Bonderman only once, on June 25 at Comerica Park. Bonderman pitched well against St. Louis, allowing one run and seven hits over seven innings, but did not receive a decision in a 4-1 Tigers victory.

The Tigers' 23-year-old right-hander claims not to be fazed by a Cardinals lineup which includes such marquee sluggers as Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds.

"I don't really try to overanalyze these guys, because they're all human," Bonderman said. "They all make outs. You've just got to go out and attack them, try to put them on the defense."

Bonderman, who will be pitching on 10 days' rest, certainly did not succumb to the pressure of the first two rounds of the playoffs. He is 1-0 with five runs allowed in 15 innings over two postseason starts.

Like Suppan, Bonderman did not earn a decision but put his team in position to win its league championship series clincher. The right-hander allowed three runs in 6 2-3 innings of Game 4 of the ALCS against Oakland on Oct. 14, which the Tigers went on to win 6-3, completing a sweep.

If Detroit loses Wednesday, it will need to take the same path it took to defeat the Cardinals in the 1968 World Series, when the Tigers fell behind three-games-to-one before rallying to win the series in seven games.

Of the 39 teams to take 3-1 leads in the World Series, 34 have gone on to win the title. The last team to squander such an advantage was the 1985 Cardinals, who lost in seven games to Kansas City.

Edmonds, who struggled with post-concussion syndrome this season and is still dealing with foot and shoulder injuries, has reached base safely in 13 of 14 games this postseason and has at least one hit and one RBI in each game of the World Series. The center fielder's two-run double in the fourth inning gave the Cardinals the lead in Game 3.

"He's got that quality where the bigger the moment, the more likely he's going to concentrate, not get distracted, and produce," La Russa said. "He really is a primetime guy."